Bio
I was born in Southeast Missouri and grew up in a rural town in Arkansas where I was daily exposed to nature, in both its grandeur and its microscopic wonders. Most of my childhood was spent running around outdoors, which carried over into a love of hiking — I won’t talk about the places I sauntered (like over a suspension bridge on top of the suspension cables) that would give my mom a heart attack!
I got a simple flash camera for Christmas when I was eight, marking the beginning of my experimentation with photography, an experiment that continues to this day.
I joined the US Navy after graduating high school and retired in 2014. While in the Navy, I earned a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy and started (but probably won’t finish — too many other things in my life right now) a Master’s Degree in Theology. Philosophy helped me learn to focus on smaller things in life and my Theology studies helped me learn to put those smaller things in life into a context with life writ-large. My view of the dichotomy between the micro and macro world expanded after I retired from the Navy and spent a month hiking 400 miles of the Appalachian Trail (AT). I combined my philosophical and theological learning with my hike through nature to create a photographic style where images draw the eye from the broader landscape to the microscopic world of flowers, insects, and life that we walk by every day, but ignore. Photographing those macro to micro worlds turned my passion for photography from a hobby to something more meaningful — something I want to share with the rest of the world.
My first foray into competitive and professional photography started in 2018 by entering the State Fair of Virginia where I won third place. I entered the State Fair again in 2019 and once again won third place. I’ve entered many competitions where I wasn’t quite as successful, but I have won honorable mention in two international black and white photo competitions.
I currently live in Chesapeake, Virginia with two amazing, though rambunctious, daughters.
Feel free to use the contact information or form below to contact me outside of the comments on the blog.
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Sauntering Photographer 