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 onto digital cameras and finally my current Nikon full frame digital.  Being a career Air Force officer I was fortunate enough to travel  to many places across 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 enjoyed 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 for us is to get to know the history and cultural differences of the place and truly appreciate and recognize each stop.  In time, it dawned on me that rather than a certain type of photography that I practiced  I did have a believe that every photo has a subject and every photo has a story that I unwittingly was using as my photography guideline.

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, still a special place for the native peoples. A day there learning their stories is special and kind of makes you feel small.

Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, built in the 1200s and and a player in the Jacobite Rising as the Scots struggled for independence for England.  It’s easy to imagine the crowd of Highlanders gathered  plotting their next move. Incredible history!

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, a small community grow then fad away at one end of it and literally thousands of people stop and marvel at it’s construction.

The U.S. nation’s capital, begun during George Washington’s presidency, saw the British attach Washington during the War of 1812, saw the horror of the American Civil War, was the scene of the madness and the insurrection of January 6th.  Impossible to visit that building and not be humbled.

 My challenge is to properly record 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.