Light has always drawn me in. Whether it was watching it dance across a perfectly plated dish, illuminate the delicate feathers of a hand-tied fly, or paint the Eastern Sierra at dawn – I've spent my life chasing its stories.

 

My journey with photography began in the darkroom at fifteen, working alongside a wedding photographer during the final golden age of film. Those early lessons in light, timing, and patience would shape everything that followed.

 

The creative path led me through professional French  kitchens, where I served as an executive chef, earning recognition as Chef of the Year from the Restaurant Writers of Southern California. Like photography, cooking is an art of timing, technique, and instinct – knowing exactly when something is ready, even if you can't explain why.

 

My hands found other forms of expression too, particularly in the intricate art of artistic salmon fly tying, where my work found its way into publications. There's a meditative quality to wrapping delicate threads and feathers around a hook that isn't so different from waiting for the perfect moment of light to strike a landscape.

 

Home is Santa Barbara, where I live with my wife and cat. But my heart is often on the road, exploring California's back country, chasing light along the coast, or returning again and again to the Eastern Sierra, where every visit reveals something new.

 

Photography remains my truest voice. I believe in the power of mistakes, the beauty of the learning process, and the simple joy of feeling light. Some days that means nailing the perfect exposure; other days it means discovering something beautiful in what went "wrong."

 

Every image is a story, every story is a lesson, and the best lesson is that there's always more to learn.

 

Currently exploring light somewhere between the mountains and the sea.