I put down the charcoal and picked up the camera ... it was always bubbling in the background that I needed a creative outlet .”
my pictures hanging in my house and said I really should consider selling it . My wife saw potential and she snuck out and got a business license with the name Sewell Scenics — then I was entering the Interstate Fair . Some of my analog pieces won at the fair and went on as grand champion and that kind of started the whole thing .” Some of those images are still available today on the Sewell Scenics Facebook page and Etsy store .
Now , he has 20 years of experience in film photography , and 20 years in digital , but all of his work on the images he captures is done before the photo is taken . “ I don ’ t Photoshop . I ’ m old school . In the old days , you got the shot or you didn ’ t . When people see it , they can tell that it ’ s not doctored .”
“ A lot of us in film were very hesitant to switch to digital but the technology has gotten so good that if I had two next to each other you wouldn ’ t tell the difference , but as far as the technique goes , it ’ s the same .” This untouched quality serves to make his images unique . It shows his commitment to capturing a moment in nature , just as it was , as well as his experience behind the camera . “ You can ’ t book learn it . You have to have those aptitudes already and use the camera to bring it out . I can ’ t show people how to do what I do . You could have several photographers shooting the same thing , but you would be hard pressed to see they were even in the same place .”
Of all of the pieces he ’ s shot , his alltime favorite is still his grand champion piece . “ A lot of it is luck of the draw , you don ’ t always have a choice for the perfect moment ; I ’ ll shoot any time of day , dusk ‘ til dawn , it doesn ’ t make a difference .” The grand champion at the fair was not even what he had initially
78 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE