About

My first complete sentence, written in my  little blue baby book was, “op de door” meaning open the door and let me outside. That desire to explore the outside world set the tenor of my life, the life of an explorer. 
My passion for photography and exploring wild places first began on a solo backpacking adventure in August of 1972 to Truchas peak in the Pecos wilderness North East of Santa Fe. It is my Holy place. The need to explore,  photograph and share the wild areas of the southwest set my path in photography. 

In the 1970's I was a wilderness patrolman for the USFS in the Glenwood Ranger district of the Gila Wilderness.  I began creating photographic slide shows as a way to document my exploration of the wilderness and share my experiences with others . That led to photographic back packing adventures all across the Southwest.

In 1980 I landed a job at the  Sun Spot Solar Observatory developing film from the cameras on the telescopes recording sun activity. That experience prepared me for my next job at a one hour photo lab in downtown Santa Fe.   After attending an advanced class in photography at the College of Santa Fe.   I began my fine art photography with a 4x5 camera and home darkroom.  David Ross of David Ross Studios on Palace Avenue invited me to display my photography in his studio and eventually I was accepted into the Santa Fe Society of Artists .

In 1984, my wife Melinda and I moved to Silver City, NM and opened Silver Imaging Photo Lab. That business evolved into Silver Portrait Studio for families, children and School picture day contracts .

In 2019 we retired from the studio and I once again returned my focus to fine art photography.