The Inventions
My photographic inventions have played a major contribution to my fine art photographic career. My desire has always been to find ways to expand on traditional photographic “space” so as to better communicate feelings and thoughts with visual metaphoric relationships and expansions of the photographic “edges”. This effort began back in the late 60s with my building of a keyboard operated slide show apparatus that enabled a photographer to project his or her images spontaneously on walls along with music and sound. This then led to my interest in trying ways to expand on the limits of a camera’s ability to see outside of traditional photographic print formats. Wanting to photograph a total 360-degree vertical and 360-degree horizontal "environmental" image, I invented a pinhole camera which could do this. Later inventions include the RiflePod, the MirrowsPod along my most recent digital invention. the LUDF, a Limited Use Digital File. The LUDF file is the logical way now for fine-art digital photographers to market their work.
The Total Environment Camera
My first major invention was created in the early seventies when I became curious about how to photograph with a camera that could record a complete environment. There were no “virtual reality” cameras available at that time, so I designed and constructed several versions of pin-hole cameras that could do this. My final version was a six-sided camera. Each panel covers 60 degrees horizontal by 180 degrees vertical to create a complete spherical photograph. Images from this camera can be seen in the ‘Spherical’ tab in the fine-art section.
The RiflePod Invention
The RiflePod was invented in 2019 and was designed to mount a heavyweight telephoto lens and camera on a rifle-style stock. This enables sports and wildlife photographers to more instinctively swing and follow moving targets with their cameras to capture fast moving subjects. By mounting the lens and camera on a rifle stock, the center of camera motion is now with the photographer’s body. Cameras mounted on a tripod or monopod move this center of movement away from the body of the photographer and is a less instinctive way to follow a subject’s movement.
The MirrorsPod Invention
The MirrorsPod was invented most in 2020. It is a lens adaptor that can either be placed in from a camera or used in the studio with a light table to create multiple kinds of prismatic imagery.
THE LUDF, LIMITED USE DIGITAL FILE
My latest invention is in the digital realm. I now work making fine art photographic compositions totally with digital tools. The marketing of fine art photographic imagery typically involves producing physical prints. No longer wanting to be in the business of having physical prints produced by myself, I have decided design a way for customers to use full resolutions digital files to make their own physical prints in whatever size or strata of their choosing.
The LUDF, Limited Use Digital file, allows a customer make changes in size and resolution of their prints but are not allowed to change subject matter or design elements in the compositions as these are immutable or unchangeable and protected by copyright principles.
