focus
My images capture detailed portraits of nature to view intricate details that are otherwise only available by observing local wildlife. Photographs of garden weeds or local hawk species, not just those deemed deserving.
Growing up in an acre garden nestled in the Sonoma Valley, I garnered an appreciation for the beauty of the natural world while beginning the exploration of my artistic vision. I aim to display species in every image as they are represented naturally with few distractions. In my nature photography, it is imperative for images to express the subject, not the person taking the photo. My images are edited as little as possible and focused on creating the effect of seeing things in a way that I genuinely see them through the camera. I sometimes stray from hyper-realistic photographs and attempt more full manipulation. I also clearly label these images as manipulated to differentiate them from unaltered images. As I progress through my artistic journey, I also enhance my knowledge about our environment and its inhabitants.
foreground
I create images celebrating the natural world's realistic, commonly viewable beauty to foster an improved appreciation for the environment. I believe there is inherent beauty in some of the most overlooked aspects of nature. My sentiment contradicts a stereotype of nature photographers’ only focusing on spectacularly vibrant, detailed, intricate, endangered, rare, or even species perceived as “difficult to capture.” I apply my artistic process to every species, whether a garden weed or a bald eagle, not just those deemed deserving.
background
My initial introduction to the art world was at local fairs where the emphasis was the comparison of art, thus instilling an initial opinion that some art was more valuable than others. This opinion was challenged with every museum and art gallery viewing, allowing me to formulate better the idea that as long as art has meaning to a singular person, within respectful boundaries, it is valuable and worthwhile. Photography is my artistic outlet, and I would continue to practice and study to enhance my skills whether or not any photos were taken off my camera’s capture card, much less viewed by anyone other than myself.
Although I believe the subject is of utmost importance in composing natural images, that doesn’t discount the role that composition, handling of lighting, and focus play in image creation. In many cases, to best reproduce what is seen with my naked eye requires more technical and situational understanding than is often considered. When non-photographers ask me how I “took an image,” and I reply with something even at the base level of interworkings in a camera, I tend to get an inquisitive look as if silently considering that using a camera isn’t any more difficult than snapping a well-composed shot on a modern phone camera. Even without this knowledge, photography can be art, but every step taken to understand more about the craft furthers the sentiment that Photography is a genuine art form.
