Biography

The short story… 

I enjoy being out in nature and work part time as a naturalist at a nearby nature center. I love being in and around the water and work full time as a dive guide and scuba instructor. I find nature and underwater photography the best way to share my adventures with friends. I hope you enjoy my photographs.

If you would like the long version, please read on…

My love of water and appreciation for aquatic marine life goes back as far as I can remember. I believe growing up fishing and snorkeling in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and watching the TV series, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, might have had something to do with it. However, what really started me down the path to where I am today was having a great Dad who saw my attraction to water. He bought me new fins every summer as I outgrew them and later signed me up for scuba class when I was old enough. 

So in 1978 at the age of 16, I learned to scuba dive. During the next few years I took every scuba diving class my local dive shop offered and went snorkeling and diving at every lake, quarry, river, stream or puddle I could find. In 1981, I was working in that same local dive shop. I earned my NAUI Divemaster rating and by the following year my NASDS Instructor certification. I was living my dream.

My fascination with photography also started at an early age with a hand me down point and shoot camera from my grandfather. In 1981, I started taking my first pictures underwater with a Minolta Weathermatic 110 film camera but quickly out grew its capabilities. By then I was hooked on both nature and underwater photography so I acquired my first 35mm film cameras, a Nikon SLR and a Nikonos IV-A amphibious camera. A few years later in 1986, I had my first photos published in a scuba text book “Safe SCUBA”. By 2006, my photo arsenal was up to 5 film cameras and over a dozen lenses so it was a big jump in 2007 when I made the leap from film to digital. It took a few years to retool with Canon DSLRs and lenses and Ikelite housings and strobes but it was a move that made it so much easier to share and sell my images.

Since then, I’ve traveled the world to some amazing places with my underwater photo equipment. I’ve dove and photographed in some of the ocean’s most pristine waters and swam with manatees, dolphins, mantas, turtles, countless species of fish and 21 different species of sharks. My skills as a diver and photographer have been challenged under some of the most demanding diving conditions from frigid water, limited visibility and strong currents to shipwrecks and underwater caves. 

My most rewarding work has come from a niche I found photographing near my home in Maryland in the very murky waters of the Chesapeake Bay. I have worked as a diver and underwater photographer on numerous reef, fish, mussel and oyster projects for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, M.A.R.I. (Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative), Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Images from the dives have been used to raise awareness of the state of the Chesapeake Bay and reefs off of Maryland’s coast. Many of these images have been published by local news organizations and used by government agencies and environmental groups to show others why our waters need to be protected.

I have shared my images as a scuba instructor, aquatic naturalist and as a guest speaker with many diverse groups. I have been a guest speaker at nature centers, schools, dive shows and clubs where I was invited to share my knowledge and images of local marine life and adventures of diving in Maryland and along the East coast. I organize a local photo show called “Undersea Journeys” which attracts divers and non divers from Maryland and surrounding states. The event has raised thousands of dollars in donations over the years for a local nature center which helps fund other great educational programs. This event also gives other area underwater photographers an opportunity to showcase their images from their journeys around the world. 

Looking back at the last 44 years, the sport of scuba diving has taken me on a wild ride, one that I have been very fortunate to enjoyed sharing with so many diving friends. I hope you find my images equally as enjoyable and I hope to one day share an adventure underwater with you.