EDITOR’S NOTE: The images on the walls at Personal Care Dentistry were all photographed by Dr. Walter Hunt, founder of the clinic. We thought you might like to know a bit more about Dr. Hunt’s passion for photography and the nature scenes he captures in his own words. Enjoy!
At the age of 10, I discovered the venerable Brownie camera. It seems like I had always been interested in taking photos, but when I got that Brownie, my interest went from a pastime to a hobby. I was hooked – and that was more than half-a-century ago! I was completely self-taught, and much of my “teaching” came from looking through a view finder, whether it was my original Brownie camera or my current Nikon digital camera. I read everything I could get my hands on as my hobby progressed to a real passion for capturing the world around me through a camera lens.
Eventually I came across a set of three books on photography by the master of black and white images, Ansel Adams. The three volumes – The Camera, The Negative, and The Print – were published in 1983 and presented a compilation of his life’s work and the intricacies of taking an idea and translating it into a stunning photograph. I first came across his three-volume set in 1985, and it has formed the foundation of my photography for almost three decades. Adams’ usage of the “zone system” to capture the world around him resonated with me, and over time I adopted his way of looking at things around us that we can capture on camera.
I am constantly observing the world around us – nature is my specialty and love, as you can see from my images – and trying to look beneath the surface image we tend to see and find a layer below the surface that can capture our imagination and bring depth to the composition. Many people who have been with me when I am taking photographs tell me that the images and scenes that they walk right past seem to catch my attention and camera. The images captured are often surprising to them and I often hear “You see things in nature that I just don’t see until I look at your photos”.
Over the course of the last couple of years, I have enjoyed almost as much as taking the photos the editing of my photos. That’s because of the quickly evolving digital editing software that is available and incredibly robust and intricate in its application to photography. Software like Adobe Photoshop often allows me the ability to bring to life what I see in nature in terms of form, texture and light. For me, it is an artistic expression that I truly enjoy as part of the photographic process. I tried painting in oils for awhile, but kept coming back to taking photos and manipulating them digitally.
I really enjoy shooting digitally, because spending hour after hour in the darkroom processing my film and making prints was something I never could afford to do in terms of time. Running a busy dental practice generally got in the way of significant darkroom time.
I hope you enjoy my images. They have brought much joy and happiness to me through the years and I am honored to share them with you!
And if you would like to see what I have shot most recently, like my Photos by Skeet Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PhotosbySkeet