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About The Photographer
I WAS RAISED IN THE HEART OF THE FINGER LAKES REGION OF UPSTATE NEW YORK. I FIRST BECAME INTERESTED IN BIRDS AND WILDLIFE AT THE AGE OF 5 UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MY GRANDPARENTS, WHO WERE NATURE LOVERS AND ADVOCATES OF CONSERVATION. EVERY WEEKEND WAS SPENT AT THEIR COUNTRY HOME WATCHING BIRDS AND ANIMALS AND READING ANY AND ALL NATURE BOOKS I COULD FIND.
I FIRST BECAME INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY DURING A NINTH GRADE SCIENCE SLIDE SHOW. THE TEACHER HAD TAKEN PICTURES OF A HELICOPTER AND "FROZE" THE MOTION OF THE FAST MOVING BLADES. I LEARNED THAT THE AMOUNT OF TIME THE LIGHT HITS THE FILM WAS CONTROLLED BY THE SPEED AT WHICH THE SHUTTER OPENS AND CLOSES. HE WENT ON TO EXPLAIN THAT A 35 MM CAMERA COULD "CHOP" A SECOND OF TIME INTO 500 PARTS TO FREEZE ACTION (USING 1/500 OF A SECOND SHUTTER SPEED, THE FASTEST THAT THE TEACHER HAD ON HIS CAMERA AT THAT TIME). I CONTINUED TO READ ABOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS. I FOUND OUT THE AREA OF SHARPNESS IN FRONT OF OR BEHIND THE SUBJECT (DEPTH OF FIELD) WAS CONTROLLED BY THE SETTING OF THE LENS OPENING. I LIKED THE FACT THAT THE PHOTOGRAPHER COULD HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THE LIGHTING AND SHARPNESS OF THE SHOT. WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT TELEPHOTO LENSES I DREAMED OF CAPTURING SHOTS OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
DURING THE NEXT FEW YEARS I TOOK PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES IN BOTH HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE. I BORROWED CAMERAS FROM MY BROTHER AND FRIENDS SINCE I DIDN'T OWN ONE YET. I SAVED MY MONEY AND FINALLY GOT MY FIRST 35MM CAMERA IN 1983. I SHOT LOTS OF PICTURES, MOSTLY BAD BECAUSE THEY NEEDED FLASH. DURING THE NEXT FEW YEARS I BOUGHT A FLASH, WIDE ANGLE LENS, SHORT ZOOM LENS AND FINALLY A 400 MM LENS FOR BIRDS. I LOVED TO TAKE PICTURES BUT IT WAS EXPENSIVE TO SHOOT TOO MANY.
IT BECAME SO MUCH MORE PRACTICAL WHEN I GOT A COMPUTER. I BOUGHT A NIKON SLIDE SCANNER, SCANNED MY 35MM SLIDES AND PRINTED THEM MYSELF. I GAVE AWAY MANY FRAMED AND UNFRAMED PRINTS AS GIFTS. SOME GENEROUS PATRONS BOUGHT SOME. WHEN I BECAME FAIRLY COMPUTER LITERATE I WANTED TO HAVE A WEBSITE TO SERVE AS A GALLERY AND MAKE PRINTS AVAILABLE FOR FOLKS WHO ENJOYED THEM. I FOUNDED SERENITY IMAGES IN 1999. I STARTED TO BUILD MY FIRST WEBSITE SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THAT FIRST SITE HAVE HOPEFULLY BEEN IMPROVED UPON ON MY NEW SITE.
I CURRENTLY RESIDE NEAR THE POCONO MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA. THIS AREA IS RICH WITH BIRD PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES BUT I RETURN TO MY NATIVE FINGER LAKES WHENEVER I CAN MANAGE TO GET AWAY FOR SOME CAMPING BACK AT MY GRANDPARENTS OLD HOMESTEAD. I NOW OWN LAND THERE WHICH CONTINUES TO CONNECT ME TO MY ROOTS. I CONSIDER THE AREA BETWEEN SENECA AND CAYUGA LAKES ONE OF THE FINEST REMAINING UNSPOILED AREAS ON EARTH.
MY MISSION AT SERENITY IMAGES IS TO PRESENT NATURE IN ITS PUREST FORM IN ORDER TO EDUCATE AND INFORM THE PUBLIC OF THE URGENT NEED TO PRESERVE WILD HABITATS AND LIMIT CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTIONS. MANY OF THE BIRDS IN MY IMAGES WINTER IN TROPICAL AREAS THAT ARE THREATENED BY POLLUTION AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HABITAT.
I ALSO WANT TO PROVIDE LIMITED PRODUCTION UNIQUE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHS AT REALISTIC PRICES.
About The Website
I HAVE NO ADVERTISING ON MY SITE!!
I AM NOT COMMERCIALLY SPONSORED OR COMPENSATED IN ANY WAY. I NEVER SELL, RENT, TRADE OR GIVE AWAY YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS OR ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION. I KNOW YOU ALREADY HAVE TOO MUCH JUNK MAIL AND WAY TOO MANY ADS ON OTHER SITES. SO PLEASE DON'T THINK OF THIS AS JUST ANOTHER INTERNET BUSINESS, JUST BROWSING THE EASY TO NAVIGATE SITE WILL CONVINCE YOU THAT I TRULY CARE ABOUT MY CUSTOMERS. IF YOU ARE GETTING ANY KIND OF ADS WHILE ON THE SITE, THEY ARE BEING PLACED BY A THIRD PARTY, NOT US EVER!
I KEEP YOUR COSTS LOW BY KEEPING THE SITE SIMPLE AND LOW TECH. NO SHOPPING CART OR MERCHANT GATEWAY MEANS BIG SAVINGS FOR ME, WHICH I PASS ON TO YOU! IT REALLY ISN'T MUCH HARDER TO PRINT OUT MY ORDER FORM, FILL IT OUT AND SEND IN YOUR PAYMENT THAN IT CAN BE TO NAVIGATE YOUR WAY THROUGH A DOZEN WEBPAGES TO SEND A CREDIT CARD PAYMENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY SLOW YOU DOWN WITH A MESS OF POPUP ADS AND CRASH YOUR BROWSER ALONG THE WAY. ONCE YOU'VE BROWSED MY SITE AND FOUND SOME PICTURES YOU LIKE, JUST PRINT OUT OUR ORDER FORM, ENTER THE ITEM NUMBERS, SIZES AND QUANTITY OF EACH PRINT THAT YOU'D LIKE, ADD $7.99 FOR PRIORITY MAIL AND SEND IT IN!
(IF MY ORDER FORM DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU JUST USE A SHEET OF PLAIN PAPER AND FILL IN INFO AS ABOVE, QUANTITY, ITEM NUMBERS AND SIZES OF PRINTS, ADD $7.99 FOR PRIORITY MAIL)
UNFRAMED 5X7'S ARE ONLY $7.99
UNFRAMED 8X10'S ARE ONLY $19.99
About The Equipment
I SHOOT IN BOTH 35MM AND DIGITAL FORMATS. MANY OF MY SCENICS WERE SHOT WITH OLYMPUS OM-2n AND OM-4 35 MM SLR BODIES WITH 24 MM F2 AND 50 MM F1.4 LENSES. I ALSO USE A SIGMA 70-210 ZOOM LENS AND OLYMPUS T-32 FLASH WITH THE OLYMPUS BODIES. FOR WILDLIFE AND BIRDS I USE CANON EOS A2E AND CANON EOS ELAN II E BODIES WITH AN AUTOFOCUS SIGMA 135-400 F5.6 ZOOM LENS AND CANON 380 EX AND 540 EZ FLASHES. MY DIGITAL CAMERA IS A KODAK DX 4530 WHICH HAS A 5 MP RESOLUTION. FOR 35 MM SLIDES I USE FUJI SENSIA 100 AND 200 SLIDE FILMS, AS WELL AS KODACHROME FILMS. THESE FILMS ALL YIELD NICE PRINTS UP TO AT LEAST AN 8 X 10" SIZE. THE ONLY FILTERS I USE ARE SKYLIGHT FILTERS FOR LENS PROTECTION.
I'M SORRY BUT WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING NATURE SUBJECTS I DON'T USUALLY KEEP RECORDS OF EXPOSURE DATA SUCH AS SHUTTER SPEED AND F-STOP SETTINGS. ALL OF MY BIRD PHOTOGRAPHS ARE OF ACTUAL LIVE WILD BIRDS. NO CAPTIVE, STUFFED OR PET BIRDS ARE EVER USED. I DON'T USE ANY ELECTRONIC OR ARTIFICIAL CALLS TO LURE ANIMALS OR BIRDS. I DON'T "SANDWICH" SLIDES TO SUPERIMPOSE A SCENE OR ADD A BACKGROUND THAT WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL. I ALSO DON'T USE FILTERS OR SOFTWARE TO CREATE SPECIAL EFFECTS.
About The Prints
I SCAN MY 35MM SLIDES WITH A NIKON LS-2000 SCANNER AT MAXIMUM (2700 DPI) RESOLUTION. I TOUCH UP ANY FLAWS LIKE DUST OR FILM SCRATCHES WITH PHOTOSHOP. I PRINT WITH A HP PHOTOSMART 1115 PRINTER AT HIGHEST RESOLUTION ON HEAVYWEIGHT KODAK ULTIMA GLOSSY PAPER. FOR MY FRAMED PRINTS I USE ACID FREE MOUNTING, BACKING, MATTING, ETC AND PERSONALLY SIGN EACH ON THE BACK OF THE FOAMBOARD. I EVEN FURNISH AND INSTALL THE HANGING WIRE. WHEN YOU PURCHASE A FRAMED PRINT FROM ME ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS HANG IT UP AND ENJOY IT. FOR FRAMED PRINT OPTIONS AND PRICES PLEASE EMAIL ME AT
PLEASE ENJOY THE SITE AND RECOMMEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, I HAVE SOME BEAUTIFUL PRINTS FOR SALE AND SOMETHING TO PLEASE EVERYONE. CONSIDER GIVING ONE OF OUR PRINTS AS A GIFT FOR THAT SOMEONE WHO IS HARD TO SHOP FOR OR ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES A UNIQUE GIFT. I USUALLY SELL MY WORK UNFRAMED SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS AS TO WHAT FRAME, MAT AND GLASS TO USE TO BEST DISPLAY YOUR ART. THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY COMBINATIONS OF FRAME MATERIALS, MAT COLORS AND GLASS TYPES FOR ME TO KEEP IN STOCK SO I LEAVE THOSE CHOICES UP TO YOU. HOWEVER IF YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT FRAMED, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SERENITYIMAGESPHOTO@YAHOO.COM TO DISCUSS OPTIONS AND PRICES.
THANKS FOR VIEWING MY WORK, I APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS.
TOM ROYCE
SERENITY IMAGES
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