About Me
Artist and Scientist
I love art and I love science. There is no better mix of the two than Photography. I taught black and white photography laboratory work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while completing a bachelor and master's degree. I have continued the tradition of 35mm film photography and digital photography. I enjoy writing about my photography and am working on several books related to both specific cameras and my 30 years of photographic work and study so that others can learn both the art and the science. While I started solely in Nature Photography, I have branched out to documentary work to capture life and our current society. My most current work surrounds Old Town in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Leica
Leica cameras do not take great photographs by themselves, but many great photographers have used Leica equipment. In fact, early 2014 marks the 100 Year Anniversary of Leica cameras. One of many reasons so many, including myself, use Leica equipment is the "glass." Leica "glass" or lenses, are made with several generations worth of study in light, aberrations and physics. Leica lenses have long out-resolved both digital and film cameras. This is one reason old Leica lenses still perform well today. The quality of the image produced by a Leica often needs no manipulation to improve it - if the photographer truly understands the science of exposure.
My equipment consists of a Leica MP (a 35mm film camera body), a Leica Monochrom (a black and white digital body) and a Leica M(240) (the current color digital body). To outfit these I use various Leica M lenses including an Elmarit 24mm f/2.8, a Summilux 35mm and 50mm both f/1.4, and APO corrected Summicron 90mm f/2.0 lens and others. Specifically, I enjoy using the collapsible Elmar 50mm f/2.8 for some occasions. Black is clearly less noticeable, but I also find I enjoy the chrome lenses because the extra weight allows me to handhold slower exposures.
I still use 35mm black and white film, developing it and scanning it into the computer for storage, processing and printing. I have really enjoyed shooting black and white digital with a camera that does not shoot color. Black and white photography is truly inspiring because of the thought process and the lack of color distraction.
Having used Fuji, Canon and Sony camera bodies and lenses, I always find myself gravitating quickly back to a Leica rangefinder. It is with the simplicity and reliability of Leica that I find my greatest pleasures in photography. My Leica is with me every day.
Things to Note
I have had several of my images selected as Master Shots with LFI (Leica Fotografie International). These are marked within their albums with a link. I have also had a few prints sold at auction for charity at reasonable prices and have published several photographic collections in print. Publishing one book that was very specific to an Adobe Lightroom add-in, I began working on a photographic series that is both technical and user friendly so it will appeal to many. This series covers digital photography from the mindset of film work, but with modern digital technique. The four volume series is outlined and the first volume is well on its way.