Photography has been a passion of mine ever since high school and remains a key point in my teaching, as well as an occasional source of income, to this day. I've shot photos for magazines ranging from small local publications like Point of Light in Pittsburgh to fairly major league titles like Runner's World. I've done wedding photography (and, no, I'm not interested in doing any more of it!), construction site documentation for the Army Corps of Engineers and just about everything in between.
When photography started to become a digital, rather than chemical, technology in the late nineties I noticed an interesting phenomenon: All the most enthusiastic early adopters of digital were former darkroom rats like myself. The ability to apply easily all the darkroom techniques like dodging and burning, solarization, unsharp masking and more, that we had previously been able to apply only laboriously with enlargers and trays of chemicals was simply irresistable.
I started scanning slides and making digital inkjet prints long before I bought a digital camera and quickly found myself ahead of the curve when digital photography began to dominate. One of my earliest presentations on the subject was simply about the fundamental principles of digital imaging (you can see it on line here) and I was astonished by how many people were unaware of the most basic advantages offered by digital and their ability to yield photographs that would be impossible with older technology. These days, the basic advantages of digital are more widely known and, more importantly, film isn't a realistic option to most people. Most of my presentations are on vital but little understood topics like workflow and, in particular, color management (color spaces, ICC profiles and printer & monitor calibration and profiling).
What's Here
Below are links to all the photography-related material on my web site, with short explanations about what's offered on each. My general photo collection is grouped into a few categories and accessible via the "Photo Archives" menu on the right side of this page. The amount of material I have on line has grown organically over the years, and every so often undergoes a reorganization, so if you haven't visited in a while browse around and I'm sure you'll find some new and interesting material.
My Photography
I have several sections of this site devoted to examples of my photography, all of which are subject to near-constant updating. Since the main purpose of these is to show off the quality of my work to the greatest advantage, many images are shown in fairly large pixel dimensions and with low JPEG compression that results in substantial file sizes. In other words, you may be frustrated in you have a small monitor or a slow connection!
• Photo Books
I've creating sseveral photo books through online self-publishing services, including the PDML Photo Annual, of which I'm the chief editor. The latest is titled Blue Ridge High Country from Blowing Rock to Grandfather Mountain (shown at right).
You can find out more about my books and order copies on line on my book page.
• The Gallery
This is a small selection of work that has won prizes, sold particularly well or just stuck in my own memory as particularly outstanding.
• Photo Blog
I try to organize most of my photos into distinct categories or themes. So when I have a single image I want to show off I use this photo blog as the venue in which to do it. It has its own RSS feed (which I update by hand, mainly for practice and to keep myself up to date on web protocols).
• Motorsports Photography
As a change of pace from my usual kinds of work, I occasionally have a go at some motorsports photography. I enjoy it because it presents challenges that are completely different from the nature photography work I normally do. As a former motorcycle roadracer myself, I'm pleased to have occasionally shot for SuperbikePlanet.com, the web's leading superbike racing site.
• Grandfather Mountain Nature Photography Weekend
Every year, Grandfather Mountain, in North Carolina, hosts a nature photography weekend. I have been a featured speaker several times and I've been co-judge of the event's photography competition every year since 2005.
Technical
On thing about photographers never changes: Some of them are obsessed with the technical details, of either of equipment processes. Here are a few pages that might appeal to these people. You know who you are!
• From Pixels to Pictures
This is my "Fundamentals of Digital Imaging" presentation that I gave at the Grandfather Mountain Nature Photography Weekend last year. I've scaled down some of the graphics and put it on the web. If you don't know the difference between a pixel and a JPEG and want to learn about the basic principles of digital imaging, this is the place to begin.
• How to Choose a Computer Monitor
This is a blog entry written after I went shopping for a new computer monitor and found that there wasn't any single spot on the web where I could get all the information a photographer or artist needed to make an intelligent decision. After assembling all the data and writing this article it quickly became my most read blog post. Whenever I check my server logs it appears near the top of the list of most referenced pages.
• Calibrating and Profiling your Computer Monitor
After obtaining a high quality monitor, the next essential step for photographers and other imaging professionals is getting it calibrated and profiled properly. This blog article explains the difference between calibration and profiling and explains the basics of how to get your monitor set up for accurate display of your images.
• How to Make Multi-Image Digital Panoramas
This tutorial was initially created as an exercise in JavaScript programming, but has evolved into a practical basic guide to "stitching" multiple digital images to create high resolution panoramas.
• Software
Open Source software and freeware applications for photography and digital image processing are plentiful on the web. Over the years I've assembled a collection of some that I've found most useful.
• The Vivitar 70-210mm Series 1 Macro Zoom
This lens was made over 30 years ago and is still sought after for its optical qualities, versatility and small size. In another example of accidental success, I assembled a page full of data about this lens and its variants and it became one of the most accessed pages on my web site.
• Pentax Cameras and Lenses
I started photography in high school with a Pentax K1000 and have continued through the years with Pentax 645 and 67 medium format cameras and the K20D digital SLR. I've accumulated many pages of technical data about Pentax cameras and lenses, including camera/lens compatibility, film camera service manuals, filter sizes and some pure entertainment material.
