Born in Fort Worth, Texas James Hines was fortunate to have traveled to many states as a youth with his evangelical minister father and the rest of his family.  Inspired by the new, unfamiliar towns during his travels, James took to exploring the countryside.  This exciting life nurtured this young boy’s love for the outdoors and later that love turned to passion in his adult life with his career in photography.  Now his travels extend as far as Africa.

 “Bwana James” as he is known to his safari guides in Kenya, always had an avid eye for design, producing technical drawings and inventing in his spare time.  After meeting his wife, wildlife artist Jan Martin McGuire, James began seizing the opportunity to get out into nature again.  Using an extra camera with which Jan shot her reference, his affinity for the genre instantly took root.  Many of James’s photos caught Jan’s eye and became the basis of her paintings.

Switching to digital photography in 2007, James immediately became entranced with new possibilities in his craft, learning all the nuances of digital film processing and publishing.  James shoots a Canon 50D using a 100-400 image stabilized lens.  Photographing with a keen creative eye, James’ strong sense of light and composition quickly became his trademark in his work.  In this regard his work stands out from that of other photographers who use a more technical approach.

James’ style is about remaining as true to nature as possible; there is little or no alteration of his photos in his digital studio.  He strongly prefers that the body of his work be factual and accurate while capturing the true essence and mood of his original subject and scene.  At most, his photographs are enhanced by careful cropping to ensure a unique composition and interesting perspective for the viewer.  And, in some series sepia tones are added to portray a bygone era.  Breaking from traditional photography custom, he produces his photos as Archival Ink on smooth white canvas that are then hand coated with a low gloss varnish for protection. These remarkable photos can be framed as fine art – without the need for glass.  They are signed and numbered in limited editions.  A new series entitled “The One” will be launched in 2010.  These extra large format photos will be produced as one-of-a-kind originals.  James’s work has appeared in international magazines.

Visit James' Portfolio on his website!

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