Recently Updated!

Thank you for viewing my photography web site. Most of my images are travel related, but I'm also working on photographing the growing north Georgia wine industry. I'm a sucker for old barns, colorful markets, and interesting people. I hope you will find some images you enjoy.

Bio and Awards

Hamilton Gallery

I've been seriously engaged in photography for about four years, although it has been a significant interest and hobby for nearly forty years. I started with a twin-lens reflex and a cheap hand-held light meter, then starting developing my film and making black and white prints.

However, I'm most proud of being the only photographer to have an image in the top 10 of both categories (people and places) of the 2002 Atlanta Journal and Constitution Travel Photography Contest. I recently held a one-man show at Wine Haven / Lo Spuntino, and I had two images juried into the Roswell Photographic Society's Juried show and sale. My images have appeared in several publications, most recently, Wine Spectator.

I have attended several photography seminars presented by George Lepp, Craig Tanner, The Rocky Mountain School of Photography, and I participated in the Photography Weekend at Grandfather Mountian.

Digital photography has a steep learning curve, and one website I've found very helpful is Michael Reichmann's "The Luminous Landscape." His site is brimming with PhotoShop tips, and if you have a question about digital photography, you'll find Michael's take-no-prisoners answer on his site.

Locales

Phil Winter at the ruins of the Chateau de Lutzelbourg,Alsace, France. Most of the images you see on this site were made on recent trips abroad, the North Carolina mountains, and my "back yard" of north Georgia. Excursions include France (three in two years), Colorado, Costa Rica, and Ireland. The France images are from the Loire River valley in central France, Paris, Versailles, Nice and some surrounding villages. The most recent French images are from a trip to the Alsace region in September 2002. Alsace has a decidedly German influence, which comes across in many of the images.

I've never visted a more beautiful, more friendly country than Ireland (July 2003). In June of 2003, we visited Costa Rica, capturing dramatic images of sunsets and waterfalls. Prior to that, we visited Winter Park Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park where the Moose images were taken.

In June, 2004, we visited Peru, and many images from that colorful, exotic country are on the "Places" page and the "Latest Images" page. While there we experienced Cuzco, once the leading Inca city; Machu Picchu, of course; the market at Pisac; Puno and the floating islands in Lake Titicaca. Photographically, Peru abounds with colorful, interesting, even exciting images!

In September and October, 2005, we visited Maine and Nova Scotia, taking in Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park and the southern edge of Nova Scotia (as far as Halifax) known as the "Lighthouse Route." While interior NS was not very scenic, we found the small fishing villages like Lunenburg and Mahone Bay to be delightful. Photos are on the "Places" menu.

Equipment

1930s(?) Kodak Pocket 1A

Many of the images on this site were taken with a Canon A2E and two lenses - a 28-135 zoom and a 100 - 400 zoom. Both of these lenses are very sharp. The 28-135 is very versatile, and if I could have only one lens, this would be it. The 100 - 400 does a beautiful job of isolating the subject, and I use it a lot to get close ups where its not possible to get close.

Having said that, I have stopped using film entirely. With a Canon G3 and a Canon 10D Digital SLR, I have not shot a roll of film in several years. The 10D is solidly built and has the quietest shutter I've ever seen on an SLR. The 6.3 megapixle images are superb. There are two things I love about the 10D and digital in general. (1) I don't have the hassle of getting slides processed. I save trips to the photo store, and I can get images on my site or printed almost immediately. (2)With both the G3 and the 10D, I can reivew the shot within about 2 seconds after taking it. By looking at the histogram, I can tell immediately if I've nailed the shot. There's no more waiting for slides to come back just to find out I missed an exposure on an otherwise great image. Click "Latest Images" to see the 10D images. A digitial camera will change the way you do photography!


Work Flow

"Work Flow" is the term used to describe the process of how one creates images - from initial capture to final preparation and archiving. All of my images are now captured digitially, but I still scan slides from time to time on a Canon FS4000 scanner. After downloading the image from the camera or scanning it, I adjust the image in Photoshop. These adjustments are limited to resizing, contrast, brightness, hue, and sharpening. I do remove background clutter from some images, but I don't put anything in that wasn't in the original capture.

I shoot most of my images in RAW mode - that's the image file before any processing and conversion to jpeg format. Working with a RAW image is a lot like working with a film negative. It gives the maximum amount of control over contrast, exposure, white balance and other factors. I then convert the RAW file to a tif file for photoshop optimization. Finally, I save the finished image as a high-res jpeg.


ALL IMAGES on this site are COPYRIGHTED. They may not be used for ANY purpose without permission of the photographer
Copyright 2004 Phil Winter philwinter@mindspring.com All rights reserved.