Photography

Photography is really useful to me. In the black-and-white, darkroom days, I was a photo editor at a series of school publications, so I attended a lot of events that I wouldn't otherwise have made the time for — a rodeo, a catfish derby, a wrestling match, a Nader speech. As a scientist, I've needed to document and promote my projects. As an educator, I want to celebrate the big events and the small gestures that tell the stories of my students. But the real reason I shoot is to compensate for my poor skills as an observer. I don't know the color of my best friend's eyes. I can't tell you if the next door neighbor drives a Honda or a Volvo. But when I am shooting, I commit myself to the subject. I will try to think about composition and light and the telling details. And then I think about all of that again when processing (and discarding the vast majority of) photos. This step is especially valuable for macros, when you look at your 5 mm subject on a 27" monitor.

I sell images for textbooks, commercial ads, and magazines, including National Geographic and Smithsonian — enough to pay for my equipment. My focus in recent years is macrophotography, mostly of insects (examples here). I also use a lot of video, though most of my projects are quick and unpolished efforts for a specific purpose. For example, a piece to teach second graders about molecules (and the scientist version). In summer 2017, I made a more ambitious piece centered on the arthropod visitors to a mountain mint plant, one day in August.

Insects are interesting, but lack personality; all of my favorite photos are of people.

Maple seed helicopters. Environmental Science Magnet School.

Student in vivarium. There was an entire class of kindergarteners in the vivarium — lots of noisy distraction. This little girl was oblivious. I like the light.

An ordinary, everyday toad.

Biodiversity camp

ESM, girls with insect net. If you carry a bug net, kids will want to borrow it. These girls took off, and I noticed them an hour later. I like the sense of motion in the forward stance and flying ponytail. I like the way they share the net, although I'm not sure it is an effective technique.

This row: I did 100s of portraits of students at ESM.

From middle school dance.

This row: from trips to Guatemala and Ecuador with my brother Tom..

Checkermallow above; weevil seed predator of checkermallow below.

Golden paintbrush.

Bombus californicus, sole pollinator of golden paintbrush.

Long-legged fly

Proboscis of white witch moth.

Photos this row: A dead simple approach to highlighting the traits (and beauty) of plants, using an iphone and velvet background.