Who am I? Name: Scott Crouse Located:  Chesterville, Ontario, Canada

But who am I?   I'm a married 42 year old man who lives just south of the Canadian capital city of Ottawa. We're the typical Canadian family, 2 children, 2 dogs, 1 cat living in the country.  Only missing the white picket fence.  We've lived here for the past 10 years and I'm still learning my way around this massive part of Canada.

Naturally the exploring is always with a camera in hand. I'm originally from the east coast of Canada (Nova Scotia) and was first introduced to photography with a Pentax ME Super SLR as a gift from my parents during my teenage years. It was apparent that I liked the hobby and was pretty good at it but I found the developing costs very prohibitive (I'm a cheap bugger) so the camera didn't get much use. Over the years photography was put on the shelf.

In the late 1980's I started moving around living in Bermuda (3 years) and the Canadian Arctic (about 2 years combined time) and out on the island of Newfoundland. I got to see some very lovely places and made some excellent friends throughout Canada and around the world. I'm also an amateur radio operator (callsigns: VA3XA and VP9MM) and meet many new people each year though that hobby.

A few years ago when digital cameras became affordable I started out with a point and shoot and the photography bug hit again. Each year I travel back to Bermuda to house sit for friends and through them and Bermuda I rediscovered my love of photography. Such an excellent place to find great shooting locations. I'm a massive computer geek so it just all came together ( digital photography computers = fun ). Very quickly I traded in the P&S for a small SLR (Canon S3is) and my skills developed rapidly. I was being pushed by my wife and my buddy Tom (a Bermuda mate) to go to the next level. I then picked up my first "pro" camera, a Nikon D200, and haven't looked back.

I gained lots of interest on flickr and started receiving comments from people wanting to buy my pictures. So I setup this website and registered my business Scott Crouse Photography. Unfortunately photography is still a hobby for me, I have a regular day job to pay the bills so my photo time is evenings, weekends and vacations. Although I get a few sales, it doesn't even pay for the hobby at this point, so if you want to help me out  purchase away (sorry, shameless plug for business haha).

In 13 years I'll be retiring from my regular job and at that time I hope to move to a more full time posture. I'm still primarily a landscape photographer, I just haven't figured out how to shoot portraits or people. Right now it remains my Achilles heel but we continue to work at it. I have no models or people that even want to me take their picture so that makes it tougher to learn. In Canada most money is in wedding photography but I have no desire to deal with very emotional clients (read mothers, mother-in-laws and brides) haha. I still shot for myself and if people like my vision then great, if they don't, oh well.  I'm just happy to share my vision/images with others!

These days I operate out of Chesterville Ontario (60km's south of Ottawa, Canada). I'm an avid canoeist and kayaker thus many of my photos are taken in the great outdoors from the water or around water.  I have a special link with the land and I always try to portray the beauty that I see.  

Each year I spend my summers on the famous Rideau Canal in Ontario, Algonquin Park and other famous waterways capturing the beauty of the Canadian summer.  Each fall I spend almost a month at my second home in Bermuda.  Both Canada and Bermuda are photographers dreams come true.  Please visit my galleries,  I love comments and chatter so speak your mind and visit often. Lets all have a good time. Cheers till later,


Scott


***No SIGNIFICANT subject matter in any of my photographs was added or removed digitally.  Most corrections only consist of fine tuning of the exposure, colour, tones and blending.  You will notice that many of my images have a "different" kind of look.  These are HDR (High Dynamic Range) or DRI (Dynamic Range Increase) shots.  They consist of 3-9 images all shot at the same time.  All of the same scene but using different exposures, when processed they give a painted look, but they are real.  For more info about HDR or DRI, google is your friend. :)  No images have been computer generated, only corrected.  I do try and make most images as seen.

Many of my images do not conform to standard matte or frame sizes.  So when purchasing ensure that you either select "no crop" (which will give you white borders) or crop the image to the size you wish.  I do not recommend cropping as the vision is to show the wide beautiful world that we live in.  If there is an image that you like but you absolutely can't get it right on the purchase part of the site, please contact me direct and we'll be more then happy to help you out.  In other words I will take custom orders, within reason.  Give me a shout - to my personal email.




All my images were captured in digital formats. Below is the list of gear I presently use.
# Nikon D200
# Canon S3is
# Nikkor 18-200mm VR
# Nikkor 105mm VR
# Nikkor 70-400mm VR
# Colkin Filter System consisting of a polarizer and several Neutral Density filters.  Overall I rarely use filters.
# Manfrotto 190XProB tripod

Non-photo gear that makes my life much easier and my photos possible;
# Current Designs Storm 17' Kayak
# Scott Trillium 17" Canoe
# 1999 Toyota Tacoma (currently over 240,000 km's)




Feel free to leave comments, both good and bad on my images.  If you leave bad comments please keep them polite and off CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.  No one likes to be told it's bad when they don't offer a way to make it better.  If I still disagree with you, please respect my opinion and I will respect yours. 

Any questions, comments, or personal chat can be directed to my personal email.