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My name is Chris Merriam. I am a Charter Member of The A.A.C.A., a long time member of the Arrowpack and a proud member of the G.I.R.S. I have been active in the artifact community for 25 years, and I have been selling relics over the internet for 10 years as TheRelicMan.

I found my first arrowhead when I was 11. On a trip to Ohio, my father and I went hunting for the first time with my Uncle. Out in the tall corn, I found my first point, and I have been hooked ever since.

20 years later, while visiting with a good friend, he pulled out an old box full of photographs he took while in his early 20's. They were pictures he took while visiting the Spiro Mound, in Eastern Oklahoma, back in 1934. These were some of the only photographs taken during the Pocolo Miner's time at the site. 4 years and 400 pages later, my father and I completed the book, The Spiro Mound: A Photo Essay. Please click here to learn more about this book.

I have had many people ask how I do the photography so I thought I would take a few photos of my setup, as you can see it is fairly simple. I use a Canon powershot A 620. It comes with software so I can hook it up to my computer and see the image on my monitor before I take the photo. You can see the program's window on the right side of my monitor in the pictures below. I use the tripod and can take the photo with the click of the mouse, which is a great help when taking close up shots without the camera moving when I press the shutter release on the camera. My desk is setup in the SE corner of the house, with two windows on two walls I get indirect sunlight from two directions, which works well for lighting the artifacts.

Much like my life, this page is a work in progress.

Thanks for visiting,
Chris