I've been photographing for a very long time. I got my first real camera in 1952, a Rolleicord IV. I had two closets in my bedroom so I turned one into a tiny darkroom. I literally grew up with my bedroom smelling like darkroom chemicals (fixer). In 1953, when I entered high school, my dad helped me build a darkroom in the garage where I had water, a sink, and a drain. This was darkroom heaven!
In 1954 and 1955 I was my high school yearbook photographer. It was around that time that Kodak started selling a home processing kit for Ektachrome film. I started using 120 size Ektachrome and processing it using the Kodak E1 kit. From that day forward, I was able to photograph using both color transparency film and black & white film, and process everything in my own darkroom. In 1955, Kodak came out with the improved E2 kit. The current Kodak designation for Ektachrome film is E6.
After high school, I went to Oregon State College and studied electrical engineering (1955-1959). Following OSC, I attended Brooks Institute of Photography and became a commercial photographer.
I worked as a freelance commercial photographer for a decade then switched to computer engineering. I was fortunate in that much of my engineering work revolved around the photographic world. While working as an engineer, I continued to work as a photographer. I had numerous photography clients that continued with me for years.
At some point in the 1990's, I started teaching photography workshops. These did not interfere with my engineering obligations as the workshops were on the weekends. I was fortunate to be asked by Leica USA and Hasselblad USA to teach workshops for them, here on the west coast. I currently have no workshops scheduled but you can see what they are and where we go by visiting my 'Photography Workshop' pages.
More photographic 'About Me' information can be found in my workshop 'About Me' page.