Photographer's Biography:

With a primary career path of communications, public relations and photography I thought it would be easy to write a quick biography, add a mug shot or two and be done with it. Surprisingly, it wasn't. I discovered I have a hard time writing and talking about myself and each time I tried it sounded like a corporate resume. So, I will try shifting to chat mode and see what happens.

Let's start with the "meat market" statistics: male, widowed (and divorced), all my own teeth, some of my original accessory hair (the amount and color has changed) and I am a bit heavier than I would like. I was born in March, 1946 (You can do the math, 'cause when I did it I had the feeling it was an imaginary number -- I can't be THAT old).

I have blue eyes (some say my best asset) and a beard and moustache - the hair and beard are short cropped. Being a "March kid" made me a Pisces and I inherited and maintained all or the "artsy" characteristics said to come with that sign.

Photography captured my interest for several reasons, but mostly because I didn't have the patience to paint.

I am a Pisces, a photographer, a communicator and a writer (finished my first novel and am shopping for a publisher or an agent).

Professional positions have included jobs as a journalist (print), TV journalist/camera man, corporate public relations manager, director of communications for a large geographic region of the Canadian Post Office, free lance writer, adventure writer (while living and traveling alone on a sail boat), small business person and now I work in the field of education with mentally and physically challenged children.

I first pursued photography professionally while working as a journalist. I found it was easier to "sell" a difficult editor a story if it came with "art". As I progressed through my various jobs, photography continually played an important role.

Recently injured (on the job - that's a completely different issue), my recovery included several operations and nearly a year of rehabilitation and physical therapy. As part of the "rehab", I was encouraged to get re-involved with photography (future professional advancement is much more limited than before I was hurt). That encouragement prompted me to shift from traditional film cameras (Canon F-1's, motor drives and fisheye-to-long lenses) to digital cameras.

Recovered as much as I will ever be -- according to the doctors -- I now have limited use of my right arm and must walk with a cane. These new limitations have added some interesting challenges to photography. Gone are my weird angle shots, or view points from under rocks or high in trees (any thing to create an unusual image). The acrobatics have been replaced by extreme attention to detail, focus, composition and exposure from more mundane vantage points. Not surprisingly, my images show a marked technical improvement from my acrobat days and ways. I now must concentrate on composition and technique, not crazy-angle trickery.

Another challenge I dealt with has been finding equipment I could comfortably use with my "gimpy" arm. Heavy, solid and traditional film cameras, like my F-1's (film), and top of the line digitals, like Nikon's D2 and Canon's comparable models are fantastic, but the camera bodies and the lenses that go with them are uncomfortably heavy for me to effectively use.

I have had to replace these solid work horses with lighter and easier to handle, hold and use digital "pro-am" units like the Fuji Film Fine Pix S-9000 and my current favorite, Panasonic's Lumix FZ-50, with Lieca lenses. With attention to detail, these amazing digital cameras can give extraordinary results and are a lot easier to lug, focus and shoot.

I have heard it said, "It is a poor carpenter who blames his tools" and I have learned it is not necessarily the cost and size of the camera, but the skill and competency of the photographer and dedication and commitment to making the image that ultimately makes an extraordinary image.

I've tried to keep this short, informal and informative. If you want to know anything else about me, just ask. And don't limit your curiosity to just my biography, feel free to ask about my images, my favorite subjects and locations and how to deal with physical impairments. It is one of my great pleasures and always a privilege to share what I have learned about photography with others. Please, drop me an e-mail any time.