Since the mid 1990’s until the last year, my primary interest and work has been about flowers, particularly close-up or macro photography. These photographs attempt to display not only flowers as a whole and in context, but also the inner details that are not often seen. One of my goals as a photographer is to share with people the beauty in even the smallest details of nature and to inspire others to look more closely at the world around us.
Over the last few years, I have found myself drawn in two directions: to the larger natural world and in seeing the rhythms of and transitions in nature. My current work combines my longstanding interest in flower photography with a larger view of the natural world.
I am a member of the Pioneer Valley Photographic Artists and have published photographs in a variety of magazines and promotional materials such as the Union of Concerned Scientists Annual Report 2005, Contemplative Dance (2007-2012), Kestrel Trust Newsletter (2012-2013), Rethinking Schools and Artscape magazines. In addition, my work has been shown in galleries such as the Burnett Gallery and Hope and Feathers Gallery in Amherst, the A.P.E. Gallery in Northampton, and the Valley Photo Center in Springfield.
As I’ve gotten older and the equipment heavier, I’ve been making photographs using a small rangefinder, a smaller DSLR and finally, in 2012, an even smaller mirrorless digital camera that I can easily carry around in my travels. While I have made the move to digital photography, for the present, the majority of the photographs on the website have been made with 35mm and medium format film equipment. I still shoot film as it is a different exercise that I enjoy.
For those of you interested in the technical and equipment side, all photographs were taken with either a Nikon (F90x), a Mamiya (RZ67), a Voitlander Bessa R, a Pentax K-R digital camera, or an Olympus OMD EM-5, my current camera of choice. Film choices were (and are) primarily Fuji Velvia, Velvia 100F and Provia 100F. Digital files are shot simultaneously in RAW and JPEG formats with minimal post-processing.
Most of the flower photographs were made at local gardens and greenhouses. I would like to thank Carlotta Willis and Jonathan Klate, Carol Kinsey Pope, Debbie Windoloski, Marie Fowler and Verda Dale for their kindness in allowing me repeated access to their gardens. The Pioneer Valley has great resources for those interested in flowers and plants in the gardens and greenhouses at Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts. The staff at all these institutions have been very helpful and supportive to me personally and to photographers in general. For people living in or visiting the Amherst area, the David Chapin Kinsey Memorial Garden at the Jones Library in Amherst is worth a visit.
I greatly appreciate the constant support and assistance of my wife, Susan. In a very real sense these photographs would not have been made without her help.