Relaxing at Hamburger Rock, overlooking Coyote Buttes - probably my favorite place in the southwest...or anywhere.

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New York City born and bred, I lived until late in 2012 with my wife Pat and son Chris on Long Island's south shore. We were located just minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and beautiful Jones Beach whose pristine dunes and sparkling waters have always inspired me. When the world closed in a bit too much, a brisk walk along the seashore was always my instant elixir... Originally educated as a teacher and having spent the early years of my career in the classroom, I subsequently opened my own Victorian antiques business in New York City in 1979 and enjoyed the buying and selling for thirty three years until I decided to retire in 2011.

A year or so after retiring, Pat and I purchased our dream home in Sedona, Arizona where we have lived since December 2012. We are located right in the middle of red rock country and now have easy access to all of the spectacular beauty of the southwest, essentially in our backyard.

I've been an enthusiastic and dedicated amateur photographer since receiving a Kodak Brownie camera for Christmas as a very young boy. Over recent years while living in New York I developed a deep fascination with America's western landscape and would regularly travel, for several weeks at a time, west of the Rockies in order to hike, explore and search for new and unique vistas and experiences. The southwest holds a particular fascination for me, but I can also be found hiking in the Rocky Mountains, exploring California's expansive shorelines and trekking thru the Pacific Northwest's mountains, beaches and harbors...to name but a few spots.

America's national parks, forests and monuments as well as her BLM lands, state parks and Indian reservations...these are my stomping grounds. From their spectacular mountains, lakes and seashores to their mysterious and stark canyons, mesas and desert sands; I never tire of hiking, exploring and discovering their hidden secrets - always with a camera over one shoulder and a camcorder over the other. Creating images which attempt to capture the spirit of these unique spots enables me to share them with others...and perhaps inspire their imaginations as well. From the pastel pre-dawn hours of early mornings until the last rays of light leave the western skies, I find myself continually awed by the magical moments I experience in these special places.

I am a two term past president of Long Island's Nassau County Camera Club and served as Chairman of its Programs Committee and its Workshops Committee for four years as well. Until late 2008 my photos were all taken on film with a Nikon F100 utilizing mostly Fuji Velvia 50. My lenses of choice are the 17-35 / F 2.8 Nikkor and the 28-70 / F 2.8 Nikkor, although I do carry longer lenses as well. I held off for quite a while and only when Nikon decided to introduce a full frame sensor DSLR several years ago did I make the move over to digital capture; I must admit that I'm more impressed than I expected to be with the quality and versatility of my D700, even though I make use of just a few of its features. While I do enjoy viewing some manipulated images, I consider many of them to fall more into the realm of art than photography and prefer to avoid all but the most basic Photoshop tools myself. I adjust color tones and contrast, dodge, burn and sharpen but rarely do much more than that with my photos. I prefer to try to capture the essence of a place as I see it; if I accomplish that in others' eyes, then I've achieved what I set out to do in my photography.

View my photo stream on Flickr Hive Mind