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Steve Furlong

Steve Furlong

All images, Copyright © Stephen T. Furlong
see also http://www.stevefurlong.com

Bio
Photography is a theme that has run throughout much of the last 35 years of my personal and professional life but it's only within the last year that I have begun to feel like I can legitimately call myself a photographer. My first real interest in photography was sparked by an 8th grade science teacher in a Boston suburb who taught darkroom chemistry as one of the science labs. I was intrigued at the time by the "magic" of developing chemical prints and as I progressed into a scientific career I often took the opportunity to include aspects of photography in my professional work. As a graduate student I met my wife, Eileen, while working on a laboratory project that included photographic documentation of our work. Later I worked, taught and researched in light and electron microscopy labs, often relying on photographic skills to do my job.  Some of my greatest professional thrills were when my "micrographs" (photos taken through a microscope) appeared on the cover of scientific journals!

"Sunrise at Nauset Light Beach" (Cape Cod)

In 1997 I accepted a position in a Wilmington company and moved with my family from Boston. The nature of this new job meant that there would be little opportunity to "make images".  However photography continued to play an important role in my personal life. Like most people I enjoyed taking snapshots of our two children, Erika and Greg, as they grew (using a Canon T70 that I bought shortly after my daughter was born in 1983). Perhaps most important to me, however, a shared interest in photography with my daughter helped provide a connection during some turbulent teenage years. Also, each summer all four of us would travel to Cape Cod (where my wife grew up) for vacation. Each summer I would try to capture some of the beauty of the beaches and villages of the cape as well as pictures of our loved ones in Massachusetts. We all missed living in New England and the company of our friends and relatives. Bringing back these photos from vacation each year to look at during the winter seemed (for me at least) to make the distance less and to remind us of our "roots".

"Bird at sunset" (digital composite)

In 2000 I attended my first WIEP with my daughter and throughout the following year anxiously awaited the next exhibition.  Two things impressed me about the exhibit. The first was the outstanding quality and international flavor of this exhibit. The second thing was the recognition that the digital revolution had progressed to the point where even tradtional photographers had begun to embrace digital images. Since I had been developing an interest in digital photograpy I was excited to learn that a local group was at the forefront of this rapdily developing field. After attending the 2001 WIEP, I joined the club in the fall of that year and entered my first prints in competition in February of 2002.

"Egret Landing"

In the fall of 2002, my wife Eileen also joined the DPS and one of our primary forms of entertanment has now become traveling around Delaware and the local area trying to capture our monthly assigned subjects.  An unexpected benefit of of these travels is that we have learned more about the local area during the last year than we had during the previous five!  Some of the photos on this page reflect our new found appreciation for how much the Wilmington area has to offer.

"Family Outing"

In writing this I'd be remiss not to mention how much I have appreciated the opportunity to be a member of the DPS (and how much I feel I have benefited). As a new member both Eileen and I were warmly welcomed into the club. Each month we have had an opportunity to learn more about the techniqes and tricks of photography from the instructional meetings and lectures and, by example, from the competitions. I continue to be inspired by the skill and passion of our members and thankful for the chance to interact with the likes of Bill Talarowski, Karl Leck, Ray Firmani, Bob Coffey and many others. Recently, I have assumed the duties of webmaster for the club.  Although this is no small amount of work it gives me great pleasure to be able to help show off the work of our members. If you are an active member and don't yet have your personal gallery set up why not consider posting some of your work. I'd be happy to help you with the details of preparing the pages. You can contact me at the e-mail address shown below,

"Songbird" (Wilmington Flower Market)

All images, Copyright © Stephen T. Furlong

Steve's email address is