To make a photograph.
I can't paint, draw, sculpt, sing, or dance. So I photograph. Making pictures is a way of exploring parts of me that are not prominent or that I didn't know existed. Photography is my way of excusing myself from life's hectic pace so I can surround myself in bea Read more...

To make a photograph.
I can't paint, draw, sculpt, sing, or dance. So I photograph. Making pictures is a way of exploring parts of me that are not prominent or that I didn't know existed. Photography is my way of excusing myself from life's hectic pace so I can surround myself in beautiful details. Photography is based on seeing, feeling, and experience. It is a process that helps me maintain balance. To make a photograph is to express freedom in context. I want to show others my life so that it doesn't die with me.

Communicating without words.
Strong images capture the essence of a subject along with a visual rendering. Images I've taken long ago often have different meanings or even more meanings than when I first created them. I can play with shadow and light and also with time and ideas. It's my chosen way of communicating without words.

Inspired to make a picture.
The subjects and style I typically choose to work with are landscapes. Perhaps this is because I grew up being taught to find the beauty in all things-especially in the natural wonders of this world. I am most inspired by skies with puffy clouds, silhouettes, passageways and windows, red doors, geometric shapes, the earliest and latest parts of the day, and by light; the latter of which is the foundation of photography.

I'm inspired to make a picture by the things I see-whether real or imagined-specifically the otherwise ordinary to most, but extraordinary to me. Another source of inspiration is travel. At the age of 21, I had the opportunity to
travel solo around the world-just me and my camera. Many of the images I created more than a decade ago are some of my personal favorites. In unfamiliar places, I want to drink up all there is to see and feel, sharing those experiences with others.

Creating my perception of the world.
I shoot full manual, which is somewhat of a lost art today. It's important to me as an artist to have complete control over the film and digital negatives I produce. As a teenager, I shot manual film and developed it in the in-home darkroom I shared with my mother. It's that precise control of an image that made me realize I am creating my perception of the world. It's the world (or my subject) according to me; as I see it.

My creative process.
My creative process is defined by my focus of what it is I want to communicate. The majority of the time I have a finished picture in mind. However, that image may change as I further develop and realize my vision in the traditional or digital darkroom. I've worked to train my eye, attempting to challenge myself to create compositions that might be unexpected while shooting from angles that communicate a story. Every photograph I release has something personal I want to share with the viewer.