Hello
Welcome to my web site.
I am 68 years old. I got my first camera when I was in my teens. It was a Sears Tower Leica look alike rangefinder. I now have many cameras. I have large format, medium format, and 35mm film cameras, and full frame and pro consumer as well as point and shoot digitals. When I go on a shoot I take both the film cameras and digitals. I use Fujifilm Velvia Professional 100 iso film. I use a Bogen tripod for nearly every photo I take.
I see beauty all over the place but it is very hard to put what you see into a photo. It is a case of what you see is not necessarily what you get when you point the camera and hit the shutter. I like flowing water, animals and plant blossoms. I drive many miles each year looking for these things. What you will see in my web site is the results of my many travels
This picture with the water cascade was my first to be published. After it won a local National Wildlife Refuge photo contest, it was picked up by the local Southern Illinois Tourism Director and added to the handouts you see in the rest stops on the Interstate Highways in Illinois. It was used to show one of the neat areas in Southern Illinois called Giant City State Park. I took this picture using an old 4 x 5 press camera. I was standing out in the flowing water on some very slick sandstone. After I had focused using the ground glass, and made all the exposure settings I took one last look and reached to get the shutter release. It was a long curving cable attached to the front of the camera. What had been a long curve was now very straight. At that moment I realized I was moving backwards. I had nothing to grab on to so I fell face down and slid some 70 yards on my hands and knees all the way to a pool at the bottom of the cascade. Did I mention the water was very cold. Just as I fell I hit the shutter button and let go. With several cuts and torn clothes I made it back up and got the camera and went home. The image you see is the one I took as I fell.
