Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In the early hours of 26 April 1986 engineers in the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station reactor number 4 were running tests that would result in the biggest nuclear disaster in human history. A poorly designed RBMK-1000 nuclear reactor coupled with inadequately trained staff led to a reactor explosion that would send out nuclear pollution as far afield as the eastern United States. A 30km exclusion zone was setup and it is estimated that some 116,000 people had been evacuated in the hours after the accident. In 2008 and 2009 I traveled to the area and took many photos.

Salton Sea. The Salton sea is a mostly abandoned tourist attraction from the 1920's to the 60's which is essentially a 35 mile wide lake with no drainage, in turn this is causing saline levels to constantly rise and corrode anything it reaches. The area has many abandoned buildings and structures which make for great photographic opportunities. In March 2009 a friend and I spent a weekend in the area taking photos using HDR, various filters and other photographic aids to portray our vision of the area, these are the shots i took on my trip.

Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located in the Bullfrog Hills, about 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Las Vegas, near the eastern edge of Death Valley. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners, and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine. In August 2009 I visited the area and got these images.

HDR Images. This gallery has some of my work in HDR (High Dynamic Range). This technique involves taking different exposures (often referred to as bracketed exposure) on a tripod. These images are then fed into a software program such as Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix which then in turn blends the images together and is supposed to give you a true representation of the subject as the human eye would see it. The higher 'dynamic range' of the image allows shadow areas and extreme light areas to be seen at the same time, something that cameras cannot do with a single shot.

Environment. From a personal perspective, as well as abandoned places architecture and environmental themes are subjects of interest for me when taking pictures. whether it be shots of  California skyscrapers or English country gardens it all takes my interest. In addition to that as a photographer i like to push the limits of what a camera can do.

People. When I'm not doing landscape photography I also work as a portrait photographer in a studio with a good friend. Here are some of my photos taken in a studio and also out in the field. If you live in the Los Angeles area we provide an exceptional portrait and headshot service with make up and retouch services also, for more information please go to www.portraitsla.com for pricing and details. 

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