Semantically, I can’t say photography’s been a lifelong passion, but I can cop to being at this thing for a while now. My photography origin story probably sounds all too familiar. When my first son was born, I was struggling to capture “good” pictures of him with my brand spanking new three megapixel Nikon Coolpix 4500. Up to that point in my life, I hadn’t taken an interest in photography and was starting from scratch with the technical aspects of the artform. Fortunately, after taking several thousand horrible photos, (and you’re going to have to pardon a horrendous pun here) something clicked for me.

I’ve always been somewhat computer oriented at heart, and given the opportunity to reverse engineer my shots with the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO from the exif info baked inside the photos, my understanding of the ins and outs of photography began to grow. Digging into the digital files of each shot sent me down a path of experimentation in attempts to emulate the kind of photography I aspired to achieve.

Bringing out the beauty in the everyday.

In short order, I was capturing shots of just about anything that crossed my path; flowers, toys, waterfalls, rust, and yes, several thousand frames of my growing family. My interest in shooting a wide range of subjects continues to this day. Whether I’m photographing food, junkyards, unique personalities, or the pastoral scenes of Lancaster County, almost every subject area speaks to me in different and engaging ways. I’m particularly drawn to details and vibrant colors with an emphasis on revealing beauty in commonplace objects and settings.

There’s always room for improvement.

One of the great things about this hobby is the wealth of freely available information to improve your skills as a photographer. Since I learned so much from these types of sources, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to give back some of the knowledge I’ve picked up along the way by leading community photography groups and teaching photography classes.

What did I see before I saw the light?

I will be forever grateful that photography found me. It has given me an outlet for my creativity, connected me with amazing people, and opened my eyes to a world that I was missing before I started looking for how well it was lit.