Having been fascinated with photography since the age of 12, I have spent many hours loading roll film into plastic development tanks and countless hours breathing in the fumes of developer, stop bath and fixer. We used to squeegee glossy prints to our refrigerator door to prevent curl during drying. For me, technology has ended the chemical dark room forever. While I still have my 35-mm and medium-format cameras, I believe that Digital will clearly dominate the future of amateur photography and beyond. The photographers here before me and BestFoto are the pioneers of this medium as we know it. I feel privileged to be listed here with this talented group of people.
 
I was born in San Francisco, 62 years ago, and was raised, schooled, and worked in the Silicon Valley area. I have two daughters from a previous marriage and no fewer than nine grandchildren. They live out of state, so we see them during the summer and on special trips. After working 30 years in various management positions for a company which manufactured semiconductor thin-film coating equipment, I and my wife Kathy, to whom I’ve been joyfully married for 30 years, decided to try early retirement and a lifestyle change. We retired from work, sold our home, and moved to Southern Oregon within one month six years ago. Here we settled into a small home on 6.5 acres near Grants Pass and obtained chickens, geese, pigeons, ducks, steers, and our dog and cats. With all this and our enjoyment of gardening, the days somehow are not long enough.
 
I purchased my first digital camera (Olympus 2500L) five months ago and, since then, photography is once again my passion. I began taking pictures during our camping vacations around Oregon and Washington. (That made me wish I’d had a digital camera on our recent vacations to New Zealand and Spain!) Then, two months ago, I discovered the daily contests and BestFoto. The contests and peer feedback have made a remarkable improvement in my work and added great satisfaction to this hobby. Thanks to Laryl Hancock for helping me format this gallery. Please enjoy some of my latest work.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this gallery to my cousin Carolee who left us last year after a long battle with breast cancer. She was an inspiration to me and everyone she touched. She was an extraordinary gardener and her roses live on, one of which I have included as a favorite photo.

Thank you, Darryl, for your tireless dedication to this medium and your generous offer to display some of my work and life with the talented people whom I respect so much.