About Me
I was born and raised just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. Ever since I
was a boy, I have always loved nature. Whenever I could, I would be in the
woods with my dog, Rusty.
My favorite animal has always been the Gray Wolf, ( except for Rusty )... When I
was a kid, I painted a wolf paw print on the chain gaurd of my bicycle and
wrote, " The Wolf " next to it. That was a long time ago... Since then I have
had many interests. I started playing the drums when I was thirteen. I got
my first car when I was fifteen. It was a '56 Mercury, it wasn't pretty, it
wasn't new, and I had to fix it myself, but that was fine with me
because I grew up around a garage and loved fixing cars. Believe me, if
it was on that car, at one point or another, I had to fix it. My mechanical
skills led me into the automotive business. For over fourty years I
have worked on everything from your average car, to school buses, heavy
equipment, large trucks, race cars, motorcycles, 4x4s, and airplanes.
My day job is as a Diagnostic Specialist/Shop Forman at a major Toyota dealership
in Los Angeles.
In all that time though, there were three things I always had hoped to do
some day, and they were; fly airplanes, scuba dive ( from watching Sea
Hunt ), and photography. Today I am a Private Pilot and a Photographer.
( Loyd Bridges had to go and die on me.. ). Two out of three isn't bad.
For many years I always had the little cheap 110's and such, but I never
had a 35mm SLR. I remember long ago my youngest sister bought a
Canon AE1 and was taking a photography course. One day she took a
candid photo of my daughter with the blured background and I thought,
wow, that's what a real camera can do! Unfortunatly many years
passed before I finally got around to getting a 35mm SLR. Even then it
wasn't until the Canon 10D came out that I got serious about photography.
It then became natural that my love for nature and wolves would come
together and launch my passion for photography. I only wish I had done it
sooner. I have always been very eclectic, but photography has really
hooked me.
Nature Photography is much more than taking pictures. Its' novelty never
wears off. Everytime I venture out, I feel the excitement of the possibilities.
Some may think, how can you sit out there for hours on end. Don't you get
board? To me it's the thrill of the hunt without the regret. You never know
what your going to see, plus what you do see, you get to bring back with
you! I always think about the blank c/f card I start out with, and wonder
what will be on it at the end of the day. It's that "not knowing" that keeps it
exciting! Even when I don't come back with anything, the time I spend out
in nature, is priceless. I realize I'm alive when I'm in nature. To know
something, and to realize something, are two different things. Not to
mention the fact, you learn something every time you go out, no matter
what you bring back.
" I think perhaps one of the greatest gifts God gave us, is our ignorance
of what is to come. "
JJ
Get out there and Embrace Nature!