WHAT is the purpose of this site? Commercial or vanity? Something in between (and is there such a thing)? Does it really matter? Narcissus and business: they are not exactly mutually exclusive concepts. Search as you might you will find no dollar figures for the sale of images. So, this is not a commercial site, though I am happy to sell my images and prints. But, money is not the prime motivator for this site as I'm fortunate in that my "day job" supports certain expensive endeavors, such as photography. So, shall we call the Clayhaus.net a hybrid site? If so, it may not unique in concept, but likely so in content. Perhaps the answer to What can be found in Why?

WHY create this site? Internet technologies now allow us to share information and ideas with an uncountable number of people using relatively easy and previously unimaginable mechanisms. Sounds like a marketing-induced tagline for yet another failed dot-com. But, it is true! In that statement though, the key word for me is SHARE. Why does a writer write, a painter paint, a musician make music? Because there is something within them that must be shared or to sell a product? There is not necessarily a simple A or B answer here. Despite our simple desires (and the pontific words of politicians, moralists, and other self-anointed pundits of the age) the world is not BLACK or WHITE, but instead many shades of grey (or, on a non-gloomy day, the world is positively polychromatic!). Nonetheless, it has become all too commonplace to see writers, musicians, cinema directors, and painters vie to create salable, self-perpetuating franchises replete with marketing tie-ins and cross-media merchandising. The vision is born, sells well, and is in effect cloned, ad infinitum, or until the public's fickle tastes change. Thus Commodity Art is born. More power to the creators of such.

There is a fine line somewhere between Art and Craft and I don't claim to know where that line is. But, perhaps I can venture a simple definition: artists create and share visions while craftsmen create and sell products. Is the difference only in the proverbial eye of the beholder? Probably. My wife and I were in the wonderful Tyrolean Folk Art Museum in Innsbruck, Austria and there was a whole room full of beautifully carved and exquisitely painted 18th century beds. It took several months to create just one bed. Is it Art or Craft? An enchanting fusion of both? Time obviously changes our sense of appreciation and valuation.

Within each one of us there is The Muse. Most of us ignore it. We have been trained to be scientific types or clerical or mechanical or any of a numerous number of professions that we allow to define us. Artists are a "special breed." Art is something that only trained people (artists) can do. Gone is the Renaissance Man (or Woman). Or, so we are led to believe. The Muse sleeps in most of us, to rarely, if ever, awaken. Add to its somnolent state the stultification of Entertainment. Everything must be entertaining. Entertaining everything must be. Therein lies a paradox: Entertainment is often creative and sometimes even Art. The stultification sets in when we assume the passive role of an empty receptacle; when the entertainment prompts us to think no further than the next episode, the next installment, the next collectible.

So, dear reader, if you are still with me, why have I lead you down this chemin de philosophie? It should be obvious by now. This website exhibits My Muse: my creative outlet. I do not pretend to be an artist and my craftsmanship is still developing. Occasionally, what I see through the viewfinder and what becomes transposed to film is too narrow and regrettably too predictable. Guilty. But, every so often, a good eye, combined with providential light and bit of technical acumen yields perfectly the vision I want to share.

WHO is this guy rambling on so? Just another wannabe photographer with a camera or two and an assault bag full of lenses? Jeff Clay is the name and though computers are what I do by day, my desire is that the website (as it grows) will continue to show my other diverse and frankly deeper interests: history, travel, architecture, martial arts, wilderness, and so on.

I initially approached photography as many a tyro has: set the camera to "auto" and click away. That was years ago and with a little Kodak. I can still occasionally be accused of "clicking away," when I slip into photojournalist mode. That is part of the dilemma: I don't really know what kind of photographer I am. I do admire the works of many a professional and art photographer covering the range of straight, fine art, documentary, portrait, travel, landscape, architectural, historical, colour, and B & W photography. I look for inspiration and ideas in many places, numerous images, diverse styles. Am I a "Renaissance" photographer or merely unfocussed in my vision? No matter: I enjoy what I do, I strive to do it better, do see progress in my art and technique, and hopefully some images will move some people.

HOW are the images taken, the website created? Years ago I started with a Pentax ME Super and a few Pentax, Sigma and Tokina lenses. Up until late 2003, my primary bodies were a PZ1-P and a couple of ZX-5Ns and typically I would go on a longer photo-trip with three bodies loaded with 1) relatively slow colour print film (100-400 ISO), 2) fast (800 ISO) colour print film, and 3) 100-400 ISO B&W print film. However, I made the leap to digital by purchasing a Pentax *st SLR. Impressions? I love the latitude it gives me: no need to carry multiple bodies loaded with fast/slow/print/slide/color/B&W. As well, and of course of great importance, image and resolution quality are outstanding. My biggest peeve to date has been that the sensor seems to be extraordinarily prone to attracting dirt. This obviously occurs when changing lenses, so my recommendation is that one should exercise more care when doing that (as compared to when swapping lenses with a film camera) and always carry a clean bulb air blower when traveling.

Prime lenses I use:

• Sigma EX 15mm/f2.8 Fisheye 180°

• Pentax 20mm/f2.8

• Sigma EX 105mm/f2.8 Macro

• Sigma APO 400mm/f5.6 Macro

Zoom lenses I use:

• Sigma EX DG 12-24mm/f4.5-5.6

• Pentax 18-35mm/f4.5

• Sigma EX 28-70mm/f2.8

• Sigma EX APO 70-200mm/f2.8

• Sigma APO 170-500mm/f5-6.3

Though I am not using as much film as I used to (what with the digital SLR usually my first choice), below are my primary film choices when I do turn to "analog":

• Fuji Reala 100 ISO; Rich, full-sunlight (or use tripod) film

• Fuji NPC 160 ISO; Great skin-tones, my favorite portrait film

• Fuji NPH 400 ISO; Tight-grained, a great all-around print film

• Fuji NPZ 800 ISO; This is incredible film for those often-encountered low-light situations when flash and tripod are either unwanted or not allowed

• Ilford 100 or 400 Delta Pro; Super rich black tones, I will typically take both speeds of film on a trip and use whichever is appropriate for the subject matter and/or lighting

• Kodak T-Max 3600; Pretty grainy but can yield some very nice effects with an extremely wide latitude for pushing and pulling

Other photo-paraphernalia includes a Gossen Luna-Star-F2 light meter, a Bogen-Manfrotto carbon tripod (super steady and sturdy) and a very light-weight Cullman tripod for traveling (but, a bit wobbly and therefore definately not recommended for windy situations), a range of filters for colour and B&W film, and of course several kit bags of which the best, I find, are LowePro.

Website work is performed primarily on either my Macintosh G4 or laptop G3 using the Adobe products of Illustrator, Photoshop, ImageReady, and GoLive. Prints up to 13 x 19 are produced on my Epson 1280 using a variety of papers (which can be ordered from InkjetArt.com) of which I am the most happy are:

• Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper; Fantastic colour reproduction

• Inkjetart Micro Ceramic Luster; Excellent for B&W & half the cost of Epson paper

• Mitsubishi Diamond Jet; The best high-quality paper I have found suitable for double-sided printing

WHEN were these images taken? Though I have been shooting on and off for three decades, most of what will appear on this site are no older than the mid-nineties, which is when a) I began seriously pursuing photography, and b) when my wife Bonnie and I began traveling more.

WHERE were these images taken? Most locations will be obvious as I label sections clearly. (If you have questions about specific areas, please email me.) Beginning in 1998, I was offered the opportunity to start traveling quite a bit for business with subsequent trips to Switzerland, England, Portugal, Sweden, Sicily, and France. This business travel continues to date and for these trips I usually bring a camera. Coincidentally, at about the same time, Bonnie and I began a series of travels beyond the US borders that has taken us to Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Spain. As the travels and photography continue, this site will grow.

In addition to foreign travel, I plan to add images from the US that are as diverse as the cityscapes and landscapes in this country: from Milwaukee to New Orleans, from redrock deserts to alpine mountains, from the ecclesiastical to the profane.

Clearly, a lifetime of ideas and images can be explored and will be published here.

Clearly, if you have read this far, you are interested in this site and I would appreciate any comments you may have: images@clayhaus.net.

A budding Mr. Clayhaus, circa 1960. Photography by my father, Robert Clay with a 2-1/4" Rollei.