I lived in Knoxville TN for 2 1/2 years and was enrolled at UT, but it would not be correct to say that I actually went to school there. I basically just loitered on school property.

I did happen to write some amazing poetry during this period though. (Being a famous writer is just another of my many destinies...)

So what's all this have to do with photography? Well... at age 21, I wound up in Daytona Beach Florida, living in a friend's garage, tending bar, and hitting the beach every day!

"Grandpa" & Eddie Munster at my bar

I happened to tell my friend Debbie of those two things I felt I'd been denied in childhood. She smiled, went to her closet, and I guess as a good friend wishing to see my dreams come true, lent me a brand new 35MM camera - a gift from a would-be suitor that she'd never even opened.

The photographer in me was finally born. Or "released," you might say. I worked at a popular hotel / bar on A-1A that daily held bikini and wet T-shirts contests, but I rarely wasted my time attending them. Instead, I spent my off hours photographing birds, the beach, and people in photogenic situations...

To me, photography really was about the artistic value of it all, and I stuck with that. (I still do, but getting paid is cool too.)  

Then one day, just to burn the last few pics off a roll, I took a few shots of the day's wet T-shirt contest in progress as I returned from my daily jaunt...

The Spring Break director liked them, and wanted me on-stage during all hotel events. I didn't exactly get paid, but for a young single guy, the benefits couldn't be beat!
 

	I spent awhile getting to know some of the vacationing hotties, and photographing them just for the experience of it.
	I also learned two important things during this time - I learned "what sells" in this business, and I learned that women will do almost anything for a camera...

Not all women of course, and not the kind of women I'm usually personally interested in. I might take your picture if I sense some artistic value to the shoot, but it doesn't mean that we'll actually be friends...

Anyway, spending more on partying, film and processing than on food and rent is not a great business plan. The money ran out when the weather turned, and I moved back to Nashville TN and got another bartending job at The Olive Garden.

With a new camera my younger brother financed for me (a kick-ass Canon Rebel-S), I made some in-roads into photographing the local rock bands, who were all about making it big.  To date, none of them have, but for me, these were good times - shared largely with my video-jock friend, J.C. - AND we got paid for it.

Sweet...

    
See All Musicians I've Photographed

Time passed, and much to the surprise of all my old friends, I became a born-again Christian...

My church at the time understandably didn't appreciate my penchant for being out in bars late night (taking pictures or not), so I eventually quit all that, and let a budding photography career die on the vine... for awhile at least. But just because I possessed the skill, I did photograph many friends' weddings over the next few years (boring, but profitable)...

          ...and a few church events during that time.

                    Yeh, I cut my hair too.

...and spoke publicly on some controversial
subjects in fact.  (DVDs & free audio here)

One just can't understate how these years have defined me, and I wouldn't change a thing... But I took precious few pictures during this period of my life, and perhaps providentially, at one point my kick-ass camera was finally stolen.

After what seems like an eternity of using cheap disposables, and being extremely frustrated with the results, I bought another decent Canon camera at Wal-Mart. I found that the "new" Rebel 2000 EOS is not near as good as the previous S-model, and just bought the even newer "Rebel-K" - we'll see how that goes. Anyway, my life as a missionary from 1999-2005 provided very few opportunities for "real" photography however.

That's changed though. More accurately, I've made some changes...

After having served tables, served drinks, and served God, I'm focusing on me for awhile - or at least once again on my passion, and upon doing what I dare say I believe God created me (in part) to do.

Photography and travel is just part of that adventure. Send me an e-mail to join my photography mailing list to be notified when new pics or products are added to this site, and come enjoy the next adventures with me. 

Oh, for those heart-broken that I never received a telescope... let's just say that I'm satisfied with my answers to date about what's "out there." Speaking as a researcher, a theologian, and as a photographer - what's here is infinitely more interesting, and worth holding onto.

In that spirit, with my photography, I am doing one of the things
I love most in life... which makes both the adult
- and the little kid in me - very happy!