My Photographic

JOURNEY

Have you ever felt that you were destined to do something? That everything you have done in your life has led to this one thing? That's the way I feel about my life as a photographer.

I am the son of a loving Mother, who was born on Valentine's Day, and an amazing Father who was a wedding photographer himself when he was my age. Growing up, we actually had a working darkroom in our basement and my Dad was always taking photos of my Sister and I for the family albums. They were the most loving and supporting parents I could have ever asked for. When I was very young, they saw I had an eye for the arts and always nurtured my creativity. I am truly grateful that they encouraged that talent and always inspired me to create. When other kids were being pushed to Science or Math they bought me art supplies to help me channel my creativity.

When I was 14 my Dad and I went on a trip out west with the Boy Scouts to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Arches National Parks. He gave me 30 rolls of B&W film and his old Minolta camera. He taught me everything he knew about photography and my creativity went wild. Being a bit of an introvert at that age, I was able to express how I saw the world in my own way for the first time. The next year, in high school, I took my first photography class and was developing and printing these images of mind blowing landscapes. My passion for photography was born. I was able to dodge, burn, and print these images by hand. That moment of seeing my prints develop and come to life for the first time, changed my life forever in ways I never could have imagined.

At 4 years old I received my first Fisher Price camera on Christmas of 1988.
The camera didn't actually take pictures but that didn't stop me from exploring new angles.
Our family self portraits growing up were anything but normal but I always thought they were great!