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About DeepEarth Photography

The images shown on DeepEarthPhotography.com represent a minute fraction of those available. If something here catches your eye, please contact DeepEarth regarding additional offerings. Thank you very much for perusing!

About the Photographer

I enjoy capturing small pieces of the world around me in a unique manner, and in finding unusual subjects to share; photography gives me this freedom more than anything else I have ever found. It brings me great joy to have others see things that are indescribable in any other terms, and that drives my artwork.

I tend be be very technical in my work, and that is a reflection of my professional life as well. I am a facilities engineering program manager, responsible for planning and implementing the operations and maintenance (O&M) programs for approximately 20 computer datacenters (literally) around the world. I wasn't sure what to do with my life after high school, so I pursued degrees in mechanical, industrial, and systems engineering, and played soldier as a Captain in the US Army (Infantry) in earlier years.

I want to experience (and shoot) anything that allows me to open up my mind to new ideas and concepts, and to apply those to produce something that I can be proud of. I particularly enjoy underground and underwater photography, primarily because they demand a lot of thought and planning to go into each successful image. Something about the low-light environment really brings out the creativity in my shooting. My play and travel round out and balance the technical shooting, allowing me to shoot high-energy (and high speed) individual sports, the mountain environment, and unusual places around the world.

I have been shooting for over twenty years, and my professional position allows me to pursue travel photography and to see things that a photographer based in one location never would. I intend to have photography follow me through my life, not lead me into a single niche.

Green Commitment

DeepEarth Photography is taking the first step toward making our company and our industry as sustainable and environmentally forward-thinking as possible. Starting in 2008, DeepEarth is 100% wind powered. Yes, that increases overhead costs, but it is worth it in the long run. Since we're 100% digital in-house, we have as small an environmental impact as possible. On a side note, in 2008 I have instituted five major programs at my datacenters that should decrease utility usage - particularly electricity - in the infrastructure physical plant by 10% in the past year, resulting in a projected energy savings of 3,360MWh/year (the equivalent of 377.5 average US homes), and am moving towards having all of my datacenter electrical power usage offset to meet federal energy reduction goals.

Image Quality

Images on this website are displayed highly-compressed and at very low resolution in order to both reduce internet download times and to preserve copyright.

Although the on-screen images are useful for image selection, there is simply no comparison between these and the quality of one of the art prints offered here. The majority of images are 18-50 Mb files derived from digital SLR cameras. Recent pictures are taken with Canon EOS 5d and 10d digital SLRs and a digital PowerShot G9 with a variety of lenses. Images are processed in Adobe Photoshop CS2/3 on true-color monitors calibrated with a Spyder II colorimeter to ensure color fidelity to the actual subject. Prints may appear different than on your screen when you receive them.

Recent Work & References

DeepEarth is always available for special assignment work (see Assignment Photography Terms).

Working with musician Dan Harris of the Harris Instrument Company in Boulder, Colorado, DeepEarth spent two days setting up and shooting his guitar-building shop, several guitars in various stages of production, completed inventory, and the finished products in the outdoors.

I have worked extensively with Get Out Sports from Boulder, Colorado. In 2005 and 2006, DeepEarth completed several assignment trips for background and marketing material, leading to an interview article on the company in Penthouse magazine with feature photographs.

My stock photography offerings are used in promotional and publication materials around the world; a portion of my non-assignment portfolio can be seen from the current stock offering links on my Stock Images page.

Kelly Bates, Photographer
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