Early in his career, he developed an interest in photography and was fascinated by the precision of lenses and cameras. His eye for detail and his chemistry background were great assets for darkroom developing and printing. He was very technical and kept a log of film and shutter speeds, f-stops, and lighting conditions that affected taking the photograph and another log in the darkroom for developing and printing times and conditions as well as the formulas for the various solutions. His photographs were simply shared with family and friends. After a satisfying scientific career and early retirement, he switched to digital technology and started exhibiting and entering art and photography shows. He now uses a digital single-lens reflex camera, imports the images to his laptop computer, and prints his own photographs with a large-format printer using long-lasting pigment inks. The best photographs require no adjustment, but when desired, he uses Photoshop and other computer software to alter and enhance the final product. The camera and computer software now keep track of the technical information allowing him to concentrate more on composure and aesthetics. He still uses a lot of manual settings on his camera, but with all of the automatic features on digital cameras today, almost anyone can get good photos. Jim's favorite subjects are landscapes, flowers, animals, architecture, old cars and trucks, barns and almost anything unusual. He believes that photography is not only a way to capture beauty and to record events but also a means to express one's personality.
Jim McMullen
