COMPANY PROFILE
Horizon Image Group ("HIG"), a fine art photography company formed in 1996, showcases the landscape and seascape compositions of Michael McAreavy (aka Lightchaser).

All photographs displayed are available for retail purchase in editions limited to 199, all sizes inclusive. Prints may be ordered securely through this website using PayPal. There is no additional cost for this, and there is no need to create an account on PayPal to use it. PayPal accepts all major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express), as well as other forms of payment. The on-line shopping cart icon may be found by moving your cursor over any image once within the respective portfolios.

All prints are created in close collaboration with Robert Reiter, owner of The Lightroom. He has been providing top quality photographic printing services and expertise since 1975. Michael and Robert each stand by their craftsmanship. However, if you are not completely satisfied, the photograph(s) will be purchased back from you by HIG, no questions asked.

10% of all net proceeds are donated annually to Save The Redwoods League.

ARTIST PROFILE - MICHAEL McAREAVY

Born June 5, 1962 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Michael McAreavy is a fine art photographer living in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland, California. He has been photographing landscapes/seascapes across the Western United States since 1990.

ARTIST STATEMENT - MICHAEL McAREAVY

Enamored by natural light nearly my entire life, I have been photographing landscapes and seascapes since 1990. When light, line, and shadow form a perfect union, my spirit comes alive. To this day (2011), I still prefer to work my craft with a slow manual medium format film camera. You may ask--- Why? Considering "photograph" in Latin means "to write with light," I interpret camera bodies, lenses, digital sensors, film, etc. as being meerly tools of the trade. You could say that working with film on the front end of the photographic process ('front end' meaning composition creation in the field) fits my "writing style." I simply have a greater appreciation for film's recordation tendencies than I do for the digital camera quest to make it "110% perfect." How film "sees what's in front of it" has long been half the joy for me---- flaws, inabilities, idiosyncrasies and all. This by no means should be interpreted as an argument against digital technology. Quite the contrary. Modern day digital technology is incredible. However, in my case, I prefer to marvel over "digital capacity" only after reaching the print preparation stage. Color and contrast control is out of this world. Guess you could say I am both old and new school.

Here is a little that has been said about Michael McAreavy:

"These are the sparest outlines of the life and work of Ansel Adams that serve as an inspiration to photographer, Michael McAreavy. McAreavy is quick to point out that he didn’t pick up a camera until fully embarked on a career in the financial services industry. Reading the bio that he provided, I frankly thought it a tad presumptuous to claim such a titan as a model. Then I looked at his work. A profound respect for the land is implicit in each composition. Rugged terrain and dramatic sweeps of mountains and coastline mirror the artist’s admiration for Adams. McAreavy, however, clearly stakes out his own aesthetic territory in his images. Subjects are framed with an acute eye, and the viewer is compelled to wonder how far and how long did the artist need to go and to wait to capture that specific moment. Ultimately, I find that McAreavy is an enormously generous artist. Not unlike his hero, Ansel Adams, Michael McAreavy’s work is so passionately, impeccably executed that its power transcends the individual artist to celebrate the grandeur of his subject." -Priscilla Steele, Fine artist and co-owner of Campbell Steele Gallery

"Being the work of a human being, it's not perfect." -Anonymous

"Each one of Michael's images is a gem, carefully carved from land and light. You know an accomplished photographer when you see one. They aren't just pretty pictures of pretty places... I can tell each one has its own story, its own adventure. It would seem the light chases Michael, rather than him chasing the light... but I know better. His images seem timeless and effortless and have the same well-thought-out quality that I see in images from Galen Rowell. They are beautiful. You definitely have to chase light to come away with these kinds of gems." -Brian Ernst

BLOG - Lightchaser's Path

GOOGLE+ - Michael McAreavy

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING &
PROCESSING RECOMMENDATION - The Lightroom