About

Photography has been a huge passion of mine ever since I bought my first camera, a Pentax K-1000 with a 50 mm 1.4f lens. That was way back in 1978. I was born in Southern Indiana but have lived all over this beautiful country. Indiana, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Kentucky, Texas, California and I now call New Mexico home.

I believe that passion is essential when you are in the field of artistic creativity. You must be able to let yourself go in order to become one with nature. You must do this in order to visualize the photo you want to make, especially in landscape and nature photography. In wildlife photography you must learn the habits of the creature you are photographing but always expect a surprise.

The beauty of nature is the reason I got into photography. My first photos were of landscapes. I then got into the commercial part of photography, in order to make ends meet. I shot weddings, did aerial photography and photographed thoroughbred yearlings for the Keenland Thoroughbred Sales Brochure in Lexington, Ky. Then one day someone asked me to take some photos of some local bands and I found my new passion,…..rock concerts.

Before the dust had settled, two of my photographs were chosen by John “Cougar” Mellencamp to be used for his 1984-86 World Tour Poster. It was an incredible feeling being published for the first time, and especially for something so important! I met with Mike Wancheck, the lead guitarist of the band. He took some of my photos back to John for approval. The posters sold at every one of his concerts world wide for three years, with my name as photographer in the credits on the poster. My Agent, Star File Photo of New York, purchased the rights to two of my Prince photos for publication in U.S. News.

So I guess you could say that I have come full circle,….from photographing rock concerts (wild…..life), to photographing wildlife & nature. The latter is much more soothing, Being out in nature is my church. I love traveling to Yellowstone, Wyoming,…Colorado, Utah, Arizona and of course New Mexico. The South West has some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and it is loaded with lots of critters to photograph.

I use Canon camera equipment and Epson printers. All of my photos were taken with Canon EOS Digital equipment. Marti uses the Canon 20D. I use the Canon 1 D Mark III 10 mp, 5D 13 mp, and the 30D 8 mp. For most of my wild life images I use the Sigma 300-800 f 5.6 zoom lens and the Canon 100-400 zoom lens & the 200 mm f2.8. For landscapes I use the Canon 5D with the 24-105 f 4 lens or the 30D with the 17-85 lens and the 85mm f 1.8 lens. For macro photography I use the 17-85 and the 100-400 also does surprisingly well. For my Sigma 300-800 (I call it the Sig-monster) I use the Giotto Professional Carbon MT 8180 tripod with a Jobu Black Widow gimbal head. For low light photography I use a Manfrotto tripod w/ a Manfrotto 3030 head. I hand hold all of my equipment (except,…of course the Sig-monster) when adequate light is available. This takes a lot of practice. I use an Epson Printer with archival Epson ink and paper. The images will last over 100 years without fading, which means that my photographs will be appreciated for many years to come.

I am a self taught photographer, learning by going out and shooting a couple of rolls of film (many years before I went digital), and taking them to someone I respected to critique them. Some of us just don’t do well in class room settings so I had to learn the hard way,…. by making a lot of mistakes, reading and asking a lot of questions. Where ever you live, there may be a photography club in your city or town. You can find someone who would be glad to mentor you in such a club. I believe that if you have the passion, you will find a way to become a better photographer. I believe that passion and patience, along with great light, the right angle and being able to let yourself go to feel the energy of the surroundings in order to frame the shot in your mind, are the ingredients to creating a great photo.

Colorado -     Weekends of:
Vail                                      June 26th & 27th
Frisco                                  July 3rd & 4th
Aspen                                  July 17th & 18th
Boulder                               July 24th & 25th
Beaver Creek (Vail)          July 31st & August 1st
Frisco                                  August 7th & 8th
Salida                                  August 14th & 15th
Evergreen                          August 28th & 29th
Breckenridge                     September 4th, 5th & 6th
Castle Rock                        September 11th & 12th
Estes Park                         September 18th & 19th