Since this is our first website and we have not had the opportunity to be interviewed by anyone yet, I thought that I would start a regular post entitled “Q & A – About Us.“

In this post, I will ask Jim and I the same question and you will be able to see our answers in the same article.  The intent of this article is to help you get to know us better.  If you have any questions “About us” that you would like to ask, please leave a comment below and we will try to answers your questions.

Question 1

What type of photography do you do and where do you get the inspiration for your work?

JUDY:  “I would have to say that my photography is mainly Fine Art Photography.  I am fascinated with architectural elements, colour, texture, pattern and gesture.  I will try a little bit here and there of landscape but I am more interested in still life, objects, old barns, old houses, and windows.  That type of thing.

Regarding inspiration for my work, I would have to say probably things that mean something to me.  Both of my grandparents were farmers and I think a lot about how things have changed and I guess I still want that connection with the past.  When I think about the past and good memories, I think about their farms and the good times I had there.  I remember my grandmother sitting by the window with her cup of tea and I think about my grandfather sitting by the window and reading his western novels.

I love colour.  Absolutely love colour.  I love windows and doors.  Mainly I guess it’s a culmination of my experiences in my life and things that I feel drawn to.  As Ansel Adams said, “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera.  You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.””

JIM:  “First of all, concerning the type of photography that I do, I don’t specialize in anything.  I take a lot of pleasure in not specializing.  I photograph the things that are around me that I find interesting.  So if I go out to take photos, I rarely have a plan of what I am going to photograph.  I try to find interesting angles, interesting lighting, interesting textures, colour, form and that kind of thing.  But from time to time, I have a plan.  I like taking pictures of animals, flowers, landscapes, you name it I have taken photographs of it.  I may be out taking pictures of landscapes and suddenly see flowers that I’d like to photograph or I may see an insect and put on a macro lens.  I take photos of anything.

As far as where I draw my inspiration, I draw it from the things around me. It could be art, it could be other people’s photographs, or it could be nature; its forms, colours, textures, the insects and flowers – whatever I see around me.   The way the flowers arrange themselves. The way that insects react.  The way that animals move.  An activity a bird might be doing.  So I take inspiration from what I see around me.”