In my teens, I received a camera as a birthday gift from my grandfather and taught myself to take pictures. I was an avid photographer, taking the usual images of family, friends and vactions, until the birth of my children. After about a 20-year break, I bought a compact digital camera for a trip and began to fall in love with photography again. In 2003, I gave myself a digital SLR camera and in the Summer of 2004, I took my first of many classes in photography. I have been seriously hooked ever since. Photography is a great outlet for my creativity.
I enjoy going out and exploring, especially my “neighborhood”. It is fascinating to see the changes in the small ‘landscapes’ after a heavy rain, a flashflood or a snow fall, after thawing and freezing again of the creek. I am always amazed how the changes in light can influence what I see in the landscape.
My photography is moving into the more abstract forms. The intention is to capture the essence of what I see. My camera has the option to take multiple exposures (2 - 10) that are then combined in camera to just one image. This allows for an incredible range of creative applications. One of them is shown in the Gallery: Photographic Mandalas. There is so much more to explore and learn in order to master this tool.
The human eye is an amazing instrument, capable of incredible editing. The camera "sees" everything. Usually, I keep the editing of a photo to a minimum. If I was unable to avoid a telephone pole or similar man-made structures, I can go to great lengths, though, to remove it from a picture. I may edit an image in two different ways and combine them in Photoshop. Currently, I do not composit images or create what I call photographic or digital art.
Due to my connection with nature, I mainly photograph landscapes and wildlife. My goal is to capture that connection. With my images, it is my hope to inspire in others that connection as well as feelings of reverence, appreciation, joy or inner peace.