Hello and welcome to my website. My name is Dave Ducharme and I have been a photography enthusiast since my Dad got me my first Nikon EM SLR when I was around 12 years old. I have been exposed (no pun intended!) to photography my whole life. My father was a chemical engineer at Eastman Kodak during their glory years and a photographer himself. I clearly remember him showing me how to make prints from a negative in the dark room. He also taught me the art of dodging and burning for proper exposure. What a magical process it was to me.

Photography has certainly come a long way since then. There are still a few purists who continue to work in film but the vast majority have switched to digital. My first impression of digital cameras was not a good one. I had just began my teaching career and had access to one the first Sony Mavica digital cameras. It used a 3.5 inch floppy disc to record its .3 megapixel images. I remember thinking that there was no way this would ever take the place of film.

Fast forward a few years, I had my first positive experience with a digital camera. My Dad got me an Olympus point and shoot. I had recently gotten into backpacking and didn't care to lug my SLR around so I was relying mainly on those little disposable film cameras. The little digital Olympus was a revelation. First of all, it was small and light. Secondly, I could take hundreds of photos instead of dozens. And most importantly, the image quality was very good up to 8” by 10”. Unfortunately, I lost that camera on a winter backpacking trip after a few tumbles in the deep snow. I didn’t even realize it had fallen off the waist belt of my backpack until I was back at the trailhead several miles away.

I soon replaced the lost camera with another Olympus point and shoot that I used for several years. Some of the photos in my gallery were taken with that camera. As I got more serious about my photography and the digital technology continued to improve, I ventured into digital SLRs or DSLRs. This gave me much more control over the imaging process. I could now use many different focal lengths by switching lenses, I could easily adjust depth of field, I could now take better photos in low light situations thanks to the bigger sensors and finally I could print very large photos without any loss of detail.

Now the only limiting factor for me is time. My “day job” of teaching high school math and coaching tennis in the spring and fall takes up the majority of my time. However, I try to get out as much as possible on weekends and vacations. Fortunately, I live in a very beautiful part of New York State. I am minutes from several Finger Lakes, picturesque waterfalls and rolling hills that come alive with color in the fall. I’m a big believer in the old adage “f8 and be there”. All the camera gear and skills in the world are worthless if you do not get out and use them.

Thank you for visiting my website and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.