Since my first camera at the age of 8…

Under a dim amber light, a 10 year old boy watches in wonder as a black and white image magically appears on the wet paper in a tray before him. He dreams of someday capturing iconic images of the National Parks of the west like his childhood hero, photographer Ansel Adams.

Thirty years later, the boy has married the cute girl he met in 3rd grade, and he now has two sons, 8 and 10, of his own. His dream of seeing the National Parks of the west is realized with 10 summers of travel cross country from NJ in a motorhome. However, his photographic aspirations shift from the iconic imagery of the west to family photos that document the boy's growth and travels for a cross country travel website.

At 50 years of age, the boys have moved out, and film is replaced by digital cameras and cellphones.  Captured images have a 3 second half-life on facebook or other social media with only the superficial likes of well intentioned friends as a measure of their worth.

When I turned 60, I moved to Oakmont in Santa Rosa, and shortly thereafter joined a photoclub called the Santa Rosa Photographic Society (SRPS). A latent love of photography was rekindled. In 7 years, I captured 1000’s of images with the pent up vengeance of the many years lost.

Several regional photographic awards were earned, and I began to believe that my humble efforts as a photographer were beginning to bear fruit. Repeated sales of images at local art shows corroborated this conclusion and I began to feel more comfortable with the shift in my identity from a retired Engineer/General Manager to “Artist”.

It has been a long time coming, but I hope that my efforts have been worth the wait.