Flickr: The Jimmer < www.jimvancephoto.com >

I have been interested in Art as long as I can remember. As a child I dreamed of being a famous painter ( and of course of being an NHL star like many young Canadians do ). So far I am neither.

In public school I remember painting a tree that my teacher thought was great and I also made a paper mache mask that hung at the school all that year ( perhaps my grade 6 year ). What became of either...who knows.

A print of Tom Thompson's "Northern River" that hung at the school is one of my favorite paintings to this day.

One of my favorite activities is to browse an art gallery. I believe I have learned much through observation of the art of others past and present.

My career path; however, did not take me in an artistic direction. I ended up working in administration with the Ontario government for 27 years, then owning a travel industry franchise for 9 years. I am now semi-retired working 2-3 days a week in retail and putting the rest of my time and energy into photography and art ( drawing and painting ).

Photography has been an excellent way to express my artistic creativity for the past 30 years and with the digital age, I have increased my photographic activity.

My photographic images likely show the influence of observing art for many years and may speak to the viewer of my interest of becoming a good painter.

In photography I was not long in realizing the limitations of the camera in capturing the image result that I was seeking. I had many failures as I got to know the camera and got to know photography’s limitations.....the camera simply could not duplicate some of the lighting situations that I saw and was trying to capture. I must say that more recently I have been excited about HDR ( high dynamic range ) photography as it allows me to do more with difficult or poor lighting situations ( I try to be subtle in the use of HDR as I do see some over use of the process ).

I also appreciate that the appeal of a photographic image or a painting etc. is strictly subjective, so.... if someone else is not fond of your prized photo or painting, don’t be surprised nor highly disappointed. Everyone’s taste in subject matter, favorite lighting etc. is distinctly different. Even as I improve, I look back on my previously prized images and see them much more critically than I did initially.

My technical skills in photography are mediocre compared to many as I am not technically inclined. It is not the technology that interests me, but the end result image. My view is that "the image is what counts" and how I got there to that result is not that important. That I saw the potential for a photograph that might appeal to my senses, and my ability to use my equipment well enough to capture it, or my ability to enhance it even further through manipulation, gives me personal satisfaction and keeps my creative juices flowing.

I love trying to squeeze a good or maybe even great photo out of what might have been seen by many as a very ordinary subject or....may not have been seen at all by someone who is not looking. I also enjoy taking that photograph as a reference and taking it to yet another creative realm through digital photo manipulation or traditional painting/drawing.

Or; quite the reverse, I like taking a traditional painting/drawing and subjecting it to digital photo manipulation.

Compared to landscapes and pictorials, I take comparatively few people shots ( ie – portraits etc. ) however, in my painting and drawing I am drawn towards the human figure and the structure and individuality of faces fascinates me. My approach to painting and drawing is that if I wanted to capture realism and document it, I would take a photograph ( ….and I take plenty ). But, in painting and drawing, I would much rather use some artistic licence and go towards the surreal side of things. I am not hung up on exact likeness of a subject, but instead I express myself with the subject as my leaping off point or initial stimulus towards exercising my creativity.

My leisure time speeds by as I exercise my creativity in photography/art, exercise my physical and social being in gentleman's hockey 2-3 times a week in winter with lots of golf in the summer while working part-time in retail to support my vices. AND...needless to say, I love and enjoy immensely, my lovely Lois and three children Greg, Russ & Ashleigh.