Why Dream - Believe - Create?  There was a time when I felt I could not create anything.  My self-talk was, I am not a creative person.  After seeing images projected at the first workshop I took I dreamed of becoming a good photographer.  Primarily with the help of Tony Sweet and Nancy Rotenberg and later Dan Sniffin, I was able to chip away at the negative self talk and BELIEVE that I could create worthwhile images.  Thus Dream - Believe - Create has become the center piece of what I like to teach in my workshops. I believe that everyone has dreams and can achieve their dreams. I also believe that when you truly believe, you will be liberated to be able to create.

When I was a teenager, my father built a darkroom for me and I was hooked!  Years passed and raising a family became my priority.  About 10 years ago my wife in a way only a good and loving wife can, told me I was cranky and needed something to bring balance to my life.  She went out and purchased a new 35mm camera and said “you need to be in nature!”  Never in her wildest dreams did she think it would lead to where it has!   She is shocked at how much camera gear costs and how critical it is that I have it!  Please don’t tell her I don’t really need the equipment okay?

The process and journey required to create images feeds my soul and brings me great joy. My goal is to capture the essence of the subjects I’m drawn to using the creative medium of photography. Sometimes this will be by capturing  a small intimate portion of a scene.  Other times I will use creative techniques such as multiple exposures  the  “slide sandwich” or camera movement for a more expressive interpretation. I have chosen to focus on “Nature Photography” where I can explore its beauty in both the grand scale (I shoot the Hasselblad XPan a panoramic rangefinder) as well as its more intimate details.  Every once in awhile I will be drawn to something other than nature like the Disney Music Building or the Graffiti Bridge which is great fun too.

I believe like Ansel Adams,  photographers bring to their images their own journeys, their sense of the world, their experiences and their passions. For me photography is simply another medium of artistic expression,  visual poetry if you will.