By focusing my camera outward, I have been able to journey inward.

In April of 2019 I finished a 20 year career in the US Armed Forces. This was my opportunity for a new beginning. My experiences to that point had taught me many things but one stood out in particular: “I am never working for someone else ever again”. The person that I was seeing in the mirror was no longer someone I recognized. I needed to make a change, to find a way to return to my roots and rediscover my true self. Turning away from several lucrative job offers I dove into the unknown.

Throughout my career, whenever I was overcome by significant stress or nearing burn-out, I would find myself always doing the same thing… retreating to the woods. Nature was always there to heal me, to allow me to just be- as myself and for myself. I knew instinctively that the next chapter of my life was going to be centered around nature.

Why photography?

In 2004 I found myself on a government sponsored trip to Iraq. Knowing that this may be the only time that I may experience war (I was wrong), I carried a 4MP FujiFilm Finepix around with me. What started as a way to document daily life turned into much more. After long days at work, nothing seemed to unwind me except time behind the camera. Some of my favorite memories of that time were of doing long exposure shots of the Mosque on our base in the dark desert nights.

Upon returning to my home station, I decided that I wanted to continue to explore photography as a creative outlet. For several years I dabbled on and off. My hobby turned to obsession in 2008 when I purchased a Nikon D300. Having access to the manual functions of a camera changed everything. From that day on I was hooked.

For the next 11 years, my camera was my constant companion. When I wasn’t shooting I was reading about photography, viewing other peoples work and playing with different post processing techniques. Within a few years I must have looked like I new what I was doing as I soon became the de facto Squadron Photographer. I shot everything: awards ceremonies, promotions, retirements, parties, official portraits and “on-the-job” type photos. Photography was now creeping its way into my professional life.

When it became time to prepare for retirement I had some very important decisions to make. What was I going to do next? Could I afford to start a new career? Will I be motivated enough to be my own boss? I only have half of the answers to those questions right now but one thing is 100 percent clear. This feels right.

What next?

Having made up my mind to become a full time nature photographer, I knew that there were areas that I needed to hone if I was going to be successful. Photography books have now turned into business books and I am also a full time college student studying my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography. After spending my entire adult life in a box where creativity was stifled if not outright looked down on, I knew that the only way to break free of my “old way of thinking” and start completely fresh was to surround myself with young, vibrant and incredibly creative people. Becoming a college student again is providing that for me in spades.

I now spend my time split between school and crawling around the woods on my belly, camera in hand.