Get To Know Me
I've loved photography all of my life. I bought my first camera in the 1982 just before my daughter was born but honestly didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to get pictures of her birth, and I did, however they turned out to be the worse pictures I ever took in my life as I didn't understand the camera. I still have those pictures, as they are priceless to me, but it's a reminder of how far I've come since then. Over the years my camera finally gave up the ghost and I never took the funds to fix it so it sat in my closet for nearly 10 years.
Finally after my children were all grown and I was tired of using a point-and-shoot camera, getting mediocre pictures at best, I decided to dive back into photography once again. In 2013 I bought my first DSLR camera and forced myself to learn as much as possible. With the help of online tutorials, coupled with trial and error, I was able to learn quite a bit, yet there was still much more to learn. After a year I decided it was time to get really serious so I enrolled in photography classes to learn as much as possible, not only about my camera, but also about photography in and of itself; composition, lighting, exposure and so on. That decision was one of the smartest moves I made in learning the art of photography. Since then I have turned my hobby into a means to make money. I love shooting graduating seniors, families, children, babies, engagements and so on. Basically I say, "If it has a face, I'll shoot it."
Ever so often I will have someone ask me what equipment I use. I love that question as I answer it with the same advice I give budding photographers seeking information about photography, I say, "My eyes!" Why? All good photography begins with the ability to see the shot before the picture is ever taken. It doesn't matter what camera you use, if you cannot see the shot, then compose it, it's just another picture. A simple example is the picture above. No fancy gear was needed, just the ability to visualize the shot, choose the right angle and shoot. And yes, that is me in June of 2019 at the peak of Mt. Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii and I really jumped that high, no kidding. BTW, that was taken with my iPhone.
FUN FACTS ABOUT ME
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I have jumped out of a perfectly good airplane
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I have been SCUBA diving
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I love traveling. I've been to 38 states and 13 countries
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I have three children and seven grandchildren
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I've been married to my college sweetheart since December 1978
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I'm a musician. I play the piano and bass, as well as sing
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I ride motorcycles
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I love Tex-Mex but can't do fish—I can't do anything with a fishy taste or smell