About My Images

Living in Geauga County most of my life, I’ve gained a full appreciation for all the beauty that nature has to offer throughout the seasons. Most of my images were taken in the Northeast Ohio region and surrounding rural areas.

I enjoy the challenge of finding beauty and uniqueness in otherwise simple places and things. Sometimes It’s just a unique angle or waiting for the light to be right that makes all the difference, other times it’s manipulating the scene through the creative controls of the camera and composition. Regardless of how or where I take the picture, my intention is to capture an image at a special moment in time.

Some of my images are inspired by the spacious vision that a landscape painter possesses while others are strong, more direct compositions. As I matured in my vision, I realized that by keeping an open mind, many otherwise unseen images have presented themselves.

I am constantly scouting potential shooting locations and contemplating when and where would be the best time to shoot a particular image. It is not unusual to revisit an area often and even shoot several different times to get what I want.

Once I locate a potential subject, my first decision is whether I will ultimately print in color or black and white.

When shooting in color, I try to take full advantage of all the beautiful hues and intensities that nature is willing to provide. I only shoot in color if it will indeed enhance the image. When you view my photographs, it should be immediately evident that the use of color, whether it’s subtle or bold, is a key component in the image. That is my intention.

Although I create many color images, my background and heart are still often in the black-and-white world. Visualizing in black and white is a trained skill that I learned many years ago and has always stayed with me. Seeing in black and white “infrared” is another skill that required much practice to perfect. Analyzing texture, tones and composition in black and white is still the most difficult but rewarding skill I feeI I possess. Hopefully this is evident in my work.

I get just as much pleasure out of processing the images as I do shooting them. I loved spending countless hours in the darkroom back in the day and I still spend many hours perfecting my images today – I’m just not in the dark anymore!