User:Carlyeager

Carl Yeager, Bio as of May 1st 2006.

I first started photography in 1972. It was my boss who introduced me to photographic and darkroom work. My first darkroom came in 1973 into the mid 80s. I prefer the PC darkroom work for myself now days. I do however think that the chemical dark room is very important experience for anyone who is serious about photo work. My interests in subjects through the years evolved from what’s called a purist photographer which I had 15 years of. This is one who only changes the image through glass filters mounted on the front of the lens or the use of a chemical darkroom than with graphic editing software manipulation. I now consider myself a photographic graphic artist. This is one that uses, to any degree, software for cropping, tonal control, color mixing, these techniques are used globally by basically every medium whether it’s advertising, fashion, newspapers, and ultimately the movie industry which takes it to a higher degree. I also owe a big part of my artistic discipline to artist Alan Magee who I had the pleasure to have as a friend and spent many field trips with. Plus artist Robert Seufert from Bucks County, Pa.

The last 20 years of my life I have been battling a neuromuscular disease. I live with a tracheotomy tube, a gift of life from my fine doctors at Abington hospital in Pa. I have several limitations taking photos. Because my hands shake, I can only use a tripod. My long field trip days are over now, and when I feel good it is two hours max if I’m lucky. Till this day, 95% of my time in the field I spend by myself. My love for this art is on a one to one basis, meaning my work is a 100 percent reflection of who I am. Thus it is a visual diary of people, places and things in good times and bad I have cherished and learned to accept all through the years. It is unacceptable for me now to let time go by and not produce something from within. I could not do it any other way.

I use one Analog Canon A1`s cameras. I have always used Cannon lenses: 24mm f2, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 35-105mm f3.5, 80-200mm f4. Old stock but they do the job with outstanding results. I use a Canon Fs4000us film scanner to input my negatives into a Home made Pc using a 21in Sony multiscan E540 monitor. My output is to a 1280 Epson printer. December 25th 2005 my family gave me for Christmas Canon rebel xt 17-85mmIs lens. Christmas of 2005 my family gave me a Canon Eos Digital Xt 17-85mmIs lens. This makes working much easer.

I have a wife and two boys and live in Montgomeryville, Pa.USA.

Epilogue, life. After I was diagnosed in 1984 I became dormant for years thinking I was less of a man. It was not until September 13th of 1999 my life changed for ever. I suddenly woke up in and ICU on life support and for the next 17 days it took to realize what my life was all about. The love from my family, doctors and nurses let me live again. It was soon after I recovered my creative force came back at a higher level to stay.

My style for scan art, For the last two years, I have been working with experimental fine art, using an Epson flatbed scanner 1670. This process sometimes includes the use an analog 35mm film camera into a dedicated film scanner, in conjunction with the flatbed scanner. My scanner studies utilize real, three dimension subjects; no photos are scanned at any time. I edit and enhance these pieces with Adobe Photoshop 7 and 8. This software is used for noise removal, digital airbrushing, lighting and contrast control. This process requires innovative thinking and a significant amount of time. Most of my scans are done at 24-48 bit 300-600dpi. This was picked after testing for the best image results with this particular model. I have never worked with another scanner, so I cannot compare with other units.

I call this style, Analog, digital, experimental photographic art. (Adept) This is not just an abstract, still life, digital art or altered. This is a combination of many artistic disciplines.

Carl Yeager Carlyeager.com