About Me

In case there's any question, I'm the one in the middle. I’ve been a musician for most of my life, classically trained with two degrees in piano performance. Along the way, my wife (who took the photo above) introduced me to Rocky Mountain National Park. On our first trip in the early 2000s, I brought along the cheap film camera I had. I took so many photos on the way up a mountain hike, I only had four photos left on the roll for my way down. The next year, we went back with my first point-and-shoot digital camera, and I was free to take as many photos as I could. We returned almost every year, and every few trips I would bring an upgraded camera.

In 2019, my current camera was showing its age. While researching new ones, discovered that for a little more money, I could get an interchangeable lens camera. The idea of having more control over the camera was intriguing, so in November of that year I took a chance on an entry-level camera kit, which came with a couple lenses. I remember that first week of taking photos. Even though they were mostly terrible, I loved it. I realized the only way I was going to improve was to take a lot more photos. I made myself stay in manual mode, and took hundreds of photos every time I went out, often of the same scene, adjusting various settings and seeing what happened.

A few months later, the pandemic hit. During those early weeks when we all stayed inside, I realized how much I missed my time in nature with a camera. I eventually started going out again to practice a few times a week. I took as many photos as I could, sometimes thousands in a day, and studied every one. With each, I saw things I liked and things I didn’t, and adjusted for the next time. I never had any kind of formal training, but after tens of thousands of photos, I started seeing a difference. I started to see my "voice" emerging. And that’s what I keep doing—spending time in nature, taking as many photos I can, and learning from each one. Along the way, I discovered googly eyes. I’ve always liked making people laugh, and combining the portrait techniques I’ve picked up on over the years with googly eyes and plastic animals seemed like an obvious next step.

I hope the photos on my site bring some beauty to your life, some perspectives on nature and wildlife that might be new, and most of all, I hope they make you smile. I’d love to hear from you, and thanks for visiting. —Joe