1. I started, like most photographers in my age bracket (middle 40’s), by working in a home darkroom. I processed my tri-x film in a cheap plastic canister and printed contact sheets and 8×10’s. This was the late 80’s. I fell in love with the thrill expressing myself in a way that worked and watching images appear in the developer solution. At the time I had a plastic enlarger from a garage sale and I was working in a cramped, poorly vented space. It’s best to start small. There’s nothing like the red glow of the safelight in a darkroom.

2. Photography is hard work. It takes time, thought, money and effort. Without these ingredients don’t be surprised if your portfolio is weak. Like almost anything in life, effort is required.

3. The equipment doesn’t make the photograph but you can’t make the photograph without the equipment.

4. I am naturally inclined to esthetics and artistic sensibilities. Add to that an impatient personality and the desire to create and you have a classic profile for a photographer.

5. Poetry is the fuel for most of my creativity. I am a terrible poet though. Favorite poets? Li-Young Lee and Raymond Carver.

6. I love the combination of words with photography. The photographer Brett Weston used to publish books without a single word in them. He reasoned that the work should speak for itself. I disagree, to an extent.

My favorite photographer writer? John Szarkowski. He had clarity of thought and incredible insights. Check out the forward to the book “William Egglestons Guide“. Great words can illuminate a photograph. The photograph is a mute.

7. Photography is a form of communication, what is it saying?

8. The constant quest I work towards with my photography is the pursuit of content along with form. The first decade of my photographic life was spent making a lot of pretty pictures, a lot of great diagonals, textures and patterns. Essentially eye candy. Maybe I had nothing to say?

9. Photographers who have only used digital DSLR’s have no idea what they are missing. It’s like going to the buffet and only eating jello. There is so much more.

10. One of my favorite quotes about photography was written by a favorite photographer of mine Lee Friedlander. “Photography is a generous medium, you want a photograph of aunt Edna and her new car but you get the sky, trees, a million pebbles and blades of grass, the neighbors dog and the peeling paint of Ednas house.”

11. I did portraiture the first decade of my career. People cherish their portraits. Its funny, they would grab their portraits if the house was burning down but if they tried to simply give their portraits to anyone else they couldn’t. No one would want them. They have infinite worth to them but are perfectly worthless to another person.

13. Another quote: “Painting is a meditation, photography is a stab” Henri Cartier-Bresson

14. I own a substantial collection of photographic monographs. I love them. I’ve spent hundreds of hours etching the images into my memory. My photography is a massive conglomeration of all of their influences. It’s hard for me to identify one photographer who made the biggest impact. But the first photography book to slap my photographic mind was “The Americans” by Robert Frank.