James Burlitch, who retired as professor of chemistry and chemical biology in 2004, is an expert in inorganic materials. But the materials that have stolen his heart recently are fine art photographs that he shoots around the world and then prints with archival inks on a variety of media in his Ellis Hollow home studio.

The Cornell chemist has been a shutterbug since his high school days in West Virginia, though he put photography largely aside to earn his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That was followed by 39 years at Cornell, dedicated to teaching and research, most recently focusing on producing ceramic materials from chemical precursors.

About a dozen years ago, Burlitch revived his interest in photography when he and his wife, Kathy, hit the road to do some "serious traveling."

"What got me really going was traveling to Switzerland and Italy, and the fabulous scenery that was there," he says. After that trip, he updated his old equipment. When he actually sold some photographs at the Artists Market at the Ithaca Farmers' Market in 1993, it dawned on him that photography could become a serious avocation and maybe even help offset some of the costs of professional equipment needed to do his own scanning, digital workup, matting and framing.

Since then, Burlitch has sold hundreds of photographs, which tend to focus on flora, fauna and landscapes. His favorite subjects include Cayuga Lake, local state parks, scenes from Cornell, Ithaca College, Wells College, national parks, the Rockies, Cascades, Tetons, the Swiss and Italian Alps, and most recently, New Zealand. He extends his love of tennis by photographing Cornell's tennis teams in action. He has shown his work in about a dozen exhibitions and has won several awards.

"Panoramas -- horizontal and vertical -- and backlit images are my specialties," says Burlitch, who also makes prints of original artwork for a small number of artists. Burlitch estimates he works on photography about 15 to 20 hours a week, an endeavor that just transitioned from a hobby to a small business, Enduring Images. His studio is on the Greater Ithaca Art Trail, a group of local artists who open their doors to visitors.