I first started with photography while in Junior High School. Every summer I would work on farms in Montana and save money to purchase more camera equipment in the fall when I went back to school. By the time I finished High School I owned a 4x5 Speed Graphic with about 15 different backs and inserts for roll film, Polaroids, and Sheet film. I also owned a 2.25 x 3.25 Crown Graphic and a 3.25 x 4.25 Graflex D plus a 35mm Nikon F with 3 lenses. In my Darkroom I had two enlargers, an 8 foot long custom fiberglass sink. etc. etc. etc.!

Back in my day most high school boys purchased cars where I bought cameras!

My first wedding was in the beginning of my Senior year. My aunt introduced me to a couple that was getting married for the second time. They were on a tight budget which is where I came into the picture. After shooting that wedding I shot 4 more weddings before I graduated from High School!

4 years ago I started to go digital. My first digital camera was the Nikon D1X. After gaining confidence in the quality of the digital images I sold all my film cameras off except for a 35mm Nikon F on Ebay. Images I took with my Schneider Lens back in the 1970's (a very good lens at the time) on 4x5 film didn't hold a candle to the quality I was getting off of my 12 megapixel Nikon D2X camera and the fantastic lenses that I now own. In my personal experience the clarity of these new lenses has more impact than the resolution differences between film and digital.

I tutor other photographers in digital concepts and in learning the fundementals photography. I am also able to offer guidance in selecting the appropriate computer equipment for processing images to get the biggest bang for the buck and the best response times with photoshop and other digital tools. Many photographers waste money on buying cutting edge CPU's then strangle thier CPU's with inadequete memory bus speeds and cheap low-bandwidth disk drives. By carefully using RAID and spending more money on a better motherboard instead of spending an inflated price on the CPU the photographer will see substantial improvement in the performance of the overall system. Its similar to putting a huge engine in a car without improving the exhaust system. The whole system needs to be optimized not just the CPU.

Other areas that I can help photographers is with advanced use of filters. It amazes me how underused filters are in most photography. If you go through the catalougs you will be suprized at the number of pages devoted to filters. They far exceed the number of pages devoted to darkroom equipment, film, etc.

If you do not know the difference, for example, between a Linear and Circular Polarizer you would benefit from your time spent with me. Polarizers can be purchase not only for your lens but also for your flash systems. Polarizing both light source and camera solves a unique set of problems. Contact me for prices!