I can still remember getting my first camera. It was an all-manual Vivitar film camera with a 28-70 mm lens. It was all black and had some weight to it. As I opened the package I was like a giddy like a kid on Christmas. I loaded the film that day and headed down to the park to photograph a very icy White River in Anderson. I didn’t know much about photography then and in my excitement chose to shoot on a bright sunny day. Unfortunately, with all of the white snow the images did not come out as I had hoped, but what I was drawn to was the idea of capturing nature. As long as I can remember I have loved being outside and getting dirty. When I was a kid I would create dirt tracks for my mini machine trucks, which were the little cars with the big wheels. If you were a boy in the 80’s you probably had them. I can remember distinctly the smell of the dirt and the pine trees that surrounded us. After college I was invited by my good friend Matt Toth on a few I’ll say…Adventures! We took some kayaks to a remote Indian village in Mexico and paddled for several days on the Sea of Cortez. I woke up eagerly each morning and captured the beautiful early light on the ocean. Some of the images from that trip are still in my portfolio. As a young photographer I watched documentaries on Ansel Adams and dreamed of having a career in Fine Art. After my first show I quickly realized that there was not much money in this business for me. It wasn’t long after that show when someone in the commercial world hired me to photograph an event. I then sold a few images to an architecture firm and a few musicians had me take there album cover image. I realized that I was probably more valuable in this commercial world than in the fine art industry. To be honest, I have enjoyed every bit of learning commercial photography and I love working with people and creating marketing materials. It brings me great joy to see my images on someones website, magazine or sometimes billboard! Most of the time when I head out in the back country these days the camera is left behind. I deliberately separate my “work” from my time off. I find that I am more present in the surroundings without my camera. However, on occasions I decide to pack my old friend to see what I might see. My wife and I set out this fall to a beautiful place in Michigan called Nord House Dunes. We backpack in for a few hours and set up camp on the beach. We typically don’t see a single person for days. Most of the trip was just spent relaxing, throwing rocks and trying to stay in the water as long as we could stand because it was 60 degrees. I took a few photos here and there but mostly just enjoyed my time with Jules. However, as we were hiking out I noticed the sand. It had this really amazing texture and shapes that appeared like mountains. I grabbed my little camera and started capturing these images. They looked like hidden worlds to me. I was transported back instantly to that young giddy kid with a camera.