About_Bill

Born in Toronto, I have made Ottawa home for most of the last 27 years, and while I have been taking photographs for many years, it is only in the last ten years or so that I have devoted significant effort to improve my images. I have participated in workshops to both enjoy the art form with like-minded people, and be pushed to do better work. Workshops with Richard Martin in the St. Lawrence Valley, and Garry Black in Ottawa, New Hampshire, PEI, and Greece have forced me to look with fresh eyes at the world around us. I have also taken workshops with the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in the Redwoods N.P. in California with David Middleton as instructor, and twice to Yellowstone N.P. in Wyoming with Tim Cooper and Doug Johnson as instructors. Most recently I was fortunate to finally attend a Freeman Patterson/Andre Gallant workshop in New Brunswick.

I enjoy looking at the work of fellow photographers, and so hope that they enjoy viewing mine. I believe our shared goal is to encourage everyone to simply look at the beauty in the world around us in different and unique ways. The real reason that I take the specific images that I do continues to be a bit of a mystery to me, and a matter of on-going exploration. I feel I’m still on the toe of the learning curve, which is always a great place to be. I’m enthusiastic about the prospect that better images are always waiting to be exposed; better prints to be made.

My interests in photography are varied: the grand to intimate landscapes; urban landscapes, architectural forms, and man’s relationship to his urban environment; as well as abstracts of simple form and colour using just about any subject matter. The film camera was retired in 2005 with the switch to digital capture for the Venice and Greece trips. I am less concerned with what I used to capture the image than with what I'm trying to accomplish. Like most people I struggle more with creativity than with the technical or craft aspects of photography, and am always looking for new ways to express myself. Recently I have been drawn to the magazine LensWork, and the editorials of Brooks Jensen and the articles by contributing authors. The articles are thoughtfully written and much strikes a chord with where I am with my art at the present time.

Solo and joint exhibitions:

Press Club, Ottawa, Sept. 2002

Balderson Gallery, Balderson ON, July 2003

Centrepointe Theatre Gallery, Ottawa, January 2004

Mill Street Gallery, Almonte ON, Sept. 2004 - Sept. 2005

Contact Photo Festival, Toronto, May 2006

La Mode Gallery, Ottawa, April 2007

A set of the "Venezia - Fading Memories" images were entered in the International Photoawards Competition for 2005. I was fortunate to receive a second place award in the Fine Art>Other Fine Art category. Please view these as well as others' work at http://photoawards.com/05/contests/2005winners.asp

I'm a member of the RA Photo Club in Ottawa (co-winner of the Photographer of the Year 2007), as well as CAPA (Canadian Association for Photographic Art) and contributed an article to the Winter 2007 issue of CAPA's Canadian Camera magazine.

In addition to the workshop links above, here are some favourite web sites for inspiring photographs:

http://www.mangelsen.com

http://www.mountainlight.com

http://www.johnshawphoto.com

http://www.barnbaum.com

http://www.phototravels.net

http://www.westofthemoon.com/

http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wildwin/2002/

http://www.throughwendyslens.com

and here is a very informative site:

http://luminous-landscape.com

When not taking photographs, or working in Photoshop or printing, I have also made the odd bit of furniture. Here are some efforts in this area.