I am a self-taught, semi-professional photographer located in Michigan.Ive always been interested in taking photographs, but not knowing anything about it, I started out in 2001 with my first camera, a Canon G2. With the pictures that I took, I began to wonder why one picture looked so much better than another that I took just a few minutes prior, and that is when my obsession began.


Soon after that I purchased my first SLR, a Canon 10D, and began to get into more intricate photography. After playing with the Canon 10D, I began to understand that the place I wanted to be was AV mode (Aperture priority). Then it became time to look into super telephoto lenses, the first of many to come was a Canon 300 2.8, and when this lens arrived I had my wife video record me opening the box so I could relive the excitement over again. I also could not believe that I just spent almost $4,000.

Soon after that I started to think, heck, I have a lake in my backyard and I need to get a better idea of what kind of critters I have down there. After realizing that I had a gold mine of critters on the lake, it was now time to purchase a 600mm lens, which made the 300mm look cheap in price. So when the 600mm arrived, I immediately went out to the back yard and tried to take some pictures of birds, hand holding the lens, which was close to impossible, which led me to getting a Gimbal Head and a heavy duty tripod.


At the end of 2011 I lost my job and sadly had to sell a good portion of my equipment. But soon after starting work again, I decided to give a Nikon a shot so I purchased a Nikon D4, with a 600mm lens to match, and shot for all of 2012. After a year of using the Nikon, I decided that the ergonomics were not going to work for me, so I said goodbye to Nikon and went back to Canon. In 2012 I entered my first contest ( Trierenberg super circuit) and in March of 2013 I learned that I was awarded first place (Grand Prix) which put a big smile on my face, as of now 2018 I am using Canon equipment and still having a blast.