Special Edition Print Folio
Forgotten Places: North Dakota Volume I
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Latest News
05/16/2012: Capturing Digital Infrared
Infrared photography reveals a whole new range of color and tonal relationships that are unseen by the eye in visible light. Up until recently special film sensitive to infrared (IR) wavelengths was used and a dark infrared filter was needed over the lens to filter out visible light. Early digital cameras were sensitive to IR [...] - More
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05/14/2012: Abandoned Farm
Down Route 11 south of Martinsburg there’s an abandoned farm that I have seen many times. One day I ventured across the field to try to capture this gem from another era before it succumbed to the forces of progress.  - More
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05/12/2012: Vandalism
The other day I was out looking for something to photograph. I drove by the cemetery on South Street in Martinsburg and stopped to see if there was anything. What I found was really sad. One or more really sick people had knocked over a considerable number of the gravestones, creating a scene of chaos. [...] - More
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05/09/2012: Thinking Square
One of the interesting things about the new “mirror less” cameras is that they can be set for different aspect ratios in the camera and the electronic viewfinder. The Panasonic GH2, which I have been using quite a bit over the last year, can produce images in 3:4, 2:3, 16:9, and 1:1. the 1:1 square [...] - More
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05/08/2012: Around the Potomac at Shepherdstown
The environment around Shepherdstown offers many opportunities for photographs. The panoramic view from the the James Rumsey Monument Park stretches from the new Rout 340 bridge on the left to the railroad trestle and beyond on the right. And if you’re lucky, you can catch a freight train crossing the trestle. It seems to me [...] - More
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Current and Recent Exhibits
Forgotten Places: North Dakota
Solo Exhibit
Redbrick Gallery
404 West King Street, Martinsburg, WV
October 22 - November 28, 2011
Reception October 22, 4-7pm
2011 West Viginia Juried Exhibit
West Virginia Division of Culture and History
and the Stifel Fine Arts Center
Wheeling, West Virginia
September 30m 2011 - January 2, 2012
Forgotten Places: North Dakota
Solo Exhibit
Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center
40 South Carroll Street, Frederick, MD
August 13 - September 25, 2011
Annual Juried Exhibit
Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center
40 South Carroll Street, Frederick, MD
June 4 - July 24, 2011
FotoDC FLASH Exhibit
Crystal City
2450 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA
(12th & 13th Floors)
March 17-April 17, 2011
18th Annual Tri-State Photography Exhibit
Saville Gallery, Cumberland, Maryland
February-March, 2011
First Prize, Black and White
Tamarack
David L. Dickirson
Fine Arts Gallery, Beckley, WV
"Architectronic"
January - April, 2011
"Inspired" Juried Art Exhibit
Historic Buildings and Structures
Commissioner's Gallery, The Cultural Center, Charleston, WV
Purchase Award: Permanent Collection of the West Virginia State Museum
January-June, 2011
West Virginia Arts and Craft Guild
Biennial Competition
November 2010 - April 2011
Honorable Mention
About Me
Like the ancient world composed of the essential elements
of earth, air, fire, and water, a photograph depicts a subject with
the essential elements of light, shadow, form, and texture. My images
seek to capture that essence of the subject: the way it reflects light,
it’s form and texture, and how it is modified by light and shadow.
I have been doing photography for something over 40 years,
starting with a folding camera and black & white roll film. Over
time I dabbled with various formats but mostly I worked in 35mm. I enjoyed
the versatility of the 35mm SLR and took on the challenge of making
high quality images from this small format.
In the 1960s I worked in a small photo studio where I
spent many hours in the darkroom making black and white prints. Then
I moved from still photography to television and video. I have now come
full circle, returning to photography as art after a 30-year career
in visual communication.
Several years ago I embraced the digital world. I now
shoot with a Nikon digital camera and my darkroom is a computer, Adobe
Photoshop and an archival inkjet printer. The image quality and creative
control that you can get with the “digital darkroom” is
just astounding.
With the great progress in the development of digital
tools for photography over the last few years, the debate is pretty
well settled as to whether digitally captured and processed images are
valid art forms.
To me, photography is about the image, and the photographer’s
vision. All of the technical tools, whether film-based or digitally-based,
are are nothing more or less than tools for translating the photographer’s
vision into a medium that can enjoyed by others.
Thank you for looking at my work. I hope you find something
here you like.
Rip Smith
Email: sterlingimageswv (at) gmail (dot) com
Snail Mail: Sterling Images, PO Box 969, Martinsburg,
WV 25402
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