The challenge I encounter when presenting fine art photography is that viewers typically consider the work at purely face value: a tree is a tree; stone is stone; a shipwreck is nothing more than its pieces scattered along the beach. As an artist, how might I inspire my audience to look for more creative interpretations of my landscape subjects? 

For me, the answer lies in harnessing the power of pictures and words by combining my landscape photography with fanciful narratives. These image/text combinations prompt us to consider layers of meaning by stimulating our most powerful sense: the imagination. When we do so, we can peer beneath the surface of our everyday world and look upon these landscapes with fresh eyes. In my art, you'll encounter a tree as a wooden monster that stalks a forest, a boulder becomes the broken heart of a mountain, a shipwreck is a symbol of failed dreams, and so on.

The pieces in my Animated Videos collection take a step further in my attempt to provide a visual experience that balances image and text. The foundation of each artwork in this collection remains a photograph, but I morph the static image into an animated video. In this format, narrative and picture are seamlessly integrated, with each stanza of the narrative embedded directly into the animation, line by line. I also apply zoom-and-pan techniques to provide a sense of movement across the static image, and finally add background music for ambiance.

By installing these videos into digital frames, they can be hung on a wall, displayed very much like my traditional photographic prints. But now, the image and text can be presented as originally intended: a single art form that is designed to not only transport you to a memorable location, but to peel back the shrouds of the mundane, and guide you into a realm filled with possibilities—a place where nature’s magic and mystery are just a thought away.


PLAYING VIDEOS
To play a video, first select the work of interest, then click or tap on an available edition in the edition list that appears. The link to play the video is located in the Documents section of the edition's detail page.

Grand Canyon. Death Valley. Zion. Bryce Canyon. Antelope Canyon. Joshua Tree. Arches… I can't remember a time when I didn't dream of photographing the deserts and canyonlands of the American Southwest. Their vast open spaces, bizarre stone monoliths, unique lifeforms, and otherworldly shapes and colors have beckoned me for years.

The challenge has always been the mundane shackles of my regular life: the job, family responsibilities, finances, and the like. Every daydream of letting that all go to pursue this "bucket list" item was counteracted by matters of practicality. Until, that is, the summer of 2022.

Call it karma or simply pure luck, but around the end of the COVID pandemic, I committed myself to transitioning to a more balanced mindset and lifestyle where the job didn't always take top priority. Since then, opportunities that I never believed would happen began to appear.

In this case, my months-long search to buy a used car finally surfaced the right one in Phoenix. My little inner voice that kept whispering, "If not now, when?" suddenly gained traction as I reviewed a highway map: all these national parks lay in the general direction back home! I could fly out to Phoenix, pick up the car, then follow a meandering path through these mythical places—just me, my new roadster, and my camera, stopping wherever the muse directed me.

The photos in this gallery started with that amazing 2-week journey of discovery, which then sparked additional visits to other remote places. Reflecting back on that first trip, I realize how close I came to never taking the plunge, of following a dream and fulfilling a bucket-list item that has fundamentally changed my life.

It may sound cliché, but life is too precious to dull permanently. Take some risks now and then; it'll do your soul some good. Pull yourself out of your ordinary. When that little voice whispers, "If not now, when?", take heed. There is more meaning in embracing a dream—even if only for a few days—than in a lifetime of drudgery.

SEARCHING THIS COLLECTION

The following key words can be used in this page's Search field to locate pieces based on certain characteristics: Anasazi, Black & White, Blue, Blue Hour, Brown, Canyonland, Clouds, Desert, Eclipse, Gold, Green, Horizon, Human Structure, Lake, Moon, Orange, People, Plant, Purple, Rainbow, Red, Ruins, Sandstone, Sepia, Silhouette, Silver, Slot Canyon, Sunrise, Sunset, Tree, Yellow.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you'd like to search using different criteria.

The images in this Dune Odyssey collection offer a deep contemplation of nature—one where atmosphere, structure, space, and sensitivity take precedence. Each picture begins not as documentation, but as interpretation: an attempt to reveal nature’s physical and emotional architectures. I seek not only to capture the environment, but to converse with it. In these photographs, I explore how the geometry of dunes, clouds, and other structures; the balance of horizon and void; and the fleeting interplay of shadow and reflection all collaborate to form a new language of visual expression. 

This raw, simple language drives my landscapes toward minimalism. Reducing the composition to its essence heightens one’s perception, allowing a single horizon, a trace of shadow, or the meeting of surfaces to speak with clarity and resonance. In these uncluttered spaces, contrast in all its contexts—light and dark, soft and hard, fluid and static, fleeting and enduring—forms the vocabulary of this wild language. 

By capturing the tension between these states, my photographs offer a moment of contemplation, a place where the viewer is invited to linger, ponder, reflect, and immerse themselves in the poetry found within nature’s designs.

SEARCHING THIS COLLECTION

The following key words can be used in this page's Search field to view pieces within this collection which match certain characteristics: Black & White, Clouds, Desert, Dunes, Plant.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you’d like to search using different criteria.

Although I'm thoroughly a landscape photographer, sometimes during my hikes and photographic forays I encounter an unusual subject that captures my imagination. Given my proclivity for looking for sparks of nature's magic, these oddities that I capture through my lens refuse to be ignored. In many cases, the seeds of their stories are readily apparent, making it a simple task for me to form their narratives and bring their legends to life.

Note that while some pieces are only found in this collection, others are associated with additional collections. The common theme running through each member of this Flights of Fancy collection is the quirkiness of the subject and the strange narrative it evokes.

SEARCHING THIS COLLECTION

The following key words can be used in this page's Search field to locate pieces based on certain characteristics: Animal, Bird, Black & White, Blue, Blue Hour, Brown, Eerie, Green, Horizon, Human Structure, Lake, Moon, Orange, Plant, Purple, Red, Silhouette, Tree, Tropical, Wildlife, Yellow.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you’d like to search using different criteria.

Mountains are the true masters of the land. They form the foundation of the landscape, crafting valleys, directing rivers, shifting wind patterns, shouldering glaciers, and offering a multitude of different environments for flora and fauna.

If you spend any time approaching a mountain, you’re almost certain to gain a respect—reverence, even—for them. Many indigenous cultures consider mountains to be living beings, relatives, or gods of incomprehensible might. Suffice it to say that there is much more to a mountain than initially meets the eye. Whether or not you embrace a Gaia-like mindset, we can all agree that there is power in these massive works of stone.

The photographs I’ve included in this collection are designed to reflect that sense of awe and wonder that I find every time I breathe that rarified alpine air and raise my lens to the grandeur inherent in the vistas and life of mountainscapes.


SEARCHING THIS COLLECTION
The following key words can be used in this page's Search field to locate pieces based on certain characteristics: Black & White, Blue, Brown, Clouds, Eerie, Gold, Green, Horizon, Lake, Moss, Mountain, Orange, Plant, Purple, Red, Tree, Video, Yellow.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you'd like to search using different criteria.

Being based right on the edge of Puget Sound, WA, means that I’m able to enjoy one of the most beautiful and dynamic landscapes found anywhere. The photographs in this Puget Sound Environs collection all come from this unique place that offers an abundance of imagery. Look for iconic images (such as the twin Tacoma Narrows Bridges), but also hidden spots that celebrate the natural world I'm fortunate to have so close at hand.

The following key words can be used in this page's Search field to locate pieces based on certain characteristics: Black & White, Blue, Boat, Brown, Clouds, Fog, Gold, Green, Horizon, Human Structure, Moon, Orange, Plant, Purple, Red, Ruins, Seascape, Sepia, Silhouette, Silver, Sunrise, Sunset, Tree, Video, Yellow.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you’d like to search using different criteria.

As far back as I can remember, the sea has always beckoned me. From being taken on family day-trips to the beach as a young child, to driving my first car out to the coast on epic summer vacation days as a high-schooler, or most recently raising my own family on the edge of Puget Sound, there is a magical, even spiritual bond I’ve always had with the Pacific Northwest coast of the US.

This coastline, however, is a force to be reckoned with. It’s a powerful beast, far better known for beaches with icy winds that rip through your jacket and blast sand in your face than for offering tourists warm sunbathing settings with lounge chairs and sunbrellas.

But the harsh environment is also unbelievably beautiful. Glorious morning light can break through the frequent overcast, spotlighting offshore rock spires known as stacks and gilding the tips of breaking waves. Trees—the successful ones, at least—are wrapped and twisted into marvelous shapes and textures from the unrelenting wind. Lighthouses perch on rocky outcrops, launching their beams of light toward the horizon, daring the latest storm to throw its muscle against concrete and stone. And the calmness we encounter once a storm has past: when an eerie silence temporarily replaces the howl of the wind, and you find yourself treading softly on packed sand so as to not break the stillness… such moments are truly sublime.

My Seascapes collection presents a taste of that Pacific Northwest coast experience. Wander through these images and see if you, too, are inexorably drawn to this gorgeous, wild place.

The following key words can be used in this page’s Search field to locate pieces based on certain characteristics: Beach, Black & White, Blue, Blue Hour, Boat, Brown, Clouds, Gold, Green, Horizon, Human Structure, Moon, Orange, Purple, Red, Sea Stacks, Sepia, Silhouette, Silver, Sunrise, Sunset, Yellow.

Note that I associated these key words with my works; the search mechanism adds its own terms, too, so feel free to try other words if you'd like to search using different criteria.