My passion is photography. In pursuitof that passion, I collect photographic images, books on photography, and, over the past fifteen years, I have learned to create these beautiful images myself.

My work can best be described as picturesque - that is to say, my prints are pleasing to the eye so as to give one a sense of relief from the alienation and isolation of modern urban life. With few exceptions, the images in this collection are not meant to confront or trouble the viewer but are meant to uplift the spirit. These tranquil images are best described metaphorically as being similar to jazz ballad improvisation in which the scenes photographed are the underlying melodies and the finished images are the improvisations.

These photographic improvisations are best presented in a Giclée fine art print. The creation of these images is a collaborative effort with an outstanding printer, Thomas Alan Parks, at Orion Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These prints were shot with two large format cameras (an 8X10 Deardorff and a 4x5 Zone VI) and one medium format camera (a Mamiya7). I use both positive color film with full saturation and black and white negative film.

"Giclée" is a French word meaning "sprayed, jetted or spurted." A Giclée fine art print is a print produced with continuous ink jet technology done by a specialized printer. The ink jet printer is a high-definition printer capable of producing images using precisely controlled dots of ink that are many times smaller than the width of a human hair. Eight inks (cyan, magenta, yellow, black and their light counterparts) are introduced at a rate of one million drops of ink per second (per color) onto a variety of primarily paper media (rag paper, rice paper, tissue, canvas, etc.).

These Giclée fine art prints are images made from an original photographic negative which are then painted onto fine art paper.

I prefer Giclée fine art prints to other forms of photographic printing for a number of reasons. First, my work is better expressed through large images. These prints are approximately twenty-two by twenty-four inches in size. Second, the Giclée printmaking process allows for much greater creativity. With high end Adobe Photoshop software, there is virtually no limit to creative digital image editing. Photoshop allows me to spot, dodge, burn, etc. with greater control and precision, and the software allows greater latitiude with respect to colors, color saturation, contrast, and focus. More importantly, however, using the software permits me to remove unsightly objects, such as utility poles and power lines, that are inimical to the work. Thus digital technology gives me the ability and control to create my own artistic interpretation of the original image.

In the final analysis, the finished artwork is the true measure of the medium. A Giclée fine art print is, to me, more beautiful than a conventional or matte print on photographic paper. Moreover, in the hands of a skilled artist, the luminous Giclée print, with its capacity for continuous tones, rich color saturation, and image editing offers an exceptional opportunity for complete artistic expression.