My photography journey began in the 3rd grade.  My mom and dad owned and operated a small photo shop in northern New Hampshire and they gave me a small Kodak Brownie 127 for Christmas . In time they had me learn to process the film and print the tiny photos. As I grew older I went through numerous 35mm cameras before moving to digital and finally my current Nikon full frame digital.  Being a career Air Force officer, I was fortunate enough to travel  to many places around the world.  Initially my photos were intended to record memories for myself and my family and to show friends the beautiful and interesting places I had seen in person.  In most cases, I felt most of the photos were very similar to postcards and not quite what I envisioned in the back of my mind.

Today, I am a transplanted New Englander, living a short distance from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a place that blows my mind every time my wife and I go for a ride. Pat and I enjoy traveling  and have been lucky enough to visit all 50 states and quite a few other countries.  I have great difficulty when people we meet ask which is our favorite state or what our favorite country is.  There is no correct answer…we have discovered interesting and fascinating places and beauty in every state and country we have visited.  The trick has been to get to know the history, the cultural, learn at least a few phrases in the local language of each place and truly appreciate and recognize every stop.  Lastly, I truly believe that  when abroad I are an ambassador for our country….personal behavior does matter!  In time, it dawned on me that rather than a certain type of photography that I practiced  I almost subconsciously applied to my photos the feeling that every shot has a subject and every shot has a story embedded in it. Sometimes it’s nature, sometimes it’s history, sometimes it’s emotion…whatever.  I try to capture those attributes with my Nikon.

Uluru, in the Northern Territory of Australia, a massive red sandstone monolith many millions of years old and a sacred location for the Anangu indigenous people of the region.  A mystical place and still a special place for the native peoples. A couple days there learning their stories and soaking in the scenery is well worth the long plane ride.

Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, built in the 1200s and  a player in the Jacobite Rising as the Scots struggled for independence from England.  It’s easy to imagine a crowd of Highlanders gathered  there plotting their next move. Incredible history!  But…don’t hold your breath waiting to see Nessie !

The covered bridge over the Wild Ammonoosuc River in Swiftwater, NH.  Built in 1840 and still in use today. It’s seen log drives pass under it, generations of families swimming in the chilly mountain water that flows beneath it, a small community grow then fade away at one end of it and literally thousands of people stopping to marvel at it’s construction. A a child we even spent hours trout fishing there. If you ever visit, keep your horses at a trot.

The U.S. nation’s capital, begun during George Washington’s presidency, saw the British attach Washington during the War of 1812, witnessed the horror of the American Civil War  and was the scene of the madness and the insurrection of January 6th. Take the time to speak to the police officers you're bound to run into there and thank them for all they did that horrible day. Impossible to visit there and  not reflect on all of these events.

My personal challenge is to  capture the uniqueness of our surroundings, no matter where, and then to tell its story with my Nikon. I consider this  step to be a work in progress so please feel free to contact me with any suggestions how to improve my work.  Hopefully, you will find a few photos pleasing to view.

Several outstanding photographers have inspired me and certainly deserve mention;  Jay Goodrich, a neighbor and terrific multi genre photographer; Nigel Danson, a great woodland and landscape photographer; Mark Denney, a tremendous landscape and nature photographer and Mads Peter Iversen, another very talented fine arts landscape  photographer.