I started my passion for photography in 1973 with an Instamatic, an easy to use film cartridge camera, and took photos of everything. I received a Canon AE-1 35mm camera for high school graduation at age 18, which I eventually upgraded to the AE-1 Programmable, which I still have. I did the whole process of taking photos, and developing them, while exploring my skills as an artist with varied medium. I used that Canon up until 2008, with the same lenses, and hundreds of rolls of film.
I focused mainly on architectural and landscape shots, all of which I still do, with high degree of passion. In my profession as a lighting designer with a specialty residential and commercial lighting, we used a computer program called Corel, where I developed editing skills used to present my vision to clients. That was before Photoshop and all the available digital imaging tools available today which afford me the opportunity to push to the next level.
I never had formal training in photography, but my intuition and passion for light has always been my drive to achieve perfection, as it is light that makes a photograph. A large part of my talent came from teaching students how to do something I had no clue how to do myself. I was fortunate to teach photography for 3 years in Las Vegas, both at B&C Camera and in giving private lessons. The classes usually were attended by newbie’s, and an occasional pro. I also taught Photoshop, Lightroom, and studio lighting.
Photography has become as much producing images, as it is producing photographs. I believe that once a photograph has been altered it becomes an image. A photographer now has the tools to become an image-maker, which requires a skill beyond photography, so even If you don’t think you are a great photographer, you might still be a great artist. The beauty we see has now become the vision of the artist.
My tools are Nikon D750, P7000, Sony RX10 and iPhone 12, my lenses are 50mm/f1.8, 90mm/f2.8, 105mm/f2.8, 16-35mm/f4, 24-70/f2.8, 28-300/f3.5, 70-200/f2.8. I use speed lights, studio lights with soft boxes, and tripods.