About Lumen Perfectus

The Wildlife and Nature Photography of Jay Cross

This Web site exists for several reasons. Foremost are the images themselves. We have traveled to some interesting and beautiful places, and the Web seemed the best way to share photos from these trips with those with similar interests.

Although some of the images on these pages have been around for a number of years, it was a trip to Svalbard, Norway, in July of 2000 that prompted the creation of our original Web site. That trip was with Lindblad Expeditions, and was the first of their "eco-cruises" with a special emphasis on photography. Several of the naturalists board the ship were also professional photographers, and they conducted seminars and critiques on board and during shore excursions. A few of the slides from that trip were keepers, and because many people inquired about the trip, the original Web site was created. As that site had limited disk space, a new home was needed; Lumen Perfectus was born.

We offer fine art prints and digital reproduction rights of our photos for sale. If prints are available for an image, you'll find a "purchase a print" link after the descriptive text in the large photo window. Eventually most of our work will be available as prints. If you wish digital repro rights please contact us. We'll be happy to provide pricing based on your useage requirements.

We hope these images help promote a respect for the flora and animals and their environments, an appreciation of their beauty, and an interest in their preservation.

Lumen Perfectus?

When all the good names are taken, pervert a dead language and try again. Lumen Perfectus is Latin and means, very roughly and with no regard for word order, "perfect light". This seemed appropriate for a photography Web site. Lumen can also mean "understanding" and "clarity". Perfect Understanding, Perfect Clarity; we felt these fit nicely with our efforts to learn about and respect the environment and wild spaces, and to battle, in our own way, those forces that would drill, mine, log, flood, or otherwise destroy these things in the interest of short-term gains for a very few.

The Photographs

This site is not about equipment or processing. We are in no position to offer advice or tutorials. We do, however, occasionally receive requests for more information about the equipment and techniques used in the photography and also in the creation of Lumen-Perfectus.com. When not actively shooting, photographers love to talk about their gear! While we will refrain from creating Yet Another Tutorial site, we'll gladly describe the equipment and software used. See our Equipment and Setup page for details.

Purchasing Fine Art Prints

May, 2021: Our Epson Stylus Pro 7900 reached the end of its life. We have not replaced it and are unwilling to use a printing service, so we no longer offer prints for sale. Contact us if you'd like more information.

Credits and Copyright Notice

The text and images on this Web site exist for your viewing pleasure and entertainment and to promote sales of our prints. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos, drawings, illustrations, and text on this site, in our digital and print portfolios, or included in submissions of any kind are the property of and copyrighted by Jay L. Cross.

You may view the pages on this site with your browser application, but no other license to the text or images is granted by their copyright holder. Unless otherwise indicated, you may not copy, print, redistribute, download, save, or use the images, text, or underlying code in any other manner without prior written consent of the author/photographer. The "wallpaper" images on the downloads pages are exceptions; you may download these images for use as Windows wallpaper or Macintosh Desktop Images, but other usage is limited as described above. You may not alter these images or remove the copyright notice. By entering this site or accepting our submissions you agree to the terms stated here. Lumen Perfectus and www.lumen-perfectus.com are service marks of Jay L. Cross.

Lumen Perfectus makes use of some scripts that were developed by others, and they certainly deserve credit for their work.

When you click a thumbnail image on one of our galleries pages, a larger version of the photo is displayed. These larger versions are generated by a very nice JavaScript called Slimbox, written by Christophe Beyls and made available free of charge. Slimbox is easy to implement, is light-weight, and provides the look and functionality we wanted.

If you visit our site with any regularity you may have noticed the photos across the top of many pages change periodically. In fact, the picture will change each time you refresh or reload the page (ctrl-r in Windows browsers, command-r in Macintosh browsers). The photos are changed automatically by a PHP script called "Rotate.php". This was written and generously made available by Dan Benjamin at A List Apart.

The Author

I worked for years in the "tech" industry in a number of postions, and since 1996 for a small, "many hats" sort of company as a software test engineer and occasionally as an electronic and mechanical designer. In summer, 2008, I turned my attention full-time to photography.

I bought my first 35m camera in 1973. It was an expensive (for the time) Topcon Super-D. I accumulated second-hand 28mm and new 200mm lenses, and carted the stuff everywhere. I became technically proficient, but rarely artistic. After 15 years, the gear was shelved as my business travel increased and my time to enjoy photography disappeared. In the mid-1990s, when an opportunity arose to visit Denali National Park and Alaska's southeast (including Glacier Bay National Park), I decided it was time to rekindle my interest in photography and to purchase some modern equipment. With much reading, some professional advice and instruction, and visits to many beautiful wild places for practice, I now strive for the artistic expression I lacked years ago.

In November of 2003 we moved from a small town in northeastern Ohio to a smaller town in northwestern Montana. Our home in the Mission Valley puts us closer to our favorite places, including Glacier and Yellowstone National parks. There are several Montana state parks nearby and thousands of acres of wilderness. We expect to travel to many more of the west's beautiful places, and bring back a publishable photo now and then.

You'll notice the use of "we" in many of the descriptions on the thumbnail index and large photo pages. The other half of the "we" is my wife, someone who, incredibly, likes making travel plans and arrangements, and who also enjoys the wild places, the cities, and the areas in between.

I'd always had a strong environmental awareness, but the trip to Alaska, and many trips to Glacier National Park in Montana, opened my eyes to the beauty of wild places, and the peril in which they struggle to survive. "Take only pictures, leave only footprints" seems sensible to me; I make a daily effort to leave a minimum of marks on the world as I pass through life. I hope that shows, at least a little, in these photographs. Your comments and opinions are welcome.

Thanks very much for visiting.

  Jay L. Cross
  Lumen Perfectus