Tim’s fascination with photography began as a kid growing up in the 1970’s, when his father traded in his simple Polaroid for a Nikon F2 35mm SLR camera. The feel of the solid metal body in his hand, that inimitable mechanical sound of the shutter, and those sharp clear photos it produced, was all it took for Tim, at age 11, to beg his dad for his own camera for Christmas.

He had no idea that when he tore off the wrapping paper, and saw that classic yellow and red box housing a Kodak Instamatic X-15 Camera, that it would be the beginning of a lifelong career in photography. By 16, he had built his own darkroom in the basement, and at 21, he landed his first real photography job, in Colorado; he was hired to capture the thrills of whitewater rafting for the tourist industry. He packed up his East Coast life and headed west.

The mountain lifestyle suited his outdoor passions perfectly. He became an avid kayaker and spent most of the 80s and 90s traveling the world capturing the adventurous life and extreme whitewater kayaking on film for advertising and editorial clients Citibank, Patagonia, Jeep, Outside Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, Visa, Cannondale. (See full list below.)

In 2001, with the onset of digital photography, Tim shifted his career to fine art prints and began selling his travel photos through galleries and art shows. By 2014, he opened his own studio and gallery in historic downtown Salida, Colorado. It was there that he built a darkroom and started focusing on wet plate collodion (tintypes) and film photography.

After five years of perfecting his tintype process, he sold his downtown gallery and bought a home in the mountains just outside Salida to pursue his dream of building a natural light tintype studio, where he will continue his exploration and fascination with historic photographic processes. After a year and a half of COVID related delays, the Natural light Studio opened it’s doors in December of 2022. phone 719-221-1115 for more info or to schedule your tintype experience.