Photography

Art that I Create

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In the days I made photos using film SLRs, I wasn’t a very good photographer. Moving to digital has been a godsend as the immediate feedback from an exposure quickly taught me do’s and don’ts. I was able to learn the craftsmanship I needed to support my vision.

A turning point in my journey came in March 2007 when I took a photograph in Washington Park. I looked at that photo and decided that maybe I was at the point where I could actually do something with photography. It was time to get serious. The first thing I did was make A Poster. Things snowballed from there, and I invested in new equipment – and dove into learnings and experimentation.

One of my instructors at the Newspace Center for Photography thought it only natural that one of our goals was to have our photos exhibited in a gallery. And while many did aspire to that, I hadn’t given the matter any thought at all. Even now I have to question why I would want to do that. Ego? Money? Fame? (Well... a very small amount of local fame, I guess. Baby steps.) Perhaps respect from my peers?

I haven’t yet found any reason strong enough. But to have such a goal might push me to work harder – so perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad thing. I do check out the local exhibitions and do a mental comparison. My photography is better than some, not as good as most. “Better” being subjective, of course. For now, I simply want to improve. Someday I may submit a photo for exhibition just to go through the experience. I’m in no rush.

While I continue to experiment with all kinds of photography, my niche is event photography. I rely on a photojournalism style, preferring candid photos to staged. I am invited to photograph events for organizations. I‘m also asked to do portraits. I‘m less comfortable with that, but my work is generally liked, so I get plenty of requests. Photographing people is harder – but more interesting – than photographing places or things.

 

Platform

The Tools I Use

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For two decades I relied on two 35mm film cameras from Minolta – the Minolta XG-7 and the Minolta Maxxum 700si. Both were great cameras – with capabilities far beyond their owner. In the early days of digital SLR photography, I bought a Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D – an awesome camera. I still love this camera, and it remains active to this day, in my daughter’s employ.

I saw that Minolta’s days were numbered, and even a year after the sale of its SLR technologies and rights to Sony, I knew I had to move to a more mainstream camera platform. Canon or Nikon? When I tried out a Canon EOS 30D and a Nikon D200 side-by-side, I immediately went for the Nikon, whose ergonomics were much better than that of the Canon – although not as good as my Minolta, which was superior to both. In 2007 the D200 was a good introduction to the Nikon system, and the next year I graduated to the new D300, which turned out to be one of the best DX cameras Nikon ever made – an instant classic. The D300 served as my primary camera for over 7 years.

In 2015 a benefactor provided the funds that enabled me to upgrade to a Nikon D810 – which is an incredible camera. Within a couple of years I adjusted my perspective and technical knowledge in transitioning from DX to FX.

In February 2020 I bought a Nikon Z6 – and for me this has turned out to be the spiritual successor to my beloved Nikon D300. The Z6 quickly became my everyday camera. My walkabout lens is the exacting NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S. The 85mm focal length is a personal favorite. As a changeup for walks I'll use a NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8 macro lens. For general purpose travel, I fall back to the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S kit lens. This three-lens kit is everything I need for personal fun. For event photography, I return to my Nikon D810 and a versatile array of F-mount lenses. Typically I'll pair the D810 with the stellar AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E lens.

For software I started with both initial versions of Apple’s Aperture and Adobe’s Lightroom programs. At first Aperture was better, but Lightroom improved rapidly, and Aperture failed to keep up. I made the decision to go solely with Lightroom. As of October 2021 I am running Lightroom Classic 10.4. On occasion I use Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo for graphics projects.

For my online photo gallery I started with PBase... flirted briefly with Flickr... but settled on Zenfolio. Zenfolio has been an outstanding service, and I recommend it without reservation.