|
 I have spent a good portion of my adult life pursuing adventure in the wilderness and experiencing as much of the world as I can through travel. Even as a kid, climbing and backpacking in the Sierras and Cascades, and traveling to the West Indies and China instilled in me a passion for exploring the world not just as a spectator but as a participant. I began taking photographs about 15 years ago to document my adventures. I seem to have a need for artistic outlet, but I can't sit still long enough to complete a painting and the process of creative writing is painful for me. With no formal photography education it took a while for me to realize that my camera was more than a tool for simply recording events. It has now become the perfect implement for me to capture defining moments and hidden patterns in the world that normally fade in my memory after the initial experience. The more I learn to recognize these moments and patterns through the lens the more I am able to produce images that are not merely documentary, but have the added qualities of being compelling to the mind and pleasing to the eye. One goal that I have for my photographs is to include unexpected and yet natural elements that surprise and perhaps even confuse.
The idea for my photography business began to evolve after several years of giving slide shows of expeditions to places like Denali, the Andes, Nepal and Tibet and enjoying that I could share my experiences with others through pictures. In 2001 I started Outdoor Exposure Photography so I could share my images with a much broader audience. Outdoor Exposure Photography now provides a range of photographic services including selling fine art prints, image licensing, architectural and assignment photography. My prints are featured in a growing number of private and commercial collections, art shows and galleries. About the Photography I capture my images with Canon digital SLRs and Canon professional lenses creating large digital files, most of which can be enlarged to make stunning 20x30 prints with amazing detail and clarity. For some images I use neutral density filters and circular polarizers to compensate for difficult lighting and atmospheric conditions. To maintain my experience as a participant in adventures I often only bring along a single camera body and one lens secured in a chest harness allowing me the freedom to hike, mountain bike, climb and ski. For all my photography I use natural lighting as much as possible, and the more dramatic or unique the light is the better.  My entire workflow has been digital since 2001. Digital cameras and image editing software have revolutionized photography as an art form, placing more creative control, from image capture to print rendering, in the hands of the artist. I am ecstatic that I no longer need to turn over part of my process, such as the developing and printing of an image, to someone else.
The human eye and traditional film cameras don't see the world the same. Since its invention we have been conditioned to accept that photography portrays a "true" record of the world. Human experience is fluid and affected by emotion, perception and the synthesizing of input from all five senses. No two people experience the same event the same way, but does this make human perception any less "true"? For years photographers have struggled with this debate and many have sought ways to express a more human vision through their photos. Digital photography represents the next step in giving photographers the ability to produce images that more closely express their experience. For most of my images I strive to show the scene the way I saw it in my mind's eye at the time it happened and utilize the available technology to help me achieve that vision. While I often make sharpening, contrast and color adjustments to my photos, the subject matter and natural color palette remain generally unaltered. For artistic purposes, certain images lend themselves to more creative interpretation and digital manipulation, but I am careful to disclose if an image has been modified beyond basic color and contrast adjustments. |
