Steve Ember is a Washington-based photographer, writer, and voice actor/narrator. In addition to his signature New York (including many “SubwayScapes” integrating elevated rail lines into views of the urban fabric), Baltimore, and Washington cityscapes, his work also encompasses Alpine landscapes, European, and American motifs, including night scenes, as well as railroad and aviation subjects, and aerial photography. A lifelong photographer, Steve’s work has been honored over many years with selection in numerous juried exhibits at galleries in the greater Washington area. His photographs appear regularly at the Maryland Federation of Art’s Circle Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland. Artist's Statement: I have maintained a lifelong passion for photography, whether landscape/cityscape, street moments, railroad and aviation subjects, nature, portraiture, or my always willing and photogenic cat, Wookie. A particular passion of mine is the visual variety, drama and pulse (as well as quiet, sometimes poignant moments) that New York City provides. I’ve loved New York since my earliest visits with my parents, including the incredibly complex Subway system and its vital steel arteries on which so much of the city’s day-to-day life depends. I can honestly say I’ve never tired or felt at all jaded in capturing that vibrancy. While I reside in northern Virginia, my formative (and earliest camera-wielding) years were in Baltimore, and I continue to enjoy photographing the wide variety of motifs in the Chesapeake Bay region, and particularly love capturing water level impressions, whether beneath the soaring spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge or in scenic coves along the expansive waterscape of Annapolis. Other favorite destinations for photography include such large and vibrant cities as London and Paris, the Swiss and French Alps, the Scottish Highlands and Italy’s Lake Como. Another shooting pleasure is getting up close and personal with nature’s incredibly wide range of motifs, whether the delicacy of blossoms in summer’s golden light being visited by a passing butterfly, the pastels of springtime, the vivid hues of autumn, or the limitless abstracts of winter-bare trees, whether captured against vivid skies or soaring urban architecture. I have loved shooting film for decades, having begun my photographic journey when film was the only means of capturing an image and I have continued shooting film alongside digital. I like to say it “keeps me honest” – that is, it forces me to be more deliberate in my shooting, also to remember all the relationships of f/stops, shutter speeds, depth of field scales, that I've striven to master over the years…and the fact that a roll of film represents a finite number of chances to “get it right.” I like to think that much of this has managed to carry over into my digital shooting.