When I was growing up we lived all over the place. For two years, back in the 1960’s, dad was stationed in Adana, Turkey. The family went along for the ride.  We finally settled in San Antonio, Texas and that’s where I went to high school. Our first camera (shared with my older brother) was a Polaroid Swinger that took close up portraits. That may have established my style early on.....

I moved to Austin, Texas to attend the University of Texas (”Hook em Horns!”) I was on the eternal plan  and after seven years of dabbling in electrical engineering and English literature I came to understand that my parents were impatiently awaiting my transition to (self-supporting) adulthood. I didn’t jump far though. I accepted a position as a specialist lecturer and taught photography in the UT College of Fine Arts. It was here that my happy addiction to coffee percolated.

Never good at leaving well enough alone I heard the siren song of advertising and, with the promise of unimaginable wealth, I was lured away into an advertising agency.  It was called Avanti Advertising and Design. I stayed there for seven fun years. I was the creative director. That meant I got to take credit for any good ideas my overworked staff came up with. I hired a bunch of young, smart, talented people so pretty soon we won ADDY’s and other shiny awards for radio, television and print. We even won the Beckett Paper Company design award one year and they re-printed thousands of our snazzy brochures (for a client that had already thrown in the towel but forgot to throw in a check...........). The lingering recession of the late 1980’s ended my misguided advertising career and left me wondering, “What color is my parachute?” and “What the hell am I doing wearing a parachute in this restaurant?”

So I listened to advice from all my friends and ad associates and did the exact opposite. I became a freelance photographer. I figured with Texas mired in recession it couldn’t get any worse.......I got lucky and started working for Texas Monthly and a few stellar design shops like Hixo, Inc. and I’ve never looked back.

My clients have included:  IBM, Tivoli Systems, Dell Computer, Motorola, AMD, Freescale Semiconductor, Elle Magazine, Private Clubs Magazine, Time Warner, Pharmaco, PPD, JSR,  The Arts Council of Texas, Texas Gas Service, Trilogy, Southwest Water Company, Adventure Tours, and many, many advertising agencies.  

I live in the Hill Country, west of Austin, with my wife,

Belinda, my son, Benjamin and our bright little dog, Tulip.

Addendum:  June 30, 2008.  According to Amazon.com I am also a best selling writer of photo books.  On May 2nd this Spring my book:  Minimalist LIghting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography, marched right up the bestseller’s list and planted itself at #19 for several hours.  Yep.  Ahead of J.K. Rowling and Danielle Steele.  Of course the glory was short lived as the market for lighting on location with battery operated strobes will always be smaller than the market for wizards and sex scandals.........

I have just finished the second photography book and look forward to seeing the finished book in Spring of 2009.