Bio
Images are thumbnails (like most others on this web)
Born in Sacramento, CA, in 1955, 3rd generation Californian (British & German), Aries with Leo rising.
Education: Olympic Community College, Chemeketa Community College, University of Oregon, University of Colorado, Texas Instrument's DS990 & IBM's System 33/34 System Operations and Golden West College for the photography classes. A. S. Accounting, A. S. Business Technology, A. A. Liberal Arts, and 'that' close to 4 or 5 others. While graduating from Chemeketa in 1980, I watched every major eruption of Mount St. Helens from a distance of around 35 or 40 miles. It was just like the viewing the Grand Canyon or Space Shuttle launch, where the photos are interesting but don't have anywhere near the impact of actually being there, simply amazing stuff!
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Photo 1 - Jaguar #7, May 31, 2004. 1993 AXIS, 300hp. One of the faster cars on the road but would do better with a manual tranny. Factory correct, now has about 12k miles on a total rebuild. Upgraded to Jag 16" rims, new suspension, brakes, exhaust, abs & engine computers, differential, emissions and a complete rebuild of the 4.0 liter fuel injected hemi (added high-performance, cams). Purchased for its flawless body and interior, 8 months later I finally got to drive it! Mid 90's point-wise in a concours d' elegance. My others, in order of acquisition; 1959 XK150, 1963 Mark X, 1958 XK150, 1963 XKE (series 2-1/2 - 3 windshield wipers), 1962 Mark X, 1967 420G, 1993 XJ-S 6 Cylinder, 1989 XJ-S V12.
Here's an old joke from the Jag Club: What do you call the President of Lucas Electric?
Answer: The prince of darkness.
Here's the image I used for my 2001 Christmas card. I think I scared a few
people with it. I was so glad this photo turned out that I didn't take the
time to get another one where I was smiling, I guess it is a 'dark' sort of
photo but is full of interesting details nonetheless.
The image above left is my #8 Jaguar, a 1989 XJ-S V12, the following images are of my Laguna Hills, CA lab - August 10, 2008.
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Photo 2 - Costa Mesa, CA lab with 2 Godzilla's that I pried off of the drive thru at 2 Taco Bells (claws not shown), I still can't believe I did that, June 2001. The Tesla coil to the right is Agnes, 1.8kVA, 5 foot arcs, 6 on a good night.
Photo 3 - Me - June, 19, 2004
Photo 4 & 5 - 11" x 14" photos entered into Orange County fair for their 2004 photography contest with my dog, Aibo, overlooking them.
Update: They only accepted the high contrast image on the right of photos 4 & 5 where I caught two mockingbirds chasing each other over an old wooden building near the Queen Mary that had been turned into a restaurant. An extremely difficult image to produce. I shot it with a 35mm camera (b/w film). Using my b/w enlarger I then exposed a 10"x12" sheet of x-ray film to create a positive image and developed it with a high contrast developer. Then I used that 10"x12" film positive to contact print another sheet of the same x-ray film, creating a negative. I then used that film negative to contact print an 8" x 10" sheet of Ilford b/w photo paper. Each step required careful dodging and burning, a real technical challenge and exercise.
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Photo 6 - I love this picture, it's one of my favorites, acrylic on an 11" x 14" canvas. Every time I read through it I have to laugh. These scenes are of Howard the Duck dispatching 'Hell cow', a vampire cow, with a wooden stake through the heart just as two policemen enter with guns drawn wondering what the commotion is and catch Howard in mid swing. I can't recall how Howard explains away his hammering the wooden stake into a cow, killing it, but somehow he does, once again saving humanity, while getting no credit whatsoever. 2003 as a warm-up project (I hadn't painted for a number of years).
Photo 7 - Agnes, my 6' 11" 1/4 wave Tesla coil, negative solarization of a b/w image. Testing a new capacitor bank, five 0.1uF Chenelec reconstituted mica caps in series for .02uF.
Photo 8 - Dangerous Kitchen, painted 2003, acrylic. A study in creating depth.
Photo 9 - Strange Planet, painted 2003, acrylic. Science fiction goof.
Photo 10 - Double exposure on an 8" x 10" sheet of Ilford b/w photo paper using two b/w 35mm negatives. Each negative required different contrast filters, enlarger settings/height, and exposure times, a very tricky maneuver in the darkroom! The placement or registration of the paper was intense, not a task to be undertaken by the faint of heart or the less than skillful. What do you see in this?
Photo 11 - 'It's The Science Lab.' Not mine but I like this image and have it framed.
A few photos of my house taken June 20, 2004
Images below are prototype Logo hyperlinks for others to insert into their websites.
