I come to the art of photography from a background as a wildlife biologist and ecologist. For over a decade I treated myself to enjoying seasonal jobs as a biologist with such agencies as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the Peregrine Fund at various locations across the country and in Canada. The past 15 years I have worked as a full time ecologist performing ecological risk assessments for research groups and consulting firms at sites across the United States. These 'second careers' have kept me continuously outdoors enjoying the natural beauty of the country, learning about wildlife and natural ecosystems, how ecosystems are structured and function, experiencing the rigors of weather, and loving that wondrous event that we refer to as the "change of seasons".

A camera has been my constant companion since 1973 when, having left home and moved to Colorado, I discovered photography, biology, and the Rocky Mountains simultaneously. Without much doubt, the most influential time period of my life. For the most part, I am a self-taught photographer. My first camera? A Canon TLb with a 55 mm lens. Next purchase? Extension tubes, to begin exploring the small-sized but infinitely vast world of macro photography.

One continuing education course constitutes the sum of my 'formal training'. However, for years I have poured over the works of such masters as Ansel Adams, David and Joseph Muench, Eliot Porter, Brett Weston, John Sexton, Joseph Holmes, William Neill, Tom Mangelsen, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Jack Dykinga, Art Wolfe, and John Shaw, to name but a few. Not to copy images or styles, but to learn how different photographers view the landscape and its inhabitants, how different techniques and perspective successfully capture the essence of an image, or sometimes fail to do so. All the while allowing me to assess what constitutes a good photographic image to my tastes, and cultivate whatever innate qualities I possess in discovering my own perspective and style. The rest of my knowledge comes from "experience", that old trial-and-error thing. To which I constantly strive to throw in some degree of learning so that growth occurs and errors diminish.

This is not to say that throughout my career, I have not received invaluable help and insight from my friends, my fellow photographers and artists. Throughout my life, these people have consistently shown the patience to explain, to demonstrate, and to let me observe. Each has offered both positive and negative critiques of my work and style and I have enjoyed the times we spend discussing technical aspects of our art form along with reviewing and critiquing various artists' works, including our own. To all these incredibly wonderful friends, I offer a sincere "thank you" from my heart. I look forward to many more years of such discussions and discoveries, critiquing, techno-babbling, and watching one another grow in our art form.

(Triptych) - Intimate Autumn