I don't necessarily fit the profile of the avid nature photographer. My background is in business, more specifically Computer and Network Security for a Fortune 500 company. But that doesn't mean I have studied the craft any less intently than any other obsessed and dedicated outdoor shooter. I've read many of the classic books on photography, studied the works of many masters, and I have a deep interest in the places I visit and photograph. I think this foundation has served me well in my attempts to communicate my own vision.
My interest in photography started while I was in the Navy. I started photographing how the sky and water interacted to produce some of the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets with colors of light mix together in endless combinations as if someone in the sky were shaking a kaleidoscope. The many ports of call my ship visited in the Southern Europe, Near East and South Asia gave me the opportunity to photograph the beauty of these foreign lands.
After the Navy I pursued photography as an avocation alongside my 35 year career in computer technology at a Fortune 500 Publishing Company. I lived in Toms River, NJ along with my wife Lynn and daughter Cheryl for 38 years. We were avid sailors and were members of the TomsRiver yacht Club. We owned several sailboats over the years; all named after our daughter Cheryl Lynn. My primary photographic interest during this time was seascapes consisting of sailboats, scenic harbors, lighthouses and beaches along the New Jersey and New England coasts.
During the Spring, Fall and Winter months my photographic interests would turn to landscape and still life photography. I would visit local and state parks photographing various man-made and natural subjects that interested me. Photography was always a way for me to relax and get away from the pressure of my job.
After Lynn and I retired we moved to Fort Mill, SC to be near our daughter and family who live in Charlotte, NC. For the first time in our lives we do not live near the ocean.
My primary photographic interests now are landscape and still life subjects. Locally, I’ve discovered the Blue Ridge Mountains with its picturesque meadows, waterfalls, split-rail fences, old farmsteads and historic structures. I never know what will happen or how the trip will end. My ultimate goals with photography are much the same. I have a vague idea of where I want to go, but I am letting the journey take me there. It's going to be an adventure, and I can't wait to see what's around the next corner.
Artist Statement
Some people argue that photographs can never be art because they are taken and not made; but I believe that a great photograph is every bit as much as a work of art as a great drawing or painting. All you have to do is look at the images made by such well known photographers that have influenced my work such as Onne van der Wal and Benjamin Mendlowitz for their nautical photography and David Muench, Frans Lanting and Galen Rowell for their landscapes of the natural world.
I strive to capture the light that transforms land and sea into a scene that stirs the emotions and senses. More often than not, this quality of light can be found during what photographers call the ‘magic hours’ consisting of the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. This is when the light is warm, with saturated colors, which produce pleasant shadows and gentle tonal transitions.
Every photographer has their own vision and purpose for their art. Mine is and has always been very simple. “To capture more than just a photograph, but to capture the feeling’s associated with it.” The final print is my ultimate statement of a fine art photographer’s point of view.
