BIO

Photography has been in my family long before I was born. I was always in awe of the pictures that adorned my grandfather’s office walls. Images of the pyramids, European architecture, and Middle Eastern statues dazzled my imagination and planted the seed for discovery and adventure. One of my fondest memories of my grandfather behind the camera is when he was backing up to center my brother and I in the picture and he fell into a fishing pond.

My father developed his own love for photography and really built the basis for mine. He would invite me to join him for a sunrise or sunset excursion - when I would take 500 pictures to get a good one, he would take 50. We traveled a lot together in my teenage years and would often share the same eye for a moment to capture. He taught me to love nature, and to only ever take with me the moments I captured with my camera. As my father passed away early in life, I often feel the closest to him when I’m out on a trail behind my lens. This appreciation for nature is the foundation of my photography.

My inspiration for astrophotography really developed in my late twenties, when I was deep in my career as an astronomer. What could be better than mixing two of my passions together? I’ve always had a strong love for the moon so I enjoy capturing it’s many phases in different settings. I have turned my passion for the cosmos into activism: I recently was part of a group that created the first Dark Sky Reserve in the United States up in Central Idaho. Being part of this team to preserve the darkness of the skies is very important to me. It will mean so much to me to one-day share a photography adventure with children, or grandchildren, and for them to be able to capture it the way I can today.