While I can’t technically say it’s been a lifelong passion, I’ve been at this photography thing for a while now. The start of my photographic journey probably sounds familiar to many of you. When my first son was born, I was struggling to take what I deemed “good” pictures of him with my brand spanking new three megapixel Nikon Coolpix 4500. Up to that point in my life I had never taken an interest in photography so I was literally starting from scratch. Fortunately, after taking several thousand horrible photos of my offspring (and you’re going to have to pardon a horrendous pun here) something “clicked” for me.

Because I’ve always been somewhat computer oriented at heart, having the ability to reverse engineer the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO from the exif info baked inside the photos I took with my fancy point and shoot camera was a godsend. Digging into the digital files of each shot sent me down a path of experimentation with different camera settings in attempts to emulate the kind of photography I increasingly had access to in the nascent days of photo sharing on the inter tubes.

Bringing out the beauty in the everyday.

In short order, I was making photos 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 being involved in this hobby is the wealth of freely available information on how to improve your skills as a photographer. Since I learned so much from these types of sources, I’ve been blessed to have 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.