Biography
Retired physician.

My interest in photography began as a teenager when I inherited one of my older brother's cameras. After buying some used darkroom equipment for about 15 Canadian dollars I took over his smelly 'Gilbert's Chemistry Set' lab in our basement, and voila - I saw the Dark! Like everyone whose early photographic experiences involved the darkroom, I'll never forget the joy of seeing my first negatives and prints reveal themselves to me in that dank dusty cellar, not far from the our coal-burning furnace and my mother's 'cold storage cannery'. Then anointed the family photographer, I developed my skills 'shooting' family events and people. I got an after-school job assisting a commercial photographer, where I really learned the craft, and became familiar w/ large format (4x5) cameras, 30 lb Honeywell speedlites (I was the 'beast of burden' at weddings), and large volume image processing (e.g., contact printing and processing a few hundred photo 'thank-you' cards). All that gave me a good grounding for understanding how to make good images from either negatives or digital capture.

My interest in photography has remained w/ me since then, through 3 more home darkrooms until 2000 when I saw The Light, and switched to digital photography. My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix 900, about 1.2 megapixels resolution, laughable by today's standards. But the instant gratification of seeing my image captures hooked me. Although I get a lot of pleasure from learning how to process digital captures in my computer, my greatest kick is in seeing the final image, and sharing it w/ others. Through my contacts in the club I've learned a lot about composition and personal expression, and come a long way from the days when most of my photos, esp those taken while traveling, were typical shots 'just for the memory'.

Over the years I've held several positions in the camera club, including President and Webmaster. At present I'm generally considered the 'elder statesman'. I enjoy sharing my 'wisdom' and experience with others, which includes material of interest that I find on the web.

As this sample portfolio illustrates, I enjoy capturing images illustrating subtle humor and warmth among people and their animal friends, both at home and away. Whatever catches my eye.