As a child, if I wasn’t outside playing, I was drawing. My mother, a fine painter and avid photographer, swears that my first grade teacher raved about my natural sense of composition. My father, a computer repairman taught me the benefits of hard work and attention to detail. My two older brothers let me tag along through the woods, climbing rock walls, and wading hip deep in creeks while keeping lunch dry. I see now, my childhood was the beginning of basic training for landscape photography. At age fourteen, I saved my money and bought a Pentax K-1000 camera…photography became my passion.
I graduated high school knowing that inside of me was a photographer wanting to get out. I earned a degree in Visual Communications from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1987. A father in the digital world, a mother in the arts, and soon I’m a graphic designer riding the wave of desktop publishing. Life was good, the camera went digital, I went Nikon, and I never stopped wanting to be a photographer.
But it wasn’t until 1995 that I stopped wanting to become a photographer and found the courage to become that photographer. I owe a tremendous debt to the late photographer Nancy Rotenberg and will forever cherish the years I spent by her side. She not only taught me how to see light and all the magic that can be squeezed out of it from behind the camera, but more importantly she showed me how to ignite my artistic vision and fire it into my art. I realized that it is the uniqueness of the artist that matters and we all need to follow our own path.
In 1997, I started working with my favorite musician, Rik Emmett (lead singer, songwriter, guitarist with Triumph from 1975 to 1988). Over the course of 20+ years, I have created CD packages, logos, photography, official Website graphics, posters, handbills, four-volume set of guitar instruction books and much more for Rik. In 2020, we collaborated again to produce the “Photo Escape Calendar“, featuring Rik’s lyrics and eight new poems inspired by my photos.
I started working as an assistant team photographer for the Pittsburgh Penguins during Sidney Crosby rookie season (2005). It was a great time to fulfill my dream of becoming a sport photographer. For two seasons I was on a cloud as I photographed game action for the team. In 2009, my hard work with the Penguins landed me a position with one of the premier photography wire-services in the country, Icon Sports Media. I continue to work as the lead NHL photographer in Pittsburgh for Icon to this day.
My images have appeared in many print publications, most notably Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, The Hockey News and EISHockey World, and have also been featured online at nhl.com, si.com, espn.com to name a few. In 2010, I was commissioned by the James Gallery and the Pittsburgh Penguins on behalf of the Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh to create original and iconic artwork from my photographs. Produced on hi-gloss aluminum with an average size of 48″ x 60″, I have 17 stunning images proudly on display throughout the PPG Paints Arena.
In the summer of 2014, I became a published author with the release of “Magic Light and the Dynamic Landscape”. This 128-page book from Amherst Media teaches aspiring photographers how to create breathtaking images using light and weather.
Artist Statement
Photography for me is about capturing moments in time. Fleeting seconds of golden light, dramatic storms, flowing reflections in water, and quiet foggy mornings are all part of the reward of the outdoors. When the light is magical, I aim to express the beauty of the world around me with original and creative photographs. It is in these moments that artistic expression and attraction to light combine. My passion for the outdoors allows the viewer to experience nature and all its glory in new and meaningful ways. I use my unique vision to go beyond a documentary photograph to connect with nature and tell a dynamic visual story. My images explore the relationship between color and form with strong compositional design.