"…It's the world I know"
~Collective Soul

I am currently deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I previously served as a Medic in the U.S. Army for four years, from 1990-1994.

And, I also served as an Aviation Life Support Technician for the U.S. Navy from 2000-2005. 

With the Army, I was stationed overseas in Mainz, Germany for one year and Fort Benning, Georgia for two years.

While stationed in Germany, our Air Defense Artillery Unit I was assigned to was deployed to Saudi Arabla for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1991.

Our  Combat Engineer Unit I was assigned to in Ft. Benning was deployed to Somalia, Africa for Operation Restore Hope.

And the Helicopter Support Combat Squadron detachment I was assigned to  assisted in Operation Unified Assistance in Sumatra, Indonesia after the January 2005 Tsunami.

While deployed in Somalia, Africa I took with me a small, personal hand-held camcorder and videotaped images from everyday life as a soldier to local scenery. I remember recording still images of trees, wildflowers, local village life and local landscapes and I remember how captivating it was for me.

And while serving for the Navy I captured exciting and exhilarating moments of jets and helicopters landing and taking off from carriers and oilers.

To see those images captured in time rekindles my flame inside. I can remember what I saw. But to be able to share those fragments of time with other people it elates my soul.

I have vacationed in Hawaii, Italy and Greece. I took some very nice shots in Rome, Florence and Venice. But the best pictures I liked were the ones from Greece in Athens, Delphi and Santorini.
(See my travel pics.)

I've worked as a family portrait photographer but all the kicking, screaming, running around and all the tantrums can be exhausting…and that's just the parents! (Just kidding!) Working with children can be difficult. Most were well-behaved. But, most of the time the parents insisted pictures of their children with smiling faces. But, if a child does not want their picture taken a smile is not going to happen.