MY PROFESSION:
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I am not a photographer by profession, but a Registered Architect and proprietor of Watson Architectural Services in Doylestown, Ohio, who happens to dabble with photography as a hobby. I am a 1986 graduate of Kent State University's School of Architecture and Environmental Design. My designs
include 500+ single family homes, 2 condominium complexes, 2 apartment complexes, 3 dentist offices, and numerous small commercial projects and additions scattered throughout northeast & central Ohio. A dozen or so of my single family designs are also located in eastern Pennsylvania and northwestern Kentucky. Someday I'll add a couple pages of photographs to the website of some of my designs. |
MY PHOTOGRAPHY:
Ever since I was a child, I had a fascination with art and photography. Even from the Polaroid and 110mm camera days, I was always running around snapping off photos of anything and everything imaginable with whatever cheap camera I had at the time. I never really considered pursuing photography any further than just a passionate hobby, but if I had a chance of exploring a second
career today with the proper time and equipment, photography would definitely be at the top of my list.
Most of my photography evolves around vacations we have taken through the years. Becki and I climbed our first lighthouse in 1989 during our honeymoon in Key West. I immediately became fascinated with the architecture and history of the lights, and soon became somewhat of a lighthouse fanatic. We now spend a majority of our vacations traveling the coasts of America visiting these
wonderful symbols of the past. We have presently visited over 305 lights, with many more to visit in the future (there are 116 lighthouses in Michigan alone!). I also enjoy nature and wildlife very much, and love exploring the spectacular natural wonders this country has to offer. There is so much to see and so little time.
My photography was always just a means of capturing memories of those vacations, but with whatever artistic flair I could muster at the time. I enjoyed showing them off to family and friends, but never dreamed
of others really viewing them as pieces of art. The internet has become a recent interest of mine, so in March of 1999 I thought it would be interesting to learn HTML, and create some sort of a web site to experiment with the new medium. Since I had 100's of these photographs lying around collecting dust, it only made sense to transfer a few of them to the computer before they were lost forever, while also allowing others to experience them. The initial heightened interest in my website by others
caught me a bit by surprise. As time went on, the site kept growing larger and larger with more added features. The site now features over 240 photos, and I plan on continually adding more as time permits. I gradually began receiving requests for photos to feature in various calendars, books, and magazines. Requests via e-mail also started flowing in from those wanting to purchase enlargements, so I recently expanded
the site to include information on purchasing photos. It has turned into a wonderful experience, and I am quite pleased that others seem to be enjoying these photos too.
The website has really sparked a flame within myself to spend even more time exploring and photographing the beautiful lighthouses, natural wonders, and architecture that this country has to offer. If I achieve anything else from the site, I
would hope it at least inspires a few others to experience these wonderful subjects in person too, and ultimately help to preserve them for the future generations to admire.
MY PHOTO EQUIPMENT:
The cameras have changed through the years, but a majority of the website photos were shot with combinations of the equipment listed below. I was one of those dinosaurs who liked using the older 'cult classic' type manual-focus equipment. Playing around with the manual settings was half the fun for me, so I got
a little bored using fully automatic cameras. I knew my shots would have been better if the camera's computer made all the important decisions, but I felt it removed all the fun of photography. I eventually moved on to an autofocus system though, and sold off most of the manual-focus equipment listed below. I still get to play around with the manual settings on the new system, but now let the camera do most of the focusing for me. I routinely shoot in manual and aperture priority modes, occasionally in shutter priority mode, but very rarely in the various automatic modes.
| Bodies: |
Autofocus: |
-Canon EOS A2-E body w/ VG-10 vertical grip & Ed-E oversized eyecup |
| Manual Focus: |
-Canon F-1n body
-Canon A-1 body w/ A2 power winder & LC-1 remote control system |
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| Lenses: |
Autofocus: |
-Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM prime lens w/ ES-71 II hood
-Tokina AT-X Pro II 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 zoom lens w/matching hood
-Sigma EX APO 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM zoom lens w/ matching hood
-Sigma APO 300mm f/4 tele-macro HSM prime lens w/ matching hood
-Sigma EX APO 2X teleconverter lens |
| Manual Focus: |
-Canon 28mm f/2 prime lens w/BW-55 hood
-Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens w/BS-55 hood
-Canon 135mm f/2.5 prime lens w/built-in hood
-Tamron SP 500mm f/8 catadioptric mirror prime lens w/matching hood
-Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 macro zoom lens w/generic accordion hood
-Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 macro zoom lens
(1st version) w/matching Vivitar hood
-Vivitar 2X macro focusing 1:1 teleconverter lens |
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| Flashes: |
Autofocus: |
-Canon Speedlight EX420 flash w/ Sto-Fen Omnibounce diffuser |
| Manual Focus: |
-Canon Speedlight 188A flash |
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| Filters: |
Autofocus: |
-Hoya 77mm 'Skylight 1-B' super multi-coated (SMC) glass filters (2 total)
-B+W 77mm #010 'UV-Haze' multi-resistant coated (MRC) glass filter
-B+W 77mm thin 'Kaesemann circular polarizer' (MC) multi-coated glass filter
-B+W 77mm 81-B 'warming color conversion' multi-resistant coated (MRC) glass filter
-B+W 77mm 82-C 'cooling color conversion' multi-resistant coated (MRC) glass filter
-B+W 77mm #491 'didymium' red enhancing glass filter
-B+W 77mm #684 '4X cross screen' star effect glass filter
-Tiffen 77mm 'graduated neutral density (ND) 0.6' glass filter
-Tiffen 77mm 'graduated sunrise' glass filter
-Tiffen 77mm 'ultra contrast 3' contrast reducing glass filter |
| Manual Focus: |
-A smaller variety of the above filters in 52mm to 67mm sizes |
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| Tripods: |
Autofocus: |
-Bogen 3221 tripod w/3262 medium ballhead
-Bogen 3218 monopod w/3262 medium ballhead
-Bogen 1007 tabletop tripod
-Bogen 3299 quick release adapters (2 total) w/ 3157NR anti-twist quick release plates (3 total) |
| Manual Focus: |
-Same as above |
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Cases
& Bags: |
Autofocus: |
-Pelican 1600 King watertight hard case w/ custom cut-to-fit foam
-Lowepro MF Commercial AW shoulder bag w/ padded inserts
-Domke 9 pocket filter file
-Bogen 3280 padded tripod bag |
| Manual Focus: |
-Domke F3X camera bag
-Domke F803 satchel bag w/ padded inserts
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