Early in my photographic studies, I explored
several styles - posed, art, straight, abstract - but one style quickly
became my favorite... Natural light candid photography of people and
animals, with a strong photojournalistic approach, constitutes the bulk of
my work. Capturing "the decisive moment", as advocated by Henri
Cartier-Bresson, satisfies my inner phototog unlike nothing else.
The images above are some of my recent favorites. I will confess that
not every image is purely candid, nor is every image purely natural light,
but I feel they remain true to the style I most revere. The digital
age has provided much welcomed flexibility - the intermix of color and black
and white, stray object removal, and other pixelroom techniques have made
the pursuit even more rewarding.
I do not personally believe in using any post capture technique (whether
digital or darkroom) to change the core essence of an image - but I have no
problem using any technique to strengthen or otherwise enhance that essence.
Photography is an art after all - the goal of which is to preserve and
present an image as we experience it. And for those of you
bemoaning the impact of Photoshop and other software tools on the art, keep
this in mind... those tools did not usher in the age of image
manipulation - photographers have been enhancing images for centuries using
"more traditional" means - they just served to make it
easier for the masses to achieve similar results.
