Welcome to my online gallery!
A few things about me and my photography.
Photography became a passion for me when I was in high school many years ago in 1969 and my tool of choice was finally a 4x5 view camera for the best possible quality B&W images to process in my own darkroom. This taught me a lot about light, composition and the discipline of good technique. For that I owe a world of gratitude to Jack Ward, more a mentor than a teacher, for drawing out that passion and cultivating a pursuit of excellence in the art of photography that has endured throughout my life. My early inspirations were the works of Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Wynn Bullock, all worthy of aspiring to. I spent many years of my youth with fine friends exploring and photographing local beaches, hills and secret hidden places that took considerable effort to get to with the bulky equipment. Later on I bought a high quality Contax 35mm film camera for convenience and for the rich possibilities of color photography. Also, 35mm allowed me to carry on the family tradition of taking color slides on trips, vacations and of family events.
While starting a family and pursuing a demanding career in architecture I put it all down for 15 years. An exception was a desire to document my second son's birth, so a new possibility was born as well as I bought a Sony video camera. For a long time I was very compelled with shooting video, mostly of family life and celebrations while my film camera gathered dust.
In late 2001 we planned a long trip to South America that coincided with the advent of digital photography. Before the trip I invested in a Sony S85 when that was the best of the ‘prosumer’ digital cameras on the market and used that to take 300 shots a day during our trip. With the powerful inspiration of places like the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu, I rediscovered a passion that compelled me to dive back into photography. My passions for photography continue to build, and is now a full fledged obsession. I'm finding great joy in exploring and photographing some of the beautiful and amazing places on the planet. That process has lead me to discover that great shots are everywhere all around us all the time; we just need to be open to them to see them.
Digital photography has opened up huge new possibilities for me that were not possible before with color film's inherent processing challenges and high costs for color prints. I've always been drawn to the magic of color and that realm is now readily attainable with the technology on my PC and high quality color printers. I've also found that digital image processing resonated with my interest in all things related to computers and technology.
Also, I've really enjoyed the interactive possibilities with this online gallery as a way to share my work and enjoy the work of so many others from around the world.
In July, 2005 I upgraded my camera from a Fuji S2 Pro to a Nikon D2x for it's higher resolution and pro features to supoport my quest for ever higher image quality. In March 2011 I upgraded to a Nikon D7000 and hope to get a D800 at some point.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments it takes our breath away.” ~ Anonymous
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Places I've been:
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| Random Zane Paxton pictures
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