I came to Yosemite in 1971 to research a doctoral thesis on John Muir. Like so many others drawn to Yosemite and the Sierra, I have never left and have been fortunate in being able to make a living there and share what I see with others. Since 1974 I've been the winter caretaker of Ostrander Lake Ski Hut. In 1995 I published The Perfect Art: The Ostrander Hut and Ski Touring in Yosemite. I also teach nature photoraphy classes for the Yosemite Association. In the off season, I live with my wife Lynn in Lafayette and sell my work almost entriely at art shows in the San Francisco Bay Area. (see schedule of shows)

I am as interested in being in the field as in creating images in a darkroom (while breathing noxious chemicals) — photography has its compensations. Some products of the darkroom have an existence of their own and speak to us in an indefinable, emotional language. The meditative pace forced on one by a large format camera, the focus demanded, the absorption in detail, the pursuit of a vision in spectacular and/or remote areas, all unquestionably enrich life beyond photography.

While the camera may be only the experience of a fleeting moment, so busy are we to capture it, many intensely pleasurable hours have been spent simply waiting for a photogenic moment that may never arrive. Perhaps the most important lesson is not to be ungrateful when nature refuses to mimic our aesthetic or conform to the technical limitations of our medium; there are other reasons to be in nature than an image on film. And I would still say without hesitation that the last year has been my most satisfying with a camera.

I have not made the transition to digital images. I continue to make my prints by traditional means on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, from negative originals, for reasons of dye stability. Acid free materrials are used in matting.