I grew up on a small farm in rural New York so I learned to entertain myself at a young age. I spent most of my time exploring the farm and the surrounding woods for anything that seemed the least bit interesting. I have always been amazed at the simple beauty of living things. Because I spent so much time in the woods it was impossible for me not to see this beauty that surrounds us at all times regardless of where we are at.  Click the following link and read this poem if you have a minute to spare.

"My Cathedral"- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

     At age 14, while living in North Carolina, I was given a Minolta X370 by a family friend. I decided to use this new toy to try and capture these wonders that I was discovering. When I started I had no real working knowledge of the technical or artistic aspects of film photography. The first couple of years was a lot of trial and error, not to mention the amount of film I wasted.  I decided that instead of blaming it on the construction of my camera I would start reading up on how these SLR's work. Things slowly got better with each roll. I successfully put myself through my own "Perkins' School of Photography." Needless to say, I don't think that the "self-taught" method is the cheapest method- I probably could have saved a ton of money going to school instead of learning it the hard way. I still spend hours and hours studying photographic art techniques and new technologies. I am continually learning and re-learning. 

    In December 2000 I decided to move from my home in North Carolina and take a job as a server at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. Placing myself in a new environment inspired me to take photography more seriously. After an eye-opening winter season in Yellowstone I decided to return as a summer employee at Lake Yellowstone Hotel. That summer I met a fella that had some really incredible photographs and I wanted to know how to do some of the things he was doing with essentially the same equipment as myself. He graciously offered all the help he could and frequently invited me out to photograph various location around the park.

    The first thing that he turned me onto was positive film. I was hooked as soon as I got my first roll of film back. The color and clarity seemed to match what I has been seeing all these years but wasn't able to capture on film. I still remember the first photograph that I got back that really seemed to look like a professional, or at least a semi-professional photograph. As soon as the developed film arrived I hurried off to show my mentor and his reaction gave me hope that I might be alright at this. He spoke of the central subject, the layers, the exposure, and the mood of the photo. I can't say I understood all he was saying, but obviously his mentoring and my enthusiasm was paying off. The picture to the right is the one I speak of. This moose ran through my camp near Summit Lake in YNP and I took this shot just before she disappeared into the woods.

    I continued to study photography on my own over the course of the following years as I moved from place to place trying to soak in as much life and experience as I could. During the winter months, between my summer jobs in Yellowstone, I spent most of my time traveling and the remainder of my time working in North Carolina, Texas, Arizona and any other place that seemed like it could offer a good balance of fun, photography, and more importantly... a "day job". By the summer of 2003 I had had enough of the brass in Yellowstone and decided to find a new place to live. I set my sights on Acadia National Park and was living in Maine by the end of May. I immediately fell in love with Maine as it provided endless photographic opportunity and loads of lakes to fish; my other passion. I will continue to travel but I this  is where I'm meant to be.

   During the winter of 2004-2005 I was given the opportunity to spend almost 6 months in Antarctica as support staff at McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf. I spent sixty hours a week washing dishes and baking for the "local population". McMurdo's "local population" consists of National Science Foundation employees and other support personnel. I did get some time to photograph the surrounding areas and was pleased enough just to have the opportunity to visit such an incredible place. Another perk of this job was that you have to fly through New Zealand to get there. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend eight weeks on the south island of New Zealand after my obligations in Antarctica and before heading back to the States.

I am now in Maine, living a less transient lifestyle, and I am working on several projects here in Acadia NP and across Maine. I have started a business of selling photographic greeting cards and prints to local companies and it seems to be exceeding my expectations so far. We'll see where it leads...