Stock images are available as fine art prints, book covers, backgrounds, etc.

Shooting stock images is a way of continuing to explore photography and creative techniques that might never get put to use in my commercial work.

I was standup paddle boarding (SUP) on the Tennessee River near Asheville NC just after a storm when I came upon this bridge. It seemed so beautiful, yet forgotten.

These words were likely painted when this train was still in use, but are doubly appropriate now that it is in decline. The image was taken between downpours – perfect, soft light for shooting what is essentially a 2 dimensional scene.

This tube was almost a foot tall. Its sheer size gave it a steampunk quality that I played up with lighting. The binary code (1’s and 0’s) I projected onto the tube to give it a focal point in the steampunk vein.

These viewers seem like they have faces of their own. This one stood by itself on the edge of a fishing dock in the salt marsh.

When I saw this through my camera lens I immediately thought of a whirlpool. I kept that idea in mind when processing the file --choosing the watery blue tone for the final image.

Here I was playing with the idea of images within images -- like standing in a mirrored room.

The sign painted on this building caught my eye for months before I ever stopped to take the shot. The paint was so faded and peeling that the name could just barely be read, but I played up the colors and contrast to help make it stand out. The building has since been demolished.

I wish I could have saved these panels, but I feel that way about so many useless, yet beautiful parts of things – and where would you put them? If you’ve ever been to my house, or studio, you’d see that it’s filled with such artifacts; one Beatle bust (George, I think); the head of a 1950’s Howdy Doody doll; the emergency room marque from Athens General Hospital. Oh, the list goes on… best stick to the little things instead of the giant sheets of corrugated metal.

Exactly what are “Lavatory Women?”

There was just something wrong with that sign. The words, they were out of order – as was the lavatory itself, and believe me… who’d want to?!

The bust of Zeus, from a sculpture found in the Louvre.

I’d been listening to an excellent podcast on the history Rome over the course of the last year, so when the opportunity came to layover for a few days in Paris, I went to see the Roman exhibit in the Louvre. The next day, I toured the catacombs beneath the city. At the very end of the burial chambers, I came across a wall where graffiti had been scratched into it – something I knew would make an interesting background. When it came time to process the images, I was playing with layering multiple images together and this combination felt right. For some reason, the word “Cupcake” was part of the graffiti, and is clearly visible above Zeus’ head. It’s become my personal pet name for the father of the gods.