I'm finally getting to writing something about myself. Not something I enjoy... thus the lack of bio until this point.

I've been intrigued by photography for about 10 years now. The original catalyst being my incredible father-in-law (steveturnerphoto if you want to look him up on Flickr). From day I met Steve I've I deeply admired him for his strength of character, kindness, charity, wisdom, intelligence, work ethic, values, and creativity.

I remember looking at his photography (film days) and being awed that such incredible and majestic scenes could be captured so beautifully by a person and this tool called a camera. It intrigued me but at the time I had neither the time (college was followed by starting my career, which was followed by having 2 children in 19 months, which was followed up by finally finishing my degree) or the money (see reasons in the parenthesis above :-) ).

Interest finally budged from thoughts and feelings to action 3 years ago when Steve and Debbie (my mother-in-law) got me a D80 for Christmas. At that time the D80 became a useful tool for shooting better than average portraits of my family but little more. I rarely got the camera out of auto mode and I rarely got it out to focus on the type photos that I really wanted to make; landscape photography.

It's not that I didn't have the desire, I just didn't have the time and energy (please see the parenthesis above :-)) to get out and shoot let alone learn photography 101. I couldn't keep aperture straight to save my life then; "wait... so you're saying that the bigger the number the smaller the hole?!?!?!? How am I supposed to keep that straight? And what... the camera doesn't automatically make the water look silky and pretty when I shoot on automatic?!?!?!?"

Fast forward a couple years to this summer (2009) when I finally feel like I've been able to commit some time to this incredible art. The concepts are finally starting to sink-in thanks to time spent shooting and learning from Steve and other photog friends Sheldon Nalos and Miles Morgan (all amazing photogs, all on Flickr) as well as attending a workshop this past Fall on the Olympic Peninsula w/ NW Photo Tours (led by Adrian Klein and Kevin McNeal - look them up, they are the bomb and they'll help you take your landscape photography to a new level - they are also on Flickr).

I've got so much to learn in order to become a half-way decent landscape photographer but I'm loving the journey. I love getting out and shooting w/ my friends. I love how I learn something new every time I get out and shoot or process my photos. I love having an artistic outlet. I love being out in God's incredibly beautiful creation and I love enjoying it in a new way.

As I grow in my skills I hope to be able to take photos in a way that portrays the diversity, beauty, creativity, harshness, majesty, and wonder found in God's creation. The earth is a really awesome place and I love having the opportunity to get out into nature to enjoy it and cature it in pixels.

If for some reason you've graciously decided to follow my work - first of all Thank you! I'm humbled and overjoyed that anyone would decide to give me some of their precious time to view my work. Secondly, I'm sorry that photos get uploaded to my stream so infrequently. I am before all things a husband and father and I just don't have the time to get out and shoot as much as I'd like. My wife and children come first when it comes to allocating my free time. With that said I have an incredible wife who understands and encourages my passion for photography so in the coming years I will be able to get out a lot more now that my children are out of the "baby" phase.

Thanks so much for reading my rambling note. I love watching all of your amazing photostreams and I love the sense of community here. Thanks for making me part of the photography community.

Capture Equipment:

Nikon D80

Nikkor 50mm f1.4

Tokina 12-24 f4

Nikkor 70-300 f4

Nikkor 24-85 f2.8-4

77mm B&H Circular Polarizer

Processing Equipment:

Elements 8

ACR

iMac 27" Quad Core (it's on order, should be here in 2 weeks!!!)

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