After doing my best to avoid cameras for most of my life, in the early 1990s I experienced an epiphany of sorts and became an ardent student of photography in a quest to transfer what I see in our three dimensional world into a two-dimensional medium. While I began my photographic journey learning traditional black and white printing techniques I quickly became enamored of color.  Until fairly recently I used a traditional film camera and worked in a wet darkroom, making my own Ilfochrome prints.  Gradually I have come over to the “light side” and currently am using a digital workflow—from capture through fine art print.  Some of the older images included in my web galleries were digitized from film but most were photographed using a Nikon D-70 digital camera. 

I love traveling both internationally and within the United States.  I’m not sure whether photography is my excuse to travel—or the other way around.  I do know that when I travel with my camera I see more—and more deeply.  I slow down and take time to wonder.  I try to connect with what I see on a personal level.  It seems perfectly sensible to spend hours waiting for the light and shadows to be just so, or to go back to the same place time after time, searching for an image that captures the spirit of the place.  I find the incredible palette that nature provides awe-inspiring.  The colors are never the same—a different day, a different light—a different time, a different palette.

Although I appreciate the cultural treasures one finds in major cities, I am especially drawn to rural areas and find the idea of spending many days within a small geographic region immensely appealing.  Somewhat ironically, I find that the more time I spend in a location, the more I find to photograph.  Although I tend to view myself as a landscape photographer when I review my work I realize that I am also strongly drawn to the architectural features within those landscapes and, increasingly, to the people who inhabit them.  Until I began working with a digital camera I was very uncomfortable photographing people.  Although I still struggle with this reluctance, I have found the instant feedback digital photography allows helps me to establish a connection with people, which in turn allows me to photograph them.

I am a member of Spectrum Art Gallery, a fine art photography gallery in Fresno, California.  As an exhibiting photographer I have had shows at Spectrum Gallery, Emarie Art Gallery (Fresno), and Fresno City Hall.  I have also had prints selected for juried exhibitions in a number of venues including the following:  Fresno Art Museum—Fresno, California;  Ansel Adams Gallery—Yosemite National Park;  Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art—University of Oregon;  Quady Winery—Madera, California;  President’s Gallery—California State University, Fresno;  Napa College Gallery—Napa, California;  and St. Supéry Winery—Napa.