I was born December of 1963 in Baltimore, Md. My first camera was a kodak Hawkeye 126 camera. As I got older I purchased a used Canon AE-1 SLR 35mm camera. Money was very tight back then, so, I added to my equipment by purchasing lenses from a local pawn shop. Over the years, I went through 3 AE-1 bodies and numerous lenses. While I was working for Ryland Homes in the mid 80's, I purchased my first new camera a Canon T-90 35mm SLR camera with a dedicated Canon 300TL flash. With all the lenses I had accumulated, It was time for a real camera bag. I chose a Tamarac 614 Pro. This Bag is a Monster, but it held everything I needed and then some!

       My photographic education started by buying every "how to" book that sparked my interest. I still have most of them on my bookshelf today. I learned everything these books had to offer. I needed more formal training to be proficient in my new trade.

       While visiting my brother in West Palm Beach, We took a drive down A1A to Miami. On the way we passed the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. I remembered the TV commercials from this place. When we were driving back, I asked my brother to stop so I could check out the school. I talked to a Rep there. After the meeting they told me to take a tour of the Campus. After the tour, my mind was made up this was the place I needed to go to expand my education. You can see one of my pix from that trip here: (24hourRace @ Daytona)

      Upon returning to baltimore, I enrolled to get my GED. (Foolish me, I quit school in my senior year)  Kids, Please take my advice and stay in school. Education is they way to get ahead in life. I completed the adult education night school. Now for the GED test. I finished the GED essay and 5 written tests with an hour to spare. (and this included a 1.5 hour lunch break instead of the normal 1/2 hour) When I got my test results, the GED people stated that they have never seen scores this high before.   99%- Math, 97%-Science, 96%- Social Studies, 93%- literature, and 50%- Writing Skills. ( I never said I was a writer, Be glad you can read this website.) Now armed with my GED, I sent my application to the Art Institute and was accepted.

       My plans to be a real photographer were now in motion. I needed a reliable vehicle to get back and forth to school from WPB to Ft. Lauderdale. I found a low mileage motorcycle, an '83 Kawasaki 1100 LTD. I had the bike for two weeks before a car cut someone else off and that second person cut me off. The second person just keep on driving while I laid in the middle of the street. I was only going 15 MPH when I went down on the bike. My leg cushioned the bikes fall. In the process breaking my leg. A short trip to the hospital, 6 hours of surgury, and 12 days later, I was back home. Well the doctors put in two plates and 16 screws in my leg to fixate the bones. ( So now when I say i'm all screwed up, It's the truth!)

       I lost the next year of work because of the accident. I was determined that my plans would not be delayed. I wantede to work that year to save and pay for half of my tuition. That part of my plan went out the window! In December of '91 I moved down to Florida. I was hired as a photographer for the local real estate listing service. I started out in the WPB/RPB area the first year. The second year I moved down to Ft. Lauderdale and took over the Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach and Davie areas from another photographer. This jobhad me photographing 150+ house every weekend. This continued for almost three years.

Upon graduation in '94 I was working a temp job in addition to the real estate job to offset the freetime I now had while Isearched for a more lucrative job as aphotographer. A few months later I found the photographers job posting at the AUTEC base in the Bahamas. My job interview consisted o f a phone call and a flight to the bahamas for an in person meeting. Two weeks later I was hired.

       There were two other photographers besides me there. My job duties included hanging out of helicopters and taking pictures of torpedo tests for the Navy. I was also allowd on the planes, ships, and submarines to photograph various aspects of the testing.