ARTIST STATEMENT:

The Big Picture:
I desire to gift the Future with a catalog of long images.  I want the gift to be useful, user friendly, artful, and of long term value.

Subject Matter:
It's all fair game with me.  I prefer to photograph ordinary things (hopefully artfully).  Documentation of our present time is important.

And while I'm on the subject of Subject Matter...let me say that one of my major frustrations with my life is that I see images practically everywhere!  Images worth capturing.  Images worth saving.  And yet I am just one guy.  It's frustrating.  Too many images of today's life are never being captured and are being lost.

Your Right to Use My images:
You have no right to use any of my images in any form without my written permission.

If you have purchased a print you have no right to reproduce the print without my written permission.

I'm not hard to get along with.  Communicate with me.  If you are a commercial enterprise expect me to reasonably charge you for image use.

My Thoughts About Photography:
Most often when I photograph I am thinking of the future.  Will this image have value in the future?  And by value I don't necessarily mean monetary value.  By value I mean "will this image help 'the past' to be understood?  Will this help humanity move into the future"?

Size:
I restrict my panoramas to a 1:3.2 ration (10" X 32").  I print at 300 ppi.  The printed images are almost a 30 mega-pixel image...lots of pixels...lots of detail.  By limiting myself to this one ratio (1:3.2) I am able to more finely tune my vision both horizontally and vertically.

Non-panoramic images are typically available from my Image Delivery System (my term for Photo Galleries) sized to 6 megapixels.  While my current DSLR captures 10 megapixels I still post only 6 megapixels.  The 10 mp gives me the opportunity to further enlarge, and/or to crop. 6 megapixels is enough pixels for even a billboard.  If you need more than the 6mp contact me.  I'll work with you.

Another thought regarding image size:  Our world is changing.  More and more images are being displayed only electronically.  As I write this (November 2011) the definition of High Definition (for television) is 1920 pixels X 1280 pixels.  This is just a 2.5 megapixel image.

Paper and Ink:
The Fine Art panoramas that I print personally are printed onto matte archival paper with archival inks.  I am led to believe by the paper and ink manufacturers that these prints should easily last 75+ years when displayed properly.  I'll never know.  I do my best to offer permanence.

By restricting myself to one paper size the photo section of my studio is not bristling with hundreds of sizes of hundred of papers, mats, backings, sleeves, and frames.  By restricting myself to one paper size I have significantly reduced the clutter and can pay more attention to the images themselves.  When I do need something special printed I usually have it done by Bay Photo in Santa Cruz.  My on-line gallery uses Bay Photo exclusively.

Geotagging:
Geotagging is emerging as a technique that should be applied to images of importance.  The concepts are important...and complicated.  For example;

  • Do you record the position of the camera or of the scene?  This is a very important question.  In the past when manually geotagging images I would record the position of the 'scene'.  Now, however, I work with a GPS on my person so am recording the position of the camera.

  • Should altitude be recorded?  I've done some photography from a helicopter.  The altitude the my GPS records is of course the altitude of the helicopter, not of what is being photographed.

  • Do you record the compass rose (the direction that the camera is pointing)?  From a GIS perspective this could be important.

At the present time (11/2011) I do geotag many of the images that I capture.  I use a DeLorme GPS.  When I return to my studio I "merge" the GPS information into the EXIF image record.

Why is this important?  Imagine how different World War II would look to us if all images had been geotagged (time, date, exact location)?  Imagine how 1 BC would be so much better understood if we possessed geotagged images of that time.

One of these days geotagging will not be a process that needs to be considered.  It will be automatic.  It will happen no matter what.  

Workflow and Archives:
I am a Nikon guy shooting at this time primarily with a Nikon D200.  I'm fortunate that my camera can utilize my old 'film' lenses.  The 'glass' is very important.  While I do utilize my Nikon 18-200VR the majority of the time, my favorite lens to shoot with is an old 50-300mm Nikon press lens.  This is the lens that was up in the press box at the games decades ago, reaching down into the action on the field. This big guy requires a tripod and patience.  I also have other 'prime' lenses...but let's face it...a photographer can never have enough good glass.

Photoshop is used (of course).  PTGui is the panorama stitcher.  I print my Fine Art prints from QImage.  Those of you purchasing prints from my on-line gallery will be choosing your paper (or metal) when you place your order.  Fulfillment for those prints will be done by Bay Photo in Santa Cruz, California.

I archive my images by year, and then by shoot date.  Example, in a folder labeled 2011 I have a set of images that are in a folder labeled 20110212_LagoonWaterQuality.  I've over 120,000 images stored this way.   I seem to average about 20,000 images a year.  My images are all stored between two primary hard drives, and then are backed up onto two more hard drives.  Additionally, the images in my on-line gallery are backed up by SmugMug.

Most of my images are captured as highest resolution / lowest compression .jpeg images.  No in camera processing.  I rarely shoot RAW, but will in difficult situations.

I do have an archive of film images that I am failing to convert to digital.  I have the best intentions...however it doesn't get done.

Image Titling:
I choose to print titling onto all of my panoramas (location, image title, date). When I sign a panorama I also date/time stamp my signature (20110218-0859 for example).  Over the years I have looked at too many photographs that do not contain this simple yet important information (location, title, date).  I realize that in wet darkroom days it was more difficult to title an image.  In this day and age it is incredibly simple and should be done (in my opinion).  When I handle image files I also place information into the image EXIF. 

When I print smaller images I use a couple of Photoshop actions that allow me to frame and title and date these smaller images.  And in the EXIF file I place details.  We are no longer in the wet darkroom days where it was very difficult to add this information.  We are here now when it is easy.  I think we owe it to the future to properly label our images.