I am a professional photographer from Fairview, Oregon, specializing in landscape, architecture, and sometimes quirky imagery, working in both film and digital formats.
I bought my first “real” camera–a Minolta XG-1–in 1983 while serving in the Army in Germany, Returning to the states in 1984, I largely put the camera down while attending college, and didn’t really pick it up again until I moved to Oregon in 1991, and saw the Columbia Gorge. Completely untrained in cameras and film, I set out to teach myself photography in one of the nation’s most beautiful states. I slowly learned about quality of light, composition, contrast, and the characteristics of different films.
Soon, a name began bumping up against my consciousness: it was Ansel Adam. I began noticing the posters, calenders, and books bearing his name. Since I was becoming interested in photography, I was more inclined to pay attention.
Then came “Clearing Winter Storm.” The very idea of what photography meant to me changed after seeing that photograph for the first time. My world literally changed. I decided to not only do (without seeking to copy) what Ansel Adams did, but to do it the way he did it. I bought a Hasselblad in 1998, and learned the Zone System. By 2005, I finally had my darkroom built, and bought my first large format camera: A Linhof Technica. By 2008, I bought my first 8×10 camera. Later, I printed my first enlargement from an 8×10 negative with an enlarger that I built. I’m beginning to understand what Adams meant by “luminosity.”
Until 2015, I had no intention to ever move to digital capture. That was the year I had to sadly tear down my darkroom for a move into the Columbia Gorge, precipitated by my wife’s health. With no darkroom, I reluctantly purchased a used Nikon D300, and the rest is history. My newest digital camera is a Hasselblad CFV 100C digital that I can attach to my 500CM or Flexbody. I can also use it with the 907X, but I don’t have any appropriate lenses for it. I also have a Nikon D810, and have a D300 that I converted to infrared.
Four years later, we moved back into the Portland area, and into a new house that finally was able to support a darkroom. I am printing black and white the old-fashioned way.
For me, photography is about expression, and about achieving an ideal that I set for myself after seeing “Clearing Winter Storm.” When the weather is right, you can find me out and about, maybe in the Columbia Gorge, in eastern Oregon, or on the Pacific Coast. I’ll be setting up one of my ancient cameras. When the weather is bad, I’ll photograph flowers or the occasional nude in my studio.
Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Linkedin, Twitter, and Fstoppers.
