Now in Kingston, he’s focusing on photography

While local photographer Tim Davis has been taking pictures much of his life as a hobby, he only recently started selling his work after retiring from sales with Coca-Cola in the Bay Area and moving to Kingston in 2018.

“I had never sold or came close to selling anything,” he said. “I consider myself now semi-professional because it’s not my income, but I am receiving revenue.”

Davis, 63, is well-known in Kitsap County for his stunning shots of Pacific Northwest beauty. He and his wife Trish live above President Point in Kingston, which offers clear views of Puget Sound, where Davis does much of his shooting. He loves documenting the different activities on the water, such as ferries, military vessels and tugboats.

“I am blessed with the beauty up here,” he said. “Much of my work is extemporaneous. I go out and capture what’s in front of me. As I’m growing, I’m trying to find unique avenues for my work, unique genres. I’m trying to find beauty that’s right in front of our eyes, yet we don’t see it sometimes.”

Davis bought his first “big boy” camera at age 19 — a Canon SLR. At the time, one of his big interests was auto racing and that’s what he started to photograph. His older brother was a big influence as he had a darkroom in his home with very nice equipment.

“It was obviously well before digital,” he said. “Those exotic smells in the darkroom, I can never forget that. There are a few aromas in your life that don’t go away; Italian coffee, a barrel room in a winery and in a darkroom.”

Currently, one of Davis’ favorite things to do is take pictures at the same location over the course of a year to compare the differences. He shoots pretty much every day and doesn’t alter his photos much, letting the camera do most of the work.

“My work is very lightly processed,” he said. “I never remove or add any landmarks or items. The only work I do is lighting the shade or increasing the texture or cropping. I like to think this is mostly out of the camera.”

Through the end of June, Davis will be the featured artist at the Village Green Community Center in Kingston where his work will be displayed and available for purchase. The Village Green hosts artists in two-month showings over the course of the year, and Davis will have his artist reception May 20.

Last year, Davis had a booth at the Poulsbo Art Festival, and he will again this year. The event takes place in August at the Poulsbo waterfront. In July, he will be featured at the Art Market put on by the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

“What I don’t want to do is be the guy sitting every Saturday at the Kingston Farmers Market with 30 packaged prints to see if they’ll buy some. The way I worked my booth last year was to say, ‘Here are many examples of my work in print and then here are examples of my work in different media. Show me what you like and let’s talk about it.’ Then we order it from there rather than buy it and take it away.”

After Davis initially moved up here, he entered his first juried competition in 2019 at the Edmonds Art Festival, which he ended up winning 1st place for photography. Since the backdrops of many of his photos are of Shoreline and Edmonds across Puget Sound, he said many people from those areas reach out about his work.

“Now I’ve become a bit known in those groups as well,” he said. “It’s very exciting to be included over there.”

Davis said he is not a freelance photographer as he does not get hired to take pictures, adding he’s only shot one wedding and one family photoshoot. “My favorite line that I say when people ask do you do portrait or weddings is no because mountains don’t complain,” he said.

He is currently in talks with Visit Kitsap Peninsula about using his photos for its publications. He also makes and sells his own calendars, which are ordered around September. Although his work is for sale at timdavisimages.com, he isn’t fond of doing transactions that way. Emailing him at timdavisimages@gmail.com is the best approach.

“I just do it to have it there,” he said about listing his work on the website. “I’d rather interact directly with people about what photos they’re interested in and then talk about what media it’s available to be printed on.”

Since Davis only recently started this venture, he doesn’t plan on putting the camera down anytime soon.

“It’s endless up here,” he said. “The camera weighs only a couple pounds. So as long as I can get around, and I can see, I don’t see this ending for me. In fact, I’ve only been doing this for four years.”