WWW.PHOTOWEST.COM

ABOUT US

After forty years in photography and over half of that doing business under the name of Photowest, we've finally decided to come to the web. Over the years the techniques of photography have changed very little since Adams and Weston. With the advent of digital photography we have eliminated the chemical spills and smells but we must still follow the rules laid down by the masters.

THIS SITE

"Encouraging excellence in digital photography," is our motto. What we propose to do here is form an online photo club. When this site is completed our members will be able to upload shots in various categories. Those shots will be exhibited in a "public" online gallery. If there is interest among the members, we will start a forum here (not on some other forum site) and maybe even a chat center. There may also be an advantage in forming an actual "photo club."

SUBMISSIONS

We are very pleased to present the work of Anthony Monterotti <www.amonterotti.com>, our first submission. Most of these pictures were taken with very high grade professional digital equipment. In addition all of the pictures were taken in public places under uncontrolled conditions. Any of you that have visited Hollywood will recognize some of the shots and understand the difficulty of working in this environment. Click on the image on the left to start your visit to this 12 picture gallery. Each shot is between 50KB and 150KB.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR SHOTS?

We would love to display your work. Simply attach your picture to an e-mail addressed to us. As a courtesy to others on slower connections, please try to keep the JPEG's under 100 KB. In the e-mail tell us a little about yourself and the circumstances surrounding the capturing of the image.

SOME EXAMPLES

Great digital photography comes our way from many sources. Each of the shots below represent different aspects of the medium.

This first shot came to us via our e-mail friends who received it through several forwards. We are leaving it up because it is a very good example of combining the elements essential to great photography. It was taken in Bitterroot National Forest in Montana on August 6, 2000 by John McColgan, a fire behavior analyst from Fairbanks, Alaska, in the course his work. Click on the picture to see it full size (73 KB).

We would always prefer to show your pictures rather than ours. In this case the cat's pose was irresistible and the light was just right. The window screen kept the cat from seeing us which allowed us to move around without distracting the cat. The camera was an old floppy disk digital with only 80, 000 pixels and no manual controls. Another hindrance was that the camera took precious time to record the image while the cat thought of other things to do. Notice that if you enlarge the picture it doesn't break up, which it should with only 80,000 pixels. Click on the picture to see it full size (51KB).

There are some very expensive digital cameras for sale. We prefer to work with good quality pocket sized camers. We took this shot with a 5 megapixel Minolta. Proving once again that where your two feet are planted makes all the difference. Click on the picture to see it full size (45KB).

LEGAL DEPARTMENT

One of the problems plaguing all photographers is the theft of images, especially now that we've entered the digital age. Our lawyers (in various countries) stand ready to get you a proper payment for those shots. Don't sit there and groan thinking your one shot won't be worth the trouble or expense of hiring a lawyer. Even though you have only one shot on that CD or web site you can bet the other shots are stolen as well. On that basis we will build a case. If we all do nothing the thieves will only become richer from our creativity.

For any information, questions, comments, tips, or to send your best digital shots, please write to <photo_editor (at) photowest (dot) net> which is our current email address. This address will change in the future depending on the volume of spam received. Always use the current address posted here to reach us.