About:

 


My name is Tom Grubbe (pronounced groobie) and I live in Redlands California. I was born in Des Plains, IL August 22nd 1963 and have been a musican from the age of nine (a lead guitarist in many rock and roll bands) but never really thought about photography as something I might like. I moved to San Jose CA from Chicago IL got a software engineering education in order to get a "real job". Having given up music for a career in software development I was making steady money but was missing something from the creative side.

I started photography in December of 1997 after being influenced by a few of my fellow engineers from work who had taken up the craft and thought I might be good at it. Once I started I was completely hooked, even obsessed by creating images. It didn't matter how bad they were I just needed to take photos.

I bought a Canon EOS Elan II, some good Sigma lenses, a Gitzo tripod and a bunch more accessories. Like many people I started out using print film but quickly moved to transparency (slide) film to help to learn exposure and to have more control over my photography. I have since bought the Canon 1V for 35mm stuff and a (now obsolete) Canon 10D digital. Until recently my main focus had been on medium format photograhy using the awesome Pentax 67II (which I lost in the ocean at Big Sur). As of April 2009 I retired my film cameras for a Canon 5D Mark II as my primary setup which has totally changed my shooting style. I'm now shooting a much higher volume of good shots than I was with the 6x7 system and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Over the years I found several photo critique sites which you can browse from my Links page. Getting critiques and giving critiques has been a great way to learn technique and improve overall. I have to admit, since joining flickr in 2009 I've seen an exponential improvement in my work. I think flickr forces you to always do your best work and stay sharp. There's a huge amount of talent there and I'm inspired everyday!

Although I've mostly done landscape and seascape photography up until now I hope to learn portrait, stills, architecture, commercial and other specialities in the field. There is a great deal to learn and I'm always searching for ways to improve my photographic skills.

I recently began working with zenfolio.com in order to provide you with high-quality prints of my work (from mpix) as well as other merchandise such as calendars, greeting cards, stationary, etc.. In addition, I've had the good fortune to license several of my best images with the Getty Images stock agency for commercial and editorial use.

All of the photos on this site were taken with the following camera setup and accessories:


My Photography Stuff
 
Camera bodies:
  • Canon EOS R5
  • Sony A7R III
  • Canon 5D Mark III
  • Canon 5D Mark II
  • Pentax 67II
  • Canon EOS 10D
  • Canon EOS 1V
Lenses:
  • Canon RF 15-35 f/2.8 L IS
  • Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM
  • Canon 17-40mm f/4L
  • Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS
  • Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS
  • Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS Macro
  • Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II
  • Laowa 100mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X
  • Rokinon 24mm f1.4
  • Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide-angle Macro
  • Kenko Extension Tubes 12mm, 20mm, 36mm)
  • Canon 50mm f/1.8
  • Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS
  • Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS
  • Samyang 14mm f2.8 Wide-angle
  • Pentax 55mm f/4
  • Pentax 100mm f/4 Macro
  • Pentax 200mm f/4
  • Pentax 2x Teleconverter
  • Promaster 1.7x Teleconverter
  • Canon EF25 Extension Tube
Tripods & Heads:
  • Really Right Stuff TVC-33S tripod
  • Induro CT214 tripod
  • Really Right Stuff BH-55-LR Ball Head
  • Really Right Stuff BH-40-LR Ball Head
  • Really Right Stuff B502-L L-Plate
  • Really Right Stuff B150-B Macro Focusing Rail
  • Bogen 3047 Pan & Tilt Head
  • Gitzo 1325 Mountaineer
  • Gitzo 224 Tripod
  • Bogen 3038 Ball Head
  • Arca Swiss B1
Filters:
  • Breakthrough Photography X4 ND 3.0 Filter (10 Stop)
  • Breakthrough Photography X4 ND 3.0 Filter (6 Stop)
  • B+W XS-Pro Kaesemann HTC Polarizer MRC-Nano Filter
  • Singh-Ray 4x6 Galen Rowell ND-3G-HS
  • Singh-Ray 4x6 Galen Rowell ND-4G-SS
  • Singh-Ray Daryl Benson ND-3 Reverse ND Grad
  • Lee 4x6 .6ND Grad Hard (2-stop)
  • Lee 4x6 .9ND Grad Soft (3-stop)
  • Hoya Circular Polarizer
  • Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer
  • Hoya 81B Warming Filter
  • Hoya 2-stop ND filters
Studio:
  • Neewer Upgraded 480 LED Panel
  • HDV-Z96 96 LED Light Kit (2)
  • Canon 580EX II Speedlite
  • Canon 550EX Speedlite
  • Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Trigger
  • Impact 24x24" Quickbox Softbox
  • Smith Victor RS-6 light stands (2)
  • Matthews 40" Hollywood C+ Boom Light Stand
Software:
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe LightRoom Classic
  • Google Nik Collection
  • Helicon Focus
  • Kolor Autopano Pro
  • Zerene Stacker
  • Thumbs Plus 7.0
Camera Bags:
  • F-Stop Loka (37L) with a Medium ICU
  • F-Stop Lotus (30L) with a Slope Medium ICU
  • F-Stop Guru Ultralight UL (25L) with a Small ICU

* Retired, sold, lost, stolen or replaced.