Here we see the photographer in his natural habitat. Note the 1985 Tachihara wood field standard camera. That's 300+ year-old cherrywood in that camera. Hand made in Japan. A beautiful work of art in itself.

The lens (not visible in this image) is a 1965 Schneider 150 mm/256 convertible lens, with a Synchro-Compur shutter.

I use 4" x 5" sheet film, and make transparencies. Think of them as really big slides, but not in those white cardboard holders. They're un-mounted. I then have them scanned on a dedicated film scanner, making digital images, and get them printed. Simple.

My daughter, Monica, took this shot, at the Norton Art Gallery, in Shreveport. March, 2007

I was experimenting with focusing the ground glass viewing screen on the camera in low light. Not easy to do.

Just a block from my home on Yolanda Lane. We live in an old neighborhood, wth beautiful trees, and I've always been fascinated by the way their canopies capture the streetlights' glows at night. It looks other-worldly or ghostlike to me.

Fujifilm Provia 100F color slide film, Quickload. March 3, 2007, about 9:30 pm.

Just slightly cropped, to get the street light pole out of the shot.

This is the very first image I ever took with my Tachihara. It's the (supposedly haunted) grave of Cora Lee Wilson, "Aged 22 years". That's all it says on her simple tombstone. Her parents' tombs tell of their lifespans, from the 1830's to the 1890's, so Cora must have died in the late 1800's too.

Some say it's haunted because no matter how many times people try to close the tomb up, it keeps falling open. You can clearly see the cast iron coffin inside the tomb. I touched it. Creepy.

Cora's entombed at Oakland Cemetery in Shreveport, next to her parents, George and Lizzie Wilson, and a man named Ransom E. Jacobs (how's that for a name: Ransom?). There are also hundreds of Confederate soldiers and other Yankee haters in the Civil-War-era graveyard. Cora is said to have been a Shreveport socialite. I don't know anything else about her. I thought she made a good model. She did lay very still for this shot. Very patient.

Fujifilm Provia 100F color slide film, Quickload. March 3, 2007, 5:50 pm. Later converted to B/W in Photoshop.

Cora and me. 30" x 40" giclee' (commercial inkjet) print.

This is just a nice simple cloud photo. There's something about it, though. It's enigmatic for me. I don't know why I like it so much, but it's one of my favorites.

I took this in my front yard, on Fujifilm Provia 100F film, Quickload, at about 5:45 pm. I think it was around March 30, 2007

Time spent waiting for the light (and clouds to look cool): about 10 minutes.

Artist's Hands

West Edge Co-op

Shreveport, LA. April 14, 2007

White house paint and black acrylic paint, poured over my hands, above brown wrapping paper. Joanna Littlefield poured the paint and hit the shutter release for me. Thanks, Joanna.

Fujifilm Provia 100F color slide film, Quickload.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Galveston, TX. April 6, 2007

Danielle and I went to Galveston for a long weekend, and I knew this building from a previous trip.

Fujifilm Provia 100F color slide film, Quickload. April 6, 2007, about 9:00 pm.

 

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Kelly and Matt

Shreveport, LA. April 28, 2007

This is my sister-in-law, Kelly, and her hubby-to-be, Matt. I told them to look "serious." They look serious to me.

Fujifilm Provia 100F color slide film, Quickload. Converted to B&W in Photoshop. West Edge Artists' Co-op, Shreveport, April 28, 2007, around 4:15pm.

Tree on Right

Shreveport, LA. May 19, 2007

A couple of old dead trees caught my eye one day while scoping photo ops along the Red River in Shreveport. This is the one on the right.

The bank of the Red River, Shreveport, May 19, 2007, 11:45am. Fujifilm Velvia 50 color slide film, Quickload. Converted to B&W in Photoshop. Time spent waiting for the light (and clouds to clear): 70 minutes

Monica

Shreveport, LA. Sept 25, 2007

Shot in our back yard, around 5pm. Infrared Black and White Kodak film, Canon A-1 with 50mm lens.

King of The Red

Bossier City, LA. Sept 27, 2007

Horseshoe Casino's boat, as seen from the employee break area on the bank of the Red River. Infrared Black and White Kodak film, Canon A-1 with 50mm lens.