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About the Photographer
I am a professional, freelance photographer. I got my start in photography in 1976 when an elementary school science teacher had us make pinhole cameras. My first attempt failed miserably, but I was hooked. I joined the photography club, also led by the same science teacher. I had fun, but I eventually moved away from photography to concentrate on writing and this consumed my creative urges for several years. During this time, I would always see things that made me really wish I had a camera with me - only I was too busy with all the other facets of my life - friends, family, work, partying (hey, by this time I was in my 20s) - to give it any serious thought. Then, in the early 90s, while working as an assistant manager for Kwal-Howells Paints in Denver, I met a salesman who's second business was nature and astrophotography. Seeing the images he brought in from his trips around the world rekindled the feelings for photography. Also, I hadn't been doing much writing by this time and had no creative outlet for my artistic side, so I went out and bought a fully manual SLR film camera. I began playing with this camera quite a bit, learning how it worked, the concepts, the ideas, composition, lighting, exposure, f-stops, aperture - all those wonderful technical terms. It was a wonderful hobby which I enjoyed immensely. I would take pictures of cars, of landscapes, of flowers, and of family members. Anything I could shoot with me camera, I shot - at least as long as I had money for developing the film.
Then, in 2006, things began to change. To make extra money, I had been running a small, online used bookstore. The bottom fell out when people began selling books for less than I could buy them for. It reached a point where I could no longer afford to keep the bookstore up and running and I was simply not enjoying it anymore. It took every single moment of my free time for very little in return. I decided to close up shop. In 2007, I bought my first digital camera. It was amazing. I could take as many photos as I wanted and I could transfer them directly to my computer and had no processing costs. Until this point, I was purely a film person - avoiding digital cameras from the mistaken concept that digital was nowhere near as good as film. Now I was having a ton of fun and decided I would start joining contests. As I searched for contests which would accept my photos, I learned more about a market called stock photography. Many of the photos you see in magazines, advertisements, brochures, web sites, and presentations are stock photographs. I began to apply to, and was quickly accepted, into several stock photography agencies. I began to make money with my photography, which helped a little with the bills.
Over the next few months as I continued to shoot for and sell through stock agencies, however, I felt a bit stifled. I would shoot a picture of an apple, do some basic work in Photoshop that they required, and submit. But I wanted to create more than a photo of an apple with a white background. I still needed to create something that made both me and others happy. I began looking into a field called candid, or lifestyle, portraits. Now here was something I could sink my creative chops into. I could work with people to give them a portrait that was so much more than a simple, run-of-the-mill portrait. In the last part of 2007 I began to seriously consider this. I had the skills, I had the talent, I had the equipment, I had the eye. I had everything I needed except a plan. I began to work on that shortcoming. As I began looking into various types of photography businesses, the first thing I noticed was that most had a niche - an area of specialty that they worked primarily within - if not exclusively. The second thing I learned is that niche photographers tended to fall into a rut. After a while, all their photos began to look alike. The third thing I learned is that there are a lot of bad photographers out there calling themselves professionals. Not to disparage all the professionals because there is also a great number of very good photographers. What I did note, though, was that the best often did not fall into a specific niche. They were the photographers who would take on different projects from commercial to portraits to nature photography. As I studied those images, I realized that what they were doing was combining skills and techniques learned through different types of photography to create a more fully realized vision. They were combining traditional styles such as glamour, casual, portrait, commercial, and nature photography.
In February I began putting all the pieces in place. I bought a few pieces of equipment I needed such as a portable backdrop holder and some small studio lights that could be easily moved. In March, the doors "opened". What you see on the rest of these pages is work I have done since then. I'll let that work speak for itself. What it comes down to is this: If you want a mall-type portrait, you can go to the mall. If you want something much more exciting and artistic for about the same price, you can call me. I would love to work with you.
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On
this page you will find some samples of my stock photography. These are
just a few of the many of images I have shot and sold. 
Then,
in 1999 I took several classes in web design - one of which was a
Photoshop class. I learned that, through digital imaging, I could do even
more with my photos - make them part of something even larger. I also
quickly learned that whenever I designed or helped design a web site, I
needed photos - and I rarely could find exactly the photos I wanted or
needed. Now, I began to use my photography skills for something more than
just a hobby - I was integrating them into other endeavors. Before this, I
had never really thought about my photography as anything more than just a
pleasant past-time where I could kill time and release pent up
creative energies and create something beautiful or memorable.
Then
I discovered the awful secret of stock photography - it was purely
commercial. Most of the stock agencies wanted photos with little or no
creativity. They wanted plain, bland, boring photos that could be taken
and added into a composite image by graphic designers. Every time I showed
the slightest artistic bent, I would receive a notice that the image was
"not commercial enough". Please note that every image you see on
this page was rejected by at least two stock agencies as not commercial
while getting praise for excellent photography skills. Frustrating, huh?
January
of 2008 came and I now had a firm grasp of what I wanted to do with my
photography. Instead of going into and developing a single niche, I would
go freelance. It would allow me to explore greater depths, keep the job
from becoming stagnant, and keep various skills honed that could be
brought into play for any situation.
