My love for photography began
when I was about 13 years old and got a 110mm camera as a gift. My mother
encouraged my efforts and said that I had a natural eye for the craft.ABOUT ME
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My love for photography began
when I was about 13 years old and got a 110mm camera as a gift. My mother
encouraged my efforts and said that I had a natural eye for the craft.
By the time I entered high school I had saved enough pennies to buy a fully manual Minolta 35mm camera and handheld light meter. My high school had an excellent graphics tech school with a fully equipped darkroom and print shop. My hunger for improvement had me reading everything I could find and joining a local photo club. By my senior year (1981), I had shot several portraits, two weddings and did publicity shots for a couple local bands. In addition to shooting for the yearbook and school paper, I also had photos published in the Lewiston Sun Journal.
In 1981 I began my journalism studies at the University of Maine in Orono. During my years at Orono I took every photojournalism and photography course offered, enjoyed hours in the campus darkrooms and served a semester as Photo Editor for the Daily Maine Campus newspaper before switching to a news/editorial focus. I followed up my photojournalism training with photo courses in the art department at the University of Southern Maine from 1985-1987.
It was at UMaine where I met and married my wife, Robin. Life's changes brought me out of journalism and into a calling to work with teenagers fulltime. From 1987-2003 my photographic efforts were focused totally on capturing family memories and documenting the lives of our three children. Except for capturing family memories, my camera was relegated to a shelf in the closet most of the time while I coached sports and invested myself in their lives.
In 2003 I made the plunge into
the world of digital photography with a Panasonic DSLR that someone gave me. I
loved the instant results but was frustrated by low-end digital issues of
shutter lag and limited ISO settings. Shooting my children's sports events
was very frustrating since my DSLR could not compare to my 35mm Minolta x700
shooting 7 frames per second. Next I tried a Nikon D70 but still could
not capture good action shots with only three frames per second. That led me
into the professional DSLR ranks with a Nikon D1H.
Today I shoot mostly with a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D2H, process with Adobe Photoshop CS4 and have a full range of lenses and accessories including an SB-800 lighting system with mulitple slaves.
I shoot for enjoyment and love to share my hobby with others.
On a personal note, my wife and I have three children who are now all over 18. Robin and I were married in June of 1984. We enjoy living in Portland, Maine where I work as a youth minister and she works as an office manager.
