I like to say my becoming a photographer was the by-product of bad luck. It all began in 2006 when I was on a 520 mile round trip solo bicycling expedition from Buffalo, NY to Detroit, MI. I set out that sunny September day with a naïve smile and 80 pounds of camping gear/food strapped to my bike. I also had a Nikon 35mm film camera with me. Photography was not a priority, but I wanted to present proof to the pessimists who proclaimed it was a foolish plan. For nine days I traced the Northern Shore of Lake Erie (twice actually), enduring drenching rains, dead end roads and detours, angry truckers, and wild dogs. And when I reached my farthest point west halfway through the tour (Detroit River), I captured the evidence with my Nikon, then turned around and headed home. It was a gratifying experience.
Despair set in once back in Buffalo. I took my film to get developed and was told it was no good. It had been exposed. There would be no pictures. No evidence. A few curses later my camera was history, and I eventually went digital.
From that point on, I was determined to bring back pictures from every trip I took. Family and friends seemed to look forward to seeing prints every time I came back from somewhere, and this complacency only fueled the fire to take even better pictures on my next trip. I became “the guy who dangles from cliffs” for the perfect photo. Before long, ostensible hiking trips turned into deliberate photography sojourns.
I currently use two cameras: an Olympus SP320, and an Olympus SP565UZ, both digital. As I’ve mentioned in my mission statement, I do not use Photoshop tools to alter or “correct” any of my images. If I take a picture and it doesn’t come out in my favor for some reason, I just don’t use it. It’s as simple as that. I tried and failed. Better luck next time. The world is beautiful enough. It doesn’t need to be enhanced with technology.
My pictures from that Lake Erie trip are long gone, but I’m confident I can redeem myself. These past few years I have been blessed to see and capture in pictures the formidable beauty of North America. Yet what I have borne witness to is only a small slice of a vast and rugged continent. There is so much out there waiting to be discovered. And I will discover it.
As you view my images, I hope they touch in you a nerve of curiosity. I hope they strike a chord of poignancy, and make you long to be there, to know and feel the experience. And I hope they make you shiver. Then I know I’ve done my job.