Living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia has been an important influence on my life and my photography. The seasons of nature with all of its vivid and subtle color makes Shenandoah an incredible place for a nature photographer. When the light and color of nature is just right, I try to be in that perfect place so I can experience the moment and photograph it. The many gifts that nature gives to us might last from only seconds to many hours of spectacular color and light. My photographs are a small fraction of all the beautiful gifts from nature that surround us every day in every place in this world.

The art of photography first drew my interest when my two older brothers took photography during their high school years. They did not pursue photography in college allowing me the opportunity to borrow their cameras during my senior year in high school. I went to Lord Fairfax Community College and took black/white photography and a class on nature photography by Rob Simpson. Professor Simpson led us to Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park and taught us nature photography in the world’s greatest classroom, the outdoors. I furthered my art education at Radford University. I then went on to major in photography at Middle Tennessee State University. Upon returning from college, I began studying with Gene Taylor, landscape photographer in 1993. A couple years later, I started showing my photographs at art shows and exhibits in the area. I now exhibit in several art shows throughout the year over the Mid-Atlantic region.

The cameras I use are a 35mm and medium format. The 35mm is mainly used for photographing wildlife because it is lightweight, easy to handle and great with long lenses. All other photos are from the medium format camera which gives me a 2 ¼ square inch negative. Later, some photos are cropped into a horizontal or vertical format to emphasis color and composition. The lenses with the medium format along with slow film produce a high quality, sharp negative. All my photos are printed by me in the darkroom on Kodak or Fuji printing paper.