(Dusk)

California had record-breaking storms the first week of January and I was there. Many thought it unfortunate that I should have my trip ruined by bad weather, but my photographer friends knew better.

It was dark, stormy, rainy, windy, cold, hazy and foggy. In other words, perfect weather for photography!

These images are only days old and so not yet fully refined. I hope to get two "keepers" out of this group and right now I'm partial to "Dusk" above and "Pilings and Reflections" below. Dyan my wife, likes "Storm Detail No. 3" below.

View all seven of the California storm images.

(Pilings and Reflections)

(Storm Detail No. 3)

(An Image from the portfolio "Take Me Home")

Akash is my Brother.

We met 2 years ago in Fort Collins, he had won "Best of Show" from The Center for Fine Art Photography and they had flown him in from Bangladesh to receive the award.

We had nothing in common, he was from the world's poorest country and I from the richest. He had so little and I had so much. He works primarily in color and I in black & white. He was a documentary photographer and I was a fine art photographer. He used his images to expose injustice and my mine were simply "pretty pictures."

And yet in the course of a few days, we became brothers.

Akash identifies with the poor, the abused, the outcasts of his society and uses his camera to tell their story. I will not attempt to describe his images because my words could not do them justice. I can only hope you will visit his website and view them for yourself.

Akash's work has been featured in over 35 major international publications including: Time, Newsweek, Der Spiegel, The Economist, Amnesty Journal, PDN, View, Art Asia Pacific, Berliner Journalisten, China daily, Asia News, and the Sunday Telegraph of London.

Akash once told me that he had become very depressed seeing the poverty and injustice in his country and wondering each day if he would make it home alive. He decided that he must do something, and he has.

I am proud to call Akash my brother.


You may view Akash's images at: http://www.gmb-akash.com/main.html

(Wrenches)

As a child I was always fascinated by mechanical objects, often taking things apart but not being able to put them back together again. Later I worked as a machinist and gained an appreciation for machined metal objects. Even as a boy just starting out in photography my eye was drawn to mechanical things and metallic objects.

In the winter of 2005 I spent about month photographing flora in a local greenhouse. Amazingly, this family run business gave me free reign throughout the facility and it was there I first saw and photographed the Dahlia.

One day while exploring, I stumbled into a workshop where I found ordinary objects arranged into an extraordinary scene. Bright wrenches, hanging from a workbench in a dark workshop. The room was almost pitch black but instead of turning on the lights to photograph, I chose to take a 30 second exposure and use a keychain flashlight to highlight the wrenches. I used the flashlight like a paintbrush and manually painted the scene until it was exactly as I had envisioned it.

I still enjoy photographing metal as evidenced by my current project on Grain Silos. Even though some of my recent work is taking on a more abstract feel (See Swimming Towards the Light) I cannot imagine the day when I'll lose my interest in mechanical things, it's just too embedded in my past.

(Self Portrait and a Parking Meter)

Here's where my work and I have been recently:

(Grain Silo Detail No. 69)

I'm still adding to my Grain Silo portfolio! I was hoping that the snow would bring some new opportunities, however I learned that dry Colorado snow does not stick to the sides of the Silos as I had hoped.

The portfolio is nearing completion and I am hoping to show it here in Fort Collins at the beginning of March .

View all of the Grain Silo Images