ABOUT

INTRODUCTION

Raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, I began exploring the natural beauty of the area at an early age through Scouting and family camping trips. After hiking long portions of the Appalachian Trail through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the age of fourteen, I began a journey of appreciation for wild and scenic areas which continues to this day. Fascinated by the spectacular beauty of wild areas but frustrated by the inability to convey the beauty and importance to others, the works of Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter and others provided the direction and roadmap to landscape photography as a medium of expression. My introduction to photography on a professional level came during a summer job while making group photos of tourists as they visited local attractions near the Great Smoky Mountains. Upon entering the University of Tennessee, I worked as a staff photographer for the daily school newspaper. Over this four year span, I specialized in sports photography for the newspaper as well as landscape photography for my own use. Graduating with a B.S. in Forestry and capitalizing on the experience of previous summers spent working for the North Carolina Outward Bound School, I began work full-time for the Outward Bound School as an instructor and photographer. While there, I co-authored the first book on the N.C. Outward Bound School, a photo essay entitled To Know By Experience and subsequently produced two twelve minute promotional films for the school.

With a keen sense for adventure and exploration, I moved to Boulder, Colorado in pursuit of a Masters degree in Experiential Education at the University of Colorado. Upon graduation, I founded Madden Mountaineering, a company specializing in the design and manufacture of high quality backpacks and outdoor gear. Through these times, I also pursued my avocation for photography by becoming one of the primary photographers for the University of Colorado Sports Information Department – a position I have held for over 20 years. Living and traveling in the Rocky Mountain West presents an abundance of photographic opportunities to explore unique landscapes ranging from high deserts to towering mountain ranges. Coupled with the opportunity to travel in my current career in the outdoor industry, I have been able to capture unique images from a variety of places ranging from Hong Kong to Yosemite. Over the years I have also had the opportunity to write articles and have photos published in multiple magazines, including OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER and PC PHOTO. If I were to summarize all of my experiences as a photographer into one sentence, it would simply say, “enjoy the journey… it may be better than the destination”. In other words, photography is really a journey – one which we get to define and enjoy each day.

ARTIST STATEMENT

There was a time when the ‘art community’ turned up their nose when photography and art were used in the same sentence. Fortunately for each of us who admit to being photographers, the talents of Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter and others emphatically removed all doubt with their early landscape photography. Today, many of their original prints are displayed and sold by better galleries along side other original works from well known painters and sculptors. The interesting point to all of this is the current ‘battle’ between those who promote film as the ‘pure source’ of photography and in a twist of irony, turn their nose up at those who embrace digital capture, as if this is nothing more than a form of ‘cheating’. Some ‘purist’ would even argue that black & white photography is the only true form of ‘art’ since it generally requires the photographer to make the photograph, process the film and then make the print in a darkroom. The truth of the matter is both technologies are acceptable forms of photography, each requiring the photographer to develop an aesthetic as well as technical expertise to produce a fine print. Each must be viewed as a craft which is learned after many years of practice.

With over thirty-five years of experience working with film and now digital capture, I have made the transition to completely digital over the past five years. On the other hand, many of the photographs you see on this website are from transparencies which have been scanned and then downloaded into my computer. Once an image is in the computer, it is ‘enhanced’ to reflect the image I witnessed when making the photograph. It is important to note that nothing is ever changed in either the context or the content of the original photograph. Once I am satisfied with a print on the screen, it then goes to the printer as a ‘work print’ and from there it is refined until I am satisfied with the final print, much as you would do in a traditional darkroom. All of my prints are printed on Epson printers using state-of-the-art pigmented inks for archival consistency and fully guaranteed to your satisfaction.

If you still think ‘digital’ or ‘enhanced’ are dirty words or a form of ‘cheating’, then go back and read some of the books by Ansel Adams about the techniques he used in making photographs and fine prints. For example, using filters to alter the image on film or darkroom techniques such dodging, burning, cropping, unsharp mask and increasing/decreasing contrast are not considered new techniques nor are they necessarily easier using computer programs such as Photoshop. Each technique requires that the printmaker learn a craft in order to produce a fine print. Ultimately, the value of a print is in the eye of the beholder, not in the technology or the process by which the final print is produced.