I grew up in Forestville, Ohio and went to high school at Anderson Township High School, just outside the Eastern city limits of Cincinnati. After graduation I was convinced that my education was not as good as my parents had hoped even though I thought I was pretty smart...therefore, I wisely consented to a postgraduate year at Kimball Union Academy in the huge town of Meriden, New Hampshire. It was 20 miles or so south of Dartmouth College. It was there that my photography career took off.

Before that I had been mucking around with photography since seeing my first print come out of the developer at age 10. It was hit and miss at Anderson High. My only artistic inspiration there was a very funny and talented American Government teacher named Mr. Watkins. He and his wife were younger than most of the teachers and he had a darkroom in his house. Several of us photogeeks were invited to come over and use his darkroom from time to time. That was my first experience in a real darkroom. Before that it was leaning over the edge of the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom to develop the contact prints.

All this turned around at KUA. It was during the long New Hampshire winter that I learned to print. Because of my interest, I was appointed photo editor of the yearbook and it definitely forced me to get my act together. I spent lonely but fun nights in the school darkroom learning how to print...well, it paid off and I became a pretty fair printer after that.

I like the East Coast, although I can't foresee I will ever leave Southern California. The East Coast is very different and I would like to be able to go back their more often and shoot infrared film. Because I moved to the West Coast about 30 years ago, most of my USA photos are in the West.

The photo below was taken on the Blue Ridge Highway, Northeast of Ashville, NC. It's one of the most beautiful roads in the whole USA and I ought to know as I have seen all the 47 adjoining states.