montana photo blog

i was called by the PGA of America in 1994 to bid on a contract to shoot all of their advertising, golf courses and golf action. i was way over my head and had to do some serious research and practice before i showed them any film i had shot. i actually bought 5 or 6 golf magazines and pulled out images to hang on the wall. i looked at them through my camera lens to get a feel for what i should be seeing. turns out i had a pretty good eye for the game

i had a covey of quail run out in front of me while walking/running to catch up with a foursome during the PGA Cup Matches. unfortunately they misjudged my speed and i  stepped on one of the little buggers and crashed and burned on the cart path. it was like a yard sale, camera bodies, lenses, gatorade everywhere!  the quail survived although my 17-55 lens did not.

well, it’s certainly not the President of the US, lol… i guess it would be a painter, i would love to be able to paint like Rembrandt.

i love having the ability to capture a single moment that i see and no one else does. It’s all about seeing the light, both literally and figuratively.  I love that it gives me the ability to be in business for myself and the freedoms that that affords.

for me the emotion of the moment is the absolute most important thing to show. to be able to share this emotion and have people see an image and not be able to stop looking at it is my ultimate goal. i have a handful of images that i feel like this is the case.

my biggest influences are two painters that have become very close friends, Paul Aho and Sam Perry. i was fortunate to have them around as i grew as an artist. They taught me composition, contrast and split field composition and most importantly the importance of being an artist.  i’m more driven by composition as a basis for my images because of them. for me the impact of the image is only this and not the subject.

absolutely, when i can hear someone chewing gum. it’s like edgar allen poe’s tale tell heart. its all i can hear!!  but seriously, i do get blocked when i have spent too much time producing a shoot and not enough time alone thinking about what i want to shoot.

i have two major goals in photography, i want to have a fashion image on a billboard in times square and i want the cover of a major American fashion magazine.

my favorite landscape is looking out of my tent at the moss covering the volcanic rock in iceland.

my favorite fashion image is for Pucci of a girl leaning into the wind in a studio in miami