The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is
     to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone
     with the heavens, nature and God.

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and 
     that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple 
     beauty of nature.  I firmly believe that nature brings solace 
     in all troubles. 
                                                                                 - Anne Frank

Introduction

Thank you for stopping by this page and taking the time to discover a little about whom I am and what I am doing here. I am truly honored to share this with you and hope that you will read on with an open heart.

Artist Statement

Literally every minute of every day indescribable beauty is manifested here on Earth and most of the time no one is present to witness it. My motive as a photographer  is to capture a fleeting moment in the mysteries of the wilds – when nature is at its most intimate and precious state – exposing it for its imperfections, complexities, and rugged power – all while embellishing it for its serenity and incredible beauty.

Most photographers will tell you their goal is to invoke an emotional response in the viewer. I’ll take this a step farther and admit that my goal as an artist is to capture the imagination of the viewer by inspiring him or her to lose themselves in a natural world of: contours, shapes, colors, patterns, and infinite perspectives. This while pondering the greater existence of life and mans relationship to the world and beyond.

Testimony

I’ve been taking digital pictures for over 4 years now and I never really considered pursuing this passion further until about 9 months after I first walked into church. You might be asking - what does church have to do with photography? Well, let me give you a bit of background about my experience and hopefully you’ll understand.

To say I’ve had a blessed life is probably an understatement. I have a wonderful family, my health is outstanding, my finances are fine, I am overeducated, have lots of friends, a full head of hair, and live in one of the finest cities in America. Even with the plethora of passion, opportunity, and privileges I’ve had in my life - deep down inside there was an emptiness that couldn’t be breached. I was searching, but in the wrong places. My value system was off, it wasn’t that I was a bad person I was just living in complete deception and ignorance of the truth.

What led me to church? I guess over a period of years the world finally caught up to me. Maybe it was the constant and sometimes reckless pursuit of pleasure and “fun” rubbing against a deeply imbedded moral code was gradually causing me to feel guilt, condemnation, and shame. And it was only getting worse.  Now, I’ll take 100% of the blame for this. It was completely self-induced by an adult life marred by poor and compounding decisions that were mostly selfish, shallow, and hedonistic.

It’s not that I didn’t try to correct this perpetuating and ever-increasing problem.  All those motivational seminars, New Age practices, and self-help books that I embellished weren’t working – they just encouraged more of the same. The local nightclub scene – marred by pretentiousness, debauchery, and superficiality – had worn itself thin. And making lots of money just to impress the world only served to mask the core issue and create a greater sense of false independence and importance. Really, what I was realized is that left up to me – I would somehow make decisions in my life that would lead to mediocrity and a complete lack of personal fulfillment. I knew I couldn’t do it on my own…

So one Saturday night at a party last summer, I asked my friend if I could go to church with him the next day. I really had no idea what to expect because the denomination of faith I was raised in was very traditional, ritualistic, religious, and solemn. I attended religion classes as a youth and I very much disliked anything involving church. I found it extremely boring and sanctimonious. From my experiences as a teenager, I viewed a relationship with God as being stale and tiresome – something for “old” people and hypocrites who are just concerned about where they are going to go after they die. Needless to say I avoided it at all costs.
 
Anyways, this particular church I attended that day was certainly a lot different, which definitely surprised me. It was much more contemporary and relevant, especially the worship music and there was an evident zeal, joy, and genuine enthusiasm for God. It was the first church I had ever been to where the congregation seemed like they were attending because they liked it and were whole-heartedly celebrating the goodness of God. People sang, raised their hands in victory, laughed, cried, and were totally emotionally involved, and in doing so the presence of God was manifested in the body. Now understand, I didn’t have this big epiphany the minute I walked in the first time; it was more of a gradual revelation through an accumulation of experiences through active involvement and participation.

So anyways, getting back to my initial visit…at the end of the service when the preacher publicly asked the congregation as a whole to say a prayer, I joined in…and then he asked those who said the prayer for the first time to raise their hands. Well, the last place I wanted to lie was in church – so I begrudgingly raised my hand. Then those who raised their hands were asked to come to the front of the assembly and publicly receive Jesus as their Lord and savior and again I did. Really, I didn’t think much about it at the time. I just did it because I had already raised my hand and committed and didn’t want to look bad in front of my friend and the others around me. The last place I wanted to go was up to the front of that big church. This was definitely not something I was planning on or had anticipated.

So my buddy volunteers to take me up to the front. We join several others who emerge from the crowd that go as well. He is kind of sniffling and teary eyed and the rest of the congregation are on their feet clapping. At this point, it has been about an hour and fifteen minutes and I am like really churched out. So I get up there, shake hands with the pastor, and they gave me a bible and an intercessor says a prayer for me and all I want to do is get the heck out of there!

Nevertheless, I took the time to open my bible and started reading it and I ended up back at church the following Sunday. At first, I really couldn’t understand everything they were talking about church, but as time went on slowly it started to change. And at some point in time between regularly reading the word of God, going to church and praying God started revealing Himself to me! This created a hunger inside me to get to know Him better.

Maybe you are wondering how God started revealing Himself to me? Well, what really proved His existence to me was after that first day at church God immediately started breaking those bondages that were holding me down for so long. Now, I don’t remember every minute of everyday, but I can tell you looking back strongholds in my life were definitely and immediately broken. This was something that was far beyond anything that I could do on my own and I had practiced other false religions - so I know that He is real. Let me tell you – it is an awesome feeling to know that God is real. I mean to really and truly know.

So I started taking Him at his word, which I believe is the bible. And I made a commitment to God and was taught at church to not pick and chose which parts of the Bible I was going to believe and obey. (That’s called being your own God and is a sure sign of unbelief, which is satanic)  And although at times it isn’t easy and I still make mistakes every day and struggle with many of God’s commands – what I am realizing is that God’s way and outline for living life is much, much better than living life by my own personal sets of moral and ethical codes. And I submit that God exclusively, not me, nor my parents, nor my friends, nor society, or anyone else knows what is best for my life.

Friend, I promise you that if you publicly ask Jesus into your life He can do things for you that you can’t do for yourself. I believe He can break any stronghold the enemy has in your life. It could be something obvious like a lingering medical condition that you have lost hope for curing. Or maybe it is a destructive and abusive habit that is bringing you and your family down like smoking cigarettes, out-of-control drinking, or even looking at pornography. Or it could be the way you sometimes unwittingly act – possibly lashing out in anger against loved ones and friends, or maybe not being able to forgive people who have done you wrong. If you are honest enough with yourself – there are probably things you want to change, but can’t no matter how hard you try. The good news is that you don’t have to do it on your own anymore! Cast your care at the throne of our almighty savior Jesus Christ and let Him do it for you! He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! Whatever it is I promise that if you open your heart to God and fully commit your life to Him – that can make it right.

I know this for a fact because He is doing it for me as well as countless others and no one can change my mind about it!  This brings me back to photography. When one invites Jesus into their life and truly lives their life through and for Him – that persons’ value system inevitably changes to become more and more like God’s values. I consider myself a fairly passionate person – meaning the things that I enjoy - I get really into and invest a lot of time. Well, many of those things I thought I really loved actually started to lose importance in my life, but not my love for the outdoors and photography. Therefore, I know they must be gifts from God that He is manifesting in my heart.

So I want to use those gifts to give back to Him and his people – including you! You see – God wants to have a relationship with you. In fact, I can assure you that my love for nature and photography pales in comparison for the love that God has for you. Please know this…that you are God’s special photograph – His special creation. I believe that He knows things about you that you don’t know about yourself and He is longing to share them with you. He wants you to be the person that He created you to be.  In fact, I truly believe God’s plans for us are so much bigger than we could even imagine…

I believe there is so much more to life than the things defined as important by this world. A relationship with Jesus will open your eyes to a new and entirely wonderful perspective of life. His free gift of salvation is the most precious, powerful, and glorious gift available to anyone of us on this planet today. Please, I urge you not to let it pass you by.

If you are reading this right now and don’t intimately know the Lord or maybe you believe in Him and even go to church, but don’t understand what I am talking about here – don’t put it off any longer. Or maybe you are hurting or suffering in your life or possibly God is bringing up issues that He wants you to deal with.  It is time to change all that! Please take the time to search out Jesus and invite Him into your heart to be your Lord and savior. I believe it is literally the most important decision you could ever make. He is real and He can do things for you that you can’t do for yourself. He’ll take you places you’ve never dreamed of.  He is doing it for me countless others and He can do it for you.

Finally, if you don’t have any place to turn or need someone to talk to – please don’t hesitate to contact me via email. Because of security concerns I am not including my phone number on this website, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care. I promise I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Other prayer intercessors and I will pray for you and we’ll do our best to get in touch with the right people who can help. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please come again as often as you’d like as God is constantly doing a new thing and under His guidance I plan on expanding this site greatly within the next year.

About this website

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this website and visit it as often as you like. Today, with all the filth and garbage that is on the Internet and television, you can come here and know that this site  was created and developed with a heart for the Lord. Jesus willing, I plan on expanding this site greatly in the upcoming future. It is my goal to bring you spectacular photos from some of the most remote, pristine, and dramatic places here in North America and elsewhere…I look forward to sharing them and God’s word with you.

My profession is to always find God in nature.
                                                                     - Henry David Thoreau