Ever since Scott created the word "stopphysics" in 1997, people have asked about its meaning. The roots of stopphysics draw from his interaction with the process, and from the science of photography itself.

A "stop" is a photographic unit of measurement, a term as second-nature to photographers as inches are to carpenters. The amount of light that enters the lens and exposes the film is called an “exposure value.” Those exposure values are expressed in "stops". The red dot within the "o" is the same dot that marks the f-stops on nearly every lens.

Everything about the science of photography, and the subject matter and activities Scott enjoys most, is based in physics. From the science of light waves and particle movement, to the science that hurls a surfer beachward, physics is the story of our world's phenomena.

In the process of defining his own motivations for creating images, he also investigated the nature of the photographic process, and found that the language of photography did not describe his methods. Phrases like "photo shoot" and "capturing a moment" both denote an invade-and-conquer mentality that he did not see reflected in the work of great photographers such as Dorthea Lange, Steve McCurry, Doris Ulman, or Arthur Fellig. Rather, Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment" and Ansel Adams' commitment to innovation led him on the conceptual path to practicing "stopphysics".

Scott also enjoys creative language, and the herky-jerky effect of the word not only captures your attention, but prevents misspelling. The result is a better term for photography that is direct, powerful, and rich in subtext.