About

Why "Light Etchings" as the name for this site?  I chose it as a play on the word "photograph".  It's not a more correct term, but I think it implies that light does something other than "drawing" in the creation of an image, whether on film or a silicon wafer. In other words, photons interact  with or "etch" a site, whether a silver halide grain or a pixel, creating a signal that must be processed by various means, whether by a computer, including the camera, or an enlarger, to produce the "graph" or image.  Beyond that bit of jargon, I hope you enjoy "Light Etchings."

I'm a retired academic with a long-standing interest in photography going back to my early teens.  Professionally, I taught histology (microscopic anatomy) to medical students and captured a few thousand images with electron microscopes along the way.  The framing, composition, contrast and sharpness of those images were critical to a research narrative, necessitating chemical darkroom work with the 3.25”x4” negatives and silver gelatin prints.  In other words, I'm old school in photography - with different instruments.  I like to say that my favorite cameras were made by RCA, Philips and JEOL. So, shooting now with a vision of an emotion to be expressed, a memory to be recalled, a story to be told or perhaps a print to be made is really a throwback to earlier times.

While I’ve used a variety of lenses, cameras and technics in my work, I’m now mostly a walk-around photographer with a versatile walk-around lens on my camera.

Where do I shoot?  With the memory of my lovely wife Peggy who offered valued inspiration and opinions on my work, and the companioship our little schnauzer, Maggie, who was my constant companion, whether sitting, driving or hiking I spend most of my shooting time in central North Carolina and, until recently, Colorado and Wyoming.

I was honored to have an image selected for publication in each of Lenswork’s “Our Magnificent Planet” series, versions 2020 and 2021, and another in the more recent “Light, Glorious Light.”.