Photogaphy
From the darkroom to the desktop
Photography has been a passion of mine since high school and remains a key point in my teaching and livlihood to this day. I've shot for magazines ranging from small local publications like Point of Light in Pittsburgh to fairly well-known 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.
My Photography
I have several sections of this site devoted to examples of my photography (links to gallery pages above). Other areas related to photography are described below:
• Print prices
Pricing for prints in various sizes.
• Photo Books
I've created several 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). Find out more on my book page.
• Portfolio
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.
• 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.
Pentax Stuff
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.
• Pentax Cameras and Lenses
• PDML Photo Annual
• Pentax Lens/Camera Compatibility
• Filter Sizes for Pentax Lenses
• Annual PDML Quotations Archive
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!
• Free Imaging 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.