"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes."---Marcel Proust

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."---Stephen Covey

"Why has government been instituted at all? Because, the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint."----Alexander Hamilton

"When my life is over, I'd rather look back at all the chances I took (even the ones that didn't work out), and say to myself, 'Oh well', than to have to look back at all the chances I did not take, and having to think to myself, 'What if.................?' In the overall scheme of things, we are only on this rock called Earth for a relatively short period of time." ---Visual Raconteur

IF YOU ARE NOT A "READER" (and most people seem not to be nowadays), YOU CAN SKIP TO MY PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCROLLING TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE TO WHERE IT READS: "Photostream".

BIOGRAPHY:

A man.

Flawed

A son

A brother

An explorer

An observer

A rural nomad

An urban sherpa

A student of life

A member of the proletariat

A survivor

An operator

Cynical

Introverted

Laid-back

An active listener

A "Realist"

Sarcastic

Perceptive

Self-Contained

Diligent

Creative

Intellectually curious

A cigar aficionado

An analog man stuck in a digital world

A night owl

Type B

An avid reader

A talk radio listener

Watch collector

Pen collector

A former Jeep driver (the joke is that Jeep is an acronym for, "Just empty every pocket.")

A work in progress.

Disclaimer: If you are looking for pictures of kittens, rainbows, pictures of 'pretty' people engaging in 'lifestyle' activities, sunsets over Miami Beach, and/or children running through a meadow, you will not find that here.

Here's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Born, raised, and living in The People's Republic of New Jersey AKA: the portal to Satan's Lair. Prior to that, I lived in upstate New York for 7 years and I miss the quality of life there. I miss it like hell. What was I thinking? "Quality of life" meaning, that in NJ, you pay $3,000/month in rent or a mortgage, and you're in a place so small, that you can sit on the toilet and wash dishes at the same time. That is a joke, but anyone who has ever lived in Jersey knows what I mean. Bottom line.........You don't get a whole lot for your money here. Also, lived in North Carolina and Queens, NY for a 'minute', but that was long ago.

Photography is my passion, avocation, and hobby. I find nothing else consumes me and holds my interest like going out with my cameras and 'getting lost on purpose.' It is the only time when I forget about everything, even the passage of time. I can be out shooting for 8 hours and it feels like 15 minutes. I am a passionate amateur photographer. Not in the modern sense of the word, 'amateur', but in the original sense of the Latin derivation, "amare".............meaning, "To love." I shoot only for myself, for the love of it.

This page is about ME, and why everything I like is great! If you disagree with anything I type, you are wrong, you suck, and all the people that you think are your friends, secretly hate you.

For me, I believe that the, "story behind the image" is at least as interesting (if not more so) than the image itself, and therefore, whenever possible I include some narrative about the, "How" and/or "Why" I chose to shoot that particular image; and I am drawn to the webpages of others who do the same.

My primary subject matters of interest are: Vintage roadside architecture (coffee shops, roadside eateries, motels, diners, bowling alleys, smoke shops, movie theaters, cocktail lounges, train stations, cool signs, Art Deco and Beaux Arts architecture, all things random, mechanical, analog, etc.). All things speaking to urban and rural Americana. Urban Landscapes of abandoned places, like old factories, mills, and any other remaining vestiges of the Industrial Revolution. I also have an interest in old signs---basically anything vintage, rusty, funky, eccentric, or unusual.

Most people consider an abandoned building to be an eyesore. A lot of people pass without a second thought. I have always wondered, "What type of business was here?" "Who worked here?" "Why did this place go out of business?" "What was the last day of operation like?" "What type of work are those employees doing now?" I think about how people earned a living there, bought homes, cars, furniture, clothes, and sent their children to college off of the money that they earned there. I walk by an abandoned factory, store, or building and think, "Someone's dream died here."

My co-primary subject matter of interest is night and low-light urban landscapes. Kinda' somewhat on the order of the austere paintings and photography of Edward Hopper (paintings) and George Tice (photography), but with some Visual Raconteur flavor added.

I've been a night owl all my life, and, as a result the majority of my shooting is done at night. I love the isolation, desolation, colors, and tones that I get during night time and low-light shooting. Recently, I read the profile of flickr member, Ben Helmer: Screen name: Atomox. And, he articulated it perfectly, "Everything appears so much more interesting and dynamic to me at night." Approximately 75% of my shooting is done between 6pm and 9am. Less traffic on the roads and less people around in general. It's heaven.

Favorite vacation locations? Glad you asked. I have not done a lot of traveling because, if given the choice between spending my 'hard earned' on a lens or other new toy that I will have for 10+ years OR the fleeting ephemera of a week long vacation, I'll take the former almost every time. However, there are 2 places that I would LOVE to visit and photograph: the souks and medinas in, and around Marrakesh, Fez, and Tangier in Morocco and The Grand Canyon. My goal is to make The Grand Canyon happen in 2023, and Morocco in my lifetime. I dislike crowds, so you are highly unlikely to ever see me in Las Vegas, Miami, or at Disney.

Right now, I'm shooting 90% digitally. However, I'm slowly getting back to shooting more and more film and transparencies, since I cannot stand the time spent downloading, editing, sorting, and archiving images on the computer. And while VR and IS make digital a better medium for night and low-light shooting, absolutely nothing looks better than a well exposed transparency that's projected or viewed on a lightbox. Plus, I spend more than enough time on a computer at work.

My weapons of choice are:

Digital: A Nikon D3s w/16-35mm f/4 Nikkor, a 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 Nikkor, a Sigma 20mm f/1.8, and I'm toying with buying the 16mm f/2.8 Nikkor fisheye.

Film: Canon EOS 5 w/ Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, a Tamron 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 and a recently acquired Nikon F90x, three Nikon F3's, a Nikon F2AS, and a recently acquired Pentax 67 with 45mm f/4.......................In other words, more cameras than I have time to shoot.

Please allow me to conclude with a quote from my close personal friend and acting legend, Mr. T. "I pity the fool who doesn't like my photos." And no, he's not really a close personal friend; I'd say he's more of an acquaintance.