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What are your specialties? I do two types of photography, which I consider my specialties. Shooting Black and White Infrared film is one, which I have been doing for 30 years, portraying man and his environments around the world. The second, which changed my photography entirely in 1989, was switching to the Fuji 617 panorama camera. For 13 years now I have been shooting exclusively in the 617 panorama format, regardless of subject or location, everything from solar eclipses in Zimbabwe to aerial (helicopter) photos of the Rose Bowl. I’m represented by Panoramic Images stock agency in Chicago since 1995. What made you want to become a photographer? I decided to become a photographer for two reasons. The first was a strong desire to portray the world through my eyes, through some form of art, for others to see and enjoy. I got my AA Degree in Liberal Arts from El Camino College in 1971 where I was initially introduced to the camera. The second reason and decisive moment came in the middle of a three year journey around the world, 1972-1975. It was Christmas, 1973, in northern Australia. I had no camera because I had sold it several months earlier in India to get enough money to purchase a boat ticket to Perth, Australia via Singapore. I was sitting in a bar in Port Hedland with a group of Aborigines, Yugoslavs, Croatians, Irish, English and other assorted mine workers from around the world when I saw my future. Everyone there had stories of their experiences in life and on the road but none had photographs, no ‘hard copies’ of images to backup the stories so wonderfully told. That evening, reflecting on my own past and recent experiences (i.e. growing up in Ohio, Australia and southern California, serving in the U.S.Army in Vietnam, traveling the U.S.A., losing my passport in Afghanistan in 1972, and bicycling down the west coast of India, my first encounter with the subcontinent, in 1973), I vowed to commit myself to the lifetime goal of using photography as a vehicle and tool to document and share my life’s experiences, as I moved through the world. I wanted to do it in such a way that the viewer of the photo is taken into the scene as if it were his or her own personal experience. At the same time, I gave myself the hobby of traveling through and photographing India the rest of my life. This evolved into my receiving a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology from Dominguez Hills University in 1981 based on my studies of the fishermen of Goa, India. The adventure continues to this day; we all need something to do!

The First Photo

How has your work evolved over the span of your career? Upon returning to the U.S.A. in 1975, I started shooting sports and doing art shows (selling my images of the Far East and India) to make a living. Not having had any formal photography training other than basic classes at junior college, I was forced to seek more unusual avenues in the photographic field in order to survive in the business. In 1982 I stopped shooting sports and devoted all my attention to making a living full-time selling my work, as art, to whoever the buyer might be. I went into retail, the cash and carry business! This allowed me the freedom to shoot what I wanted to shoot. I concentrated more on shooting the beaches of the south bay of Los Angeles and this has been my specialty market ever since. My images have evolved over the years even with my shooting the same subject matter repeatedly; I have spent my time fine-tuning the images over the years.

Local Panoramas

What is the best part and the hardest part about being a photographer? The best part is to be able to live one’s life in a way that touches others on more than just a physical plane. The hardest part is staying fresh and contemporary. The challenge of being creative (in a small environment) and portraying a well-known landscape or subject in away that it hasn’t been seen before is tough. And even more importantly, doing it in such a way that it sells. Describe a challenging situation you've faced and how you handled it. I find the most challenging situations to be the photo shoots where time is severely limited, where the window of opportunity to get the shot is down around two minutes or less. Examples are sports action, solar eclipses, space shuttle launches, animals and particular weather conditions. At these times, one has to be very focused and tuned into the surroundings and the subject’s activity. Pre-visualization of the subject and how you want to portray the image is essential and part of the challenge. I handle these by making sure that I am where I need to be ahead of time and that the film is in the camera and the settings are right. Then it is a matter of waiting till all the elements come together for that brief instant. Rarely do I get to shoot more than 4 shots at these times.

Infrareds

Where do you see the future taking you and your photography? I’ve just begun using a computer and have started scanning images. The future digital world will provide a whole new way of utilizing my new and my old images and will provide new ways to make them more accessible to more customers. I will continue, though, on the same path of focusing on man and his environments, from the beaches of Los Angeles to the exotic world of India. Describe any recent or current projects. In 1998, I read about and purchased the little Hasselblad XPAN camera. I then embarked on a new project using Black and white infrared film and the XPAN. After I had gotten a decent collection of mini-panorama photographs together, I started hand coloring the black and white prints. This has been a way to provide my customers with a totally new and unique, one of a kind product and also to introduce them to more unusual and exotic subjects. I am continuously adding new images to this collection. Describe an important part of your life away from photography. Apart from home life and family, the most important thing in my life is travel and intimate encounters with people, unusual environments and subjects. To be out adventuring the world, sharing thoughts and views with diverse cultures and photographing is as good as it gets.

Unique Panoramas