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I began a quest to make pleasing images many years ago standing in front of an easel with a paintbrush in my hand. It has been a long journey with lots of detours from Miss Musgrave's kindergarten class to today. Cameras took the place of paint and brush in grammar school. Making a living took precedence over art, but photography remained a hobby during the detour into the world of work.
This detour was, in fact, just a training ground for developing the craft that is the foundation of modern fine art photography. The discipline of producing engineering drawings became part of my skill set. Degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering provided the tools to design computer hardware and software. Binary became my native language.
After the detour I became totally engaged in photography. As digital sensors replaced film and computer programs replaced darkrooms the craft of photography underwent a drastic change. I became an expert in technical aspects of the "New Photography" as a natural extension of the skills gained from earlier work in computer science. This new photographic technology is still evolving at an ever increasing rate. The cameras, printers, and processing software change almost daily.
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. "
-The Red Queen
My wife Cindy and I spend about four weeks each year polishing the tools of our craft and developing our aesthetic skills. We actively seek out the best available practitioners and technological leaders in each of many specialities (printing, retouching, composition, creativity, digital asset management, etc) and travel to wherever is necessary to study. A single instance can take anywhere from a few hours to a month.
Professional organizations are a big help in keeping up with the field. I am a member of the Professional Photographers Association, the North American Nature Photography Association, The American Society of Media Photographers, The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.
My work has won awards from galleries in Colorado, New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, Vermont, Washington DC, Massachusetts and Florida. It is part of the collections of The American Museum of Natural History, Continental Travel, Florida Retina Center, Florham Village Camera, Explore Inc., and numerous private collectors. It has been published by the North American Nature Photography Association and by the Vermont Photography Workplace.
Upcoming exhibitions include:
- Feb 2014 Sarasota (FL) Center for the Arts two person exhibit in collaboration with his wife, Cynthia Walpole
- Feb 2014 NJ Flower and Garden Show, Edison NJ
- Jan 2014 Space Coast Birding Festival, Titusville FL
- Oct 2013 Autumn Birding Festival, Cape May NJ
- Sep 2013 HummerBird Celebration, Rockport TX
- Aug 2013 Hummingbird Festival, Sedona AZ
Hummingbirds of Costa Rica are the basis of an ongoing joint project with Cindy. The extensive logistic and technical challenges have made it particularly exciting for us. The special reward is the images. Hummingbirds are like flying jewels. The camera records an instant in time that is not visible to the naked eye, revealing their otherwise invisible beauty.The goal of the collection is to effect an illusion of reality that transports the viewers to another location in such a way that they want to reach out and touch the image.