A New Look for a New Year.

Welcoming 2026 with a goal since late last year with at least starting the process of a professional website overhaul and at the end of January it finally happened, a completed milestone of a major website reconfiguration with a fresh look and for the time spent it feels and looks great. A must see, but also reporting is some needed equipment changes in the studio and darkroom upgrades completed for some amazing B&W and Color prints created this year so far, also reporting I have been spending some fellowship time with some great local Photographers at a few Art Critique events every few weeks held at the Art Center Sarasota, not to mention Joining the Florida Professional Photographers association and finalizing the Company LLC all before January 28th, 2026. Busy is an understatement but this has been very fulfilling with items checked off the old 2025 list. This has now led into two themed exhibitions coming spring of 2026 of current photography prints on display locally in Sarasota, which have not happened since three major exhibit cancelations during the time of covid years back. This year has started and is looking to be one to remember. Please have a look at the newly remodeled website and check back soon as I post dates and locations for the exhibition showings. Thanks to everyone that made this an amazing start to this new year and what 2026 might offer next. Leaving this post with a photo of spicy sauce, a print created with the new darkroom set up and keeping theme that this has been the hottest new year yet, warming everyone up a bit in this chilly weather.

Windows, Doors and Gates

A Black and White Architectural Journey…

Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.-Frank Loyd Wright

Yes, my first blog and first post, so I wanted to get something brief right out of the gate, pun intended.

I started out in photography when film was prevalent. I now shoot both film and digital photography through a multitude of different cameras. Interesting enough, I love color and use it in my photography. I’m never afraid to use color, especially when painting. With that said, I have a significant enjoyment and fond love of black and white photography. I believe this stems from the use of it, loading it in the camera years ago. The capturing of a picture from the shutter click, through darkroom development and ending up with an organic handheld photograph, has stuck with me. Silver gelatin prints have a specific look and feel and there is some exceptional paper out there to compliment these types of prints.

Architecture has also always intrigued me. My black and white journey of windows, doors and gates had started out as just that, being out and about shooting architecture while carrying a camera around. This was never the main intent normally, but a secondary thought or backup plan of going out with a camera. Architectural elements tell a story and show us the history of building. It wasn’t long after seeing complete buildings in the photographs taken, that I started to see these elements in a closer perspective. I soon wanted to capture even more elements and the older the building, the better for me. These items are not too shy or move around a lot, when out on the street taking pictures as some things are, so it’s manageable to focus and spend some quality time to get great shots. This leaves a lot of time for experimentation on lighting, equipment, framing the picture and settings.

Putting this all together, even in our digital age of screens and phones, these invaluable architectural and functional building elements have some great appeal. Their sharp details, lines, curves and construction characteristics also lend themselves to a striking look and appearance when seen in black and white. Once printed and hanging, I have noticed intrigue in these specific photographs at events, which is very satisfying . So, when out with any type of camera device, switch that dial, load a roll or post process to black and white, when photographing any closeup architectural element that has some character. There is a lot of new and old architecture to be seen and photographed. As stated, buildings are interesting and abundant in everyday life. This journey will keep going on for me and I’m glad to have shared my thoughts about these windows, doors and gates I have seen.