I have been a creative person my whole life. I began taking photographs with my Kodak Hawkeye Brownie Flash camera when I was eight years old. I think my dad got it at a Salvation Army or Goodwill store where I lived in Illinois. I was in the photography class and clubs in junior high school and had fun discovering the creative process in the dark room and made pin hole cameras, I even made my own camera with a box and an old Roleflex lens.
When I left for to live in Japan in 1981 I bought my first SLR camera, a Pentax k1000. I still have my Brownie and my K1000. I still shoot on occasion with both of those, but do most of my shooting with my new Pentax DSLR.
I love photographing people most. I love beauty, and so what I am always trying to do is to make my photographs represent the very best of the people I shoot. I want my brides to look better than even they had imagined and I want my family and children photographs to capture the beauty of the individual and the warmth of the family relationship.
I shoot models also and I love the challenge of working with them to create memorable photographs. One other genre that I really enjoy is the stage. I have spent much of my life on stage and I love to photograph groups, choirs, dance teams, theater casts, sports teams, and other groups.
I won’t settle for a second rate portfolio. I don’t think my clients should settle either. I am much like Josiah Wedgewood. In a time when pottery was expensive and hard to come by, he would destroy a piece if it wasn’t to his standards. I won’t put out something that you shouldn’t settle for.