ou and I may not be all that different. We were both born and raised somewhere (Laurel, MD for me). We both have had childhood experiences that shaped who we are today. I remember the first time I learned how to use a 35mm camera, it was with my father. I then took my new skill on the road with our family vacations.

Most importantly, you and I, like everybody else, want to communicate.

My job and my passion are to communicate with art. As I was taking those pictures on our family road trips, I quickly learned that photography can create experiences for the viewer that words often cannot. After high school, I began to study photography at local colleges and, when not skateboarding myself, I published action photos and created skateboard graphics on the side. I then needed to take my artistic abilities to the next level, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in Imaging and Digital Arts.

I learned that for effective visual communication, other artistic elements may be necessary. I then delved into the world of graphic design, and professional experiences in product catalog development furthered my understanding of this communication medium. More recent work experiences have developed my skills at web design. I'm now sharing this knowledge as a teacher with students at a local community college. My current work incorporates photography and graphic design, both print- and web-based. These tools allow me to work with clients to project their desired image and effectively communicate their message.

My journey to successful visual communication has been enhanced by the side trips. And the journey continues. You, like me, are traveling along toward some bigger dream. Enjoy the side trips along the way.

Vital Stats:

Age 39; born in Laurel, Maryland; resident of the Upstate New York (Syracuse) area.

Occupation:

GUI Designer / Developer @ FolioType Design House, LLC. Handyman. Daddy to my daughter Sadie. Husband to my wife Amy. Four jobs are enough to keep me busy.

Last Books Read:

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Into the Wild, A River Runs Through It.

Favorite Films: (In no particular order)

Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Unforgiven, Star Wars.

Favorite Bands/Musicians: (In no particular order)

Flogging Molly, Social Distortion, Supersuckers, Old 97s, The Pogues, Old Timey Tunes, Bluegrass, Two Dollar Pistols, Steve Earle, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Avett Brothers, Tom Waits, The Clash, The Who, Neko Case, The Black Keys, 80s punk (Agent Orange, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Ramones ... you name it.), Freakwater, Uncle Tupelo, Leonard Cohen, Old Crowe Medicine Show, and last but certainly not least . . . Motörhead.

Favorite Restaurants:

Chipotle, McCormick and Schmick's, Cheesecake Factory, and The Melting Pot.

Interests/Hobbies:

Playing guitar, camping, fly fishing, snowboarding, technology, music, food, cooking, wine, and traveling.

Favorite Magazines:

Communication Arts, Print, National Geographic, Thrasher, Transworld Snowboarding, Fly Fisherman, Outside, and Cooking Light.

Favorite Foods:

Anything Chipotle, Thai, anything on the grill, Indian and most things seafood.

Latest Projects:

Redesigning this site. Remodeling my house for the past 3 years.

Accomplishments:

Overcoming my fear of public speaking to the point that I was able to teach Junior College courses. Earned my college degree. Started my own successful business, married the girl of my dreams, and have an absolutely wonderful little daughter.

Favorite TV Shows: (in no particular order)

Wipeout, Wife Swap, Sunday Night Footbal, Northern Exposure.

Stuff I Can't Live Without:

Hardware:
One dual Two GHz PowerMac G5 tower with 2.5 GB DDR SDRAM, 20-inch Apple Cinema Display, One 15-inch PowerBook G4 with 2 GB DDR SDRAM, One 733 MHz PowerMac G4 w/ 1 GB Ram, and also one eMachine T6212 PC with 512 MB DDR SDRAM. Maxtor external back up drive. iPhone.

Software:
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe InDesign CS4, Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe Fireworks CS4, BBEdit and more.

Photography Gear:
Nikon D200. Hasselblad 501CM w/ A12 back. Minolta 9xi. A plethora of lenses - Nikon, Minolta and Hasselblad (35mm and medium format.)

Lighting Gear:
Two (2) 500s Interfit Colorflash studio flash units.

Miscellaneous:
Canon 5000F flatbed scanner. Wacom Intuos3 9x12 tablet.

Network:
Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL router. Apple Airport Extreme base station

Favorite Diversion:

I love a good cup of Joe in the book store.

Favorite Web Sites:

Twit.tv, Revision3.com, MusiciansFriend.com, iStockPhoto.com, and Amazon.com

Biggest Thrill:

Seeing the birth of my baby daughter and seeing my beautiful wife walking down the aisle to marry me.

Personal Philosophy:

All good things come to those that wait. ( And I sure have been waiting a looong time :)