The Photographs

Taking time to look carefully can inspire, refresh, raise fond memories and give a clue to the next turn of life.   A picture is a window that we look through.  There is no guarantee of the whole truth in an image, but the approximation is close enough to reassure us that life is worth living.

Experience

Wedding and Event Photography                                          15 years

Discipline and Concentration plus some technical know-how instructed my photographic gymnastics.

Travel                                                                                       30 years

Curiosity plus the above character factors drove me to seize each opportunity to explore our tiny earth and to observe its giant efforts.  (I crossed the African continent, much of India, China, South America, North America, Europe, parts of Asia, and more).

Art and Story                                                                                  Lifetime

Images and Memories collected and sifted now compose and comprise a kind of autobiography of one person’s odyssey (mine) of a lifetime not yet completed.

Education

Rochester Institute of Technology    Graduated 1972, Bachelor of Science, high honors

A math and science student with a major in Chemistry.

Northern Va. Community College

Smithsonian Educational Services

Seminary (informal Post-Grad, 2 years, 3.8 GPA)

Basic photography training, public speaking and publications

Also: Religion, Philosophy, history of World Religions, Literature, Theology, etc.

Skills

Avocationally, I am a roving photographer with a special interest in culture, wildlife, and history.   I am familiar with Photoshop and Lightroom and Aperture, Machintosh computers and Epson printers. 

Vocationally, I have experience as a writer, reporter, editor, editor-in-chief and trade press publisher, plus I am V.P. of economics firm with 27 years expertise in North American oil and gas policies.

Travels

At least Fifty-Eight Countries (58), every U.S. state, most of Canada, significant areas of Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, Europe, the oceans and other planets.   

I.  Africa:  (By British lorry, land rover, jeep, plane, ferry, canoe, walk, hitch-hike) -- Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Madagascar, and the Indian Ocean islands (by sail/motor ship) -- Seychelles Islands, the Comoros Islands, Aldabra, Mayotte, Nosy Be.

-        Climb (hike) to summit of active volcano Niyragongo (near Goma, east Congo in the Virunga Range, this mountain has erupted violently twice since my visit in 1990); climb to top of inactive volcano Mt. Kilimanjaro (highest mountain in Africa)

-        Crossed Sahara Desert and sub-Sahara (Sahel), north to south, via Algeria track and the Great Western Erg, the Ahaggar (Hoggar) Massif (slept near summit), and Tamanrassett Oasis

-        Crossed the Serengeti (west to east), Nagongoro Crater, the Rift Valley, Olduvai Gorge (the Leaky’s camp), Congo’s Ituri Forest (jungle) the Okavango Swamps

-        The Namib Desert, the Skeleton Coast of Namibia on the south Atlantic, Dhamaraland (central and north Namibia), and Etosha wildlife reserve.

-        Sailed the Indian Ocean (Seychelles to Madagascar)

-        Great Waters visited and crossed: the Niger; the Congo; the Nile source waters (Uganda); the Zambezi; Lake Kariba (Zambia/Zimbabwe), Victoria Falls, Lake Edward, and Lake Victoria; Indian Ocean (drift snorkel in tidal flow of uninhabited reef area).

-        Visited Silverback Mountain Gorilla habitat in the Virunga Mountains on border between Congo and Uganda (direct encounter.  Wild Gorillas within touching distance); giant Indian Ocean Tortoises on uninhabited Aldabra Island; various wildlife reserves such as Tsavo (Kenya), Etosha (Namibia), the Serengeti, the reserves of Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar

-        Some incidents: direct attack-charge of Land Rover vehicle by angry mother Elephant and White Rhinoceros, plus attack of baboon phalanx in Nigeria.  Large elephant bull passed within a few feet of tent in middle of night (with only myself and a companion traveller alone inside).  Other animals directly encountered in the wild: lions (many encounters), cheetah, African wildcat, elephants (numerous encounters singly and herds), wild Cape Buffalo, giraffe (at least two species), gazelles and significant variety of other antelope species large and small (including water buck and dik-dik), hippopotamus, crocodiles, hyena, wild dogs, wild pig, zebra (at least two species), monkeys (various), baboons, gorillas, giant tortoises and green turtles of the Indian Ocean, the rare Sifaka and lemurs of Madagascar, chameleons (many species), birds, snakes (unknown, rare encounters), many insects (including army ants, Tsetse fly, and malarial mosquitos) and lizards.

-        In captivity: rare Madagascar tiger, and the central African Okapi (apparent giraffe-zebra crossbreed), camel (camel trains)

-        Numerous snorkeling explorations in Indian Ocean boundary waters: many fish encounters including shark and lionfish etc. 

-        People: encountered: Tuareg nomads North Africa (the Blue Men of the Desert), mixed with other Arabic-Berber tribal groups including the Fulani (largest nomadic group in the world); the bush people of central Africa including the Kongo, and the diminutive pot-smoking Pygmies (slept and hunted wild game with them); the Masai of Kenya (invited guest and photographer of pre-wedding formalities including the ritual livestock killing and drinking of the blood milk together with the groom’s contingent); Samburu; Hausa and Yoruba; Shona and Zula; Herero and Himba; and Afrikaner, among others

-        Cities (towns): Rabat, Marrakesh, Fez, Meknes (Morocco), Oujda, In Salah, Tamanrassett (Algeria), Agadez, Zinder, Niamey (Niger), Kano, Maiduguri (Nigeria), Ngaoundere, Maroua (Cameroon), Bangui, Bambari (C.A.R.), Kisangani (Stanley Falls), the Congo River, Bukavu, Goma (Zaire, Congo), Kampala, Entebbe (Lake Victoria, Uganda), Kisumu (Kenya), Nairobi, and Mwanza plus Arusha (Tanzania), Harare (Zimbabwe), Victoria Falls (Zambia border), Francistown (Botswana), Capetown and Johannesburg (South Africa), Stellenbosch Valley, Table Mountain, Windhoek (Namibia), Namib, Skeleton Coast, Etosha, Antananarivo (Madagascar), Victoria (Mahe, the Seychelles) and La Dique, the Comoros and Mayotte.

II. Asia

Trekked and safaried Nepal Himalayan Mountains and central jungle region (Pokara, Katmandu)

-        Flight along southern Himalayan range via India

-        Passed on trail within sight of Annapurna, other major peaks, and sighted from the air Mount Everest (trek to Everest base camp was cancelled due to weather; a substitute trek with two other companions and guides/porters crossed a peak on the China (Tibet) border).

n  snowstorm overnight at 14,000 feet

n  trekking/camping on the trail for more than a week

n  charged by white rhinoceros while on elephant back

n  jungle encampment and travel by oxcart

n  small plane landing in pasture

n  wildlife sighted here included the gharial crocodiles, white rhinos, cobra, Indian elephant

Lhasa, Tibet

n  Tiger tracking

-        Potala Palace tour

-        Visit to large monastery and student exercises

-        New airport

-        Visit to orphans home

-        Flight over the northern Himalaya via China

Kabul, Afghanistan (2002, worst experience and most dangerous)

-        passport confiscated, no visa issued, virtually incommunicado with outside world for two weeks.  Needed U.S. Embassy intervention in part to secure letter demanding return of papers.  Payment of bribe to airport official.  Left the country essentially penniless (just enough money to secure flight to Dubai).

-        Rented room in downtown area, sheltered at the Intercontinental Hotel.  Mixed here with an assortment of Afghans, expats, NATO military forces, newsmedia, NGOs, parliamentary hopefuls, Taliban, Mujahedeen

North Central India tour (Delhi, Agra (Taj Majal), Jaiphur-Udaipuhr)

South India by hired car from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) to southern tip, on to Kerala (Arabian Sea), and across Karnataka (Mysore) (35 days)

 - Pondicherry, Thanjavur, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram, Madurai, Ooty Hill Station, Mysore, Bangalore

The Silk Road (China and northern territories of Pakistan overland via Xian and Kashgar (Xinjiang Province), (the Taklimakan Desert, the Kunluns and Karakoram Mountain Range, the Hindu Kush) Land of Turkic peoples like the Uighurs, Tajiks, Kyrgz, Mongols, plus influx of Han Chinese.

Travelled the great Indus River Valley of Kohistan and north Pakistan from Kashgar and Taxkorgan, China, past Karakol Lake over the Karakorum pass at Khunjerab on the China Border (Nanga Parbat, Rakaposhi, Mustagada) to Sost, Gilgit and Karimabad and Passu (Hunza, the contested Northern Areas), Islamabad and Peshawar.  Takht-i-Bhai (Buddhist temple, abandoned); Chitral valley, Swat,

China Whole (Peking, Great Wall, Sichuan Province, Yangtze River cruise, Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong)

Afghanistan, The Khyber Pass –Kabul

Thailand – Bangkok,

North Vietnam (Hanoi, Da Nang (South China Sea), Haiphong, Ha Long Bay (Gulf of Tonkin), Ba Be Lake District) – at age 59 learned the art of motor biking in heavy traffic. 

Cambodia (Sap Le Lake), Angkor Wat and surrounding region

Indonesian Islands by sail ship (Bali, Java, Kalimantan- Borneo, Guinean Highlands, Komodo Island)             

In the wild: Orangutan reserve in Borneo, proboscis monkeys, giant Panda reserve (Sichuan China), red Panda, one-horned rhino, Yak, camels, spotted deer, tigers (captive), Asian elephant (mostly captive or domesticated) – went on guided tiger hunt - numerous bird species.

III. Australia/New Zealand

One of the best cities in world: Sydney (the other is Capetown, S. Africa).  Other cities visited include Canberra and Victoria, Melbourne, Cairns, Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine (Stuart Highway) – in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory

Rented vehicles and air, camping:  Achievements:  climbed Ayres Rock (Uluru) and hiked The Olgas, snorkeled Great Barrier Reef, jeep from Cairns to Cooktown, via Port Douglas, explored Kakadu International Park east of Darwin (including over flight of Arnhem Land), Mount Kosciuszko (the Snowy Mountains, Snowy River, and Thredbo Village in Australian Alps), Blue Mountains National Park and Wilson’s Promontory on the Bass Strait.

Circumnavigated by rented vehicle all of New Zealand’s South Island.

Christchurch, Greymouth, Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier (hike to base), Mount Aspiring National Park, Fiordland National Park (Te Anau), Queenstown, Arrowtown, Invercargill, Dunedin, Mount Cook, Oamaru, Timaru, etc.

- steamboat (Lake Wakatipu), underground silkworm viewing (Wanaka)

Nature:  kangaroo, wallabies, wombats, emus, red-eyed penguin, wild horses, salt water and fresh water crocodiles (wild and captive), salamanders/lizards, dingo, koala, kookaburra and parrots (bird)

IV. South America: Brazil (private tour of Rio, Salvador, Amazon basin, Manaus)*, Argentina, Chile, Tierra del Fuego, Ecuador (and Galapagos Islands), Bolivia, Peru (Cuzco, Machu Picchu)  *all photos (2000 plus) of this Brazil journey lost because of robbery

   -     Total solar eclipse expedition to the top of the Altiplano in Bolivia

-        The Southern Pan-American Highway in Chile via car until end in Patagonia

-        Paraglide from mountain over Rio to the beach below

-        Galapagos Islands photo guided tour via yacht, numerous remote islands, snorkeling, giant tortoises, sea elephants, sea lions and seals, swimming in the Humboldt Current, snorkeling with Magellanic penguins, albatross, boobies, frigate birds, Galapagos hawks and gulls, marine iguanas,

- Northern and Southern Andes, Altiplano, Patagonia (both Chile and Argentine sides), Parc Nacionale Perito Moreno (glacier), Fitzroy Mt., Paine National Park (World Heritage park), Mt. Sajama (volcano) (Bol.), Osorno Volcano (Chile) (climbed part way to snow line), Fuego and Magellan Strait, Lake Titicaca (Isle of the Sun), Amazon River, Parana River, beaches of the South Atlantic

- Santiago, Quito, La Paz, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, Trelew (Arg.), Puerto Madryn (Cape Valdez), El Calafate, Chiloe (Chile), Sucre (Bol.), Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia

- Llamas, alpaca, caiman, sloth, coati, anteater, macaques, lion monkey, red howler monkey, squirrel monkey, spider monkey, capuchins, the Milodan (replica in cave, ancient dinosaur), piranha, python, anaconda (captive), boa, fer de lance, king vulture, condor

V. Central America:  Guatemala, Costa Rica

Guatemala- Peten Province: Expedition to Tikal and neighboring Mayan Ruins of the central jungles of Guatemala (horseback to dos Pilas, riverboat, plane, hiking), centered in Flores, Uaxactun, Lago Peten Itza, Reserve dos Pilas, el Ceibal

-  One week visit to the Costa Rican Pacific Coast – San Jose, Nicoya Peninsula, Puntarenas, Maranjo, Tambor, Cabo Blanco, Mal Pais

       Jungle guide, hiking, boating, casino, swimming in ocean and remote waterfalls

VI. Caribbean -- St. Johns

VII. Europe

High School:  summer exchange student to Fictelgebergers of Bavaria, Germany (on Czech border, at the time fenced off by Iron Curtain of Soviet occupation).  Lived in Marktleuten, and Marktredwitz.  Extensive visits to Nuremberg, Bamberg, Munich, Bayreuth, Schweinfurt, Hof, Bremen, Regensburg.

College: hitchhike/Eurail pass summer journey solo across western Europe

Adult: rented vehicle journey across British Isles, rented vehicle journey return to western Europe, family visit to France, rented vehicle journey through Malta (on Mediterranean), camping and home stay in France and Spain (north at Calais to south at Costa del Sol, Spain, to Ceuta, North Africa).

England, Scotland, Wales: Skye, Inverness, Loch Lomond, Edinburgh, Anglesey, Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Cornwall, Exeter, Bath, London, Dover (the Cliffs), Cambridge, Canterbury, the Lake District, Stonehenge, Tintagel ruins, and Glastonbury Hill (site of King Arthur’s grave and Holy Grail), Shrewsbury, York, Scarborough, Stoke—on-Trent, Chester, and more.  Visited graves of the Bronte sisters and of Scotland’s Rob Roy (Red MacGregor).

Holland (The Netherlands): Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem, Groningen

France:  Paris (couple of times), Charmonix (the Alps, flank of Mont Blanc), Annecy, Calais, Chartres, Reims, Alsace (Strasbourg) and wine country, Colmar, Mulhouse, Dijon, Poitiers, Bordeaux, the Pyrenees mountain nation of Andorra.

Luxembourg/Belgium: did not tour, only passthrough

Lichtenstein: traverse- hitchhiking

Spain: Barcelona, Mallorca, Algeciras, Malaga, Gibraltar, Ceuta

Monaco: in a speeding Italian sports car

Italy: Genoa, Florence (Pisa, etc.), Perugia, Terni, Rome, Venice,

Malta (base of the Knights Templar) and Gozo (off Sicily in Mediterranean – auto tour for week from Valletta to Victoria by ferry) -- Mardi Gras – home of the Knights Templar

Switzerland:  Zurich, Basel, Zug, and more

Germany: The German Alps and Bavaria (Munich, Chiemsee, Berchtesgaden, Schonau am Konigsee, Zugspitze, Passau (the Danube River), Nuremberg, Wurzburg, and all the surrounding areas) – Koln (Cologne) – Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Erfurt, Bremen, Berlin (east and west, passed through Checkpoint Charley), Leipzig – the Black Forest Region – the Rhine River – Wittenberg, Saxony (Martin Luther’s church) -- Fussen, Neuschwanstein (castle of Ludwig II) – Worms – Harz Mountains (Goslar, Brocken Mt., witches haven, Walpurgesnacht), Fictelgeberger Mts. (Bavaria, home, Hof, school)

Austria: Innsbruck, Salzburg, Judenburg (Steiermark)

Denmark: Copenhagen (Carlsberg brewery), ferry to Sweden

Sweden: west coast north to Norway

Norway: Oslo, Overland car (mini minor with tall South African friend) and Fjord ferry and train to Bergen, camped near and climbed to Jostelbreen Glacier in central Norway, Geiringer Fjord, Sogne Fjord, flight via Trondheim to Lofoten Islands (north of Arctic Circle) in the Norwegian Sea.  Visited the now defunct heavy water plant in the Norwegian Telemark region- Vestfjord gorge (famous movie of WWII)

VIII. Middle East

Lebanon – escorted tour under auspices of Christian Lebanese Army Forces during civil war ( 2 weeks).  Travelled as journalist, posted a series of stories on Lebanon and its wars

Jordan – in transit

United Arab Emirates, Dubai (transit to Afghanistan)

IX. Canada

- Alberta (Canadian Rockies, Calgary to Jasper National Park, Edmonton)

- Saskatchewan (the Great Plains)

- Manitoba (Winnipeg, and crossing)

- Ontario (mostly southeast in area of Great Lakes, Toronto)

- Quebec (Montreal, Quebec City and north)

- New Brunswick (Fredericton) – complete circumnavigation by auto (Bay of Fundy)

- Nova Scotia (Halifax) – complete circumnavigation, including Cape Breton

X.  United States

ALL THE STATES IN THE U.S.

Born in St. Lawrence valley on edge of the Adirondacks, upstate New York State

Lived in (1) Carthage New York, (2) Naumburg, New York, (3) Rochester, New York, (4) New York City, New York, (5) Reinbeck, New York, (5) Bound Brook, New Jersey, (6) Omaha, Nebraska, (7) Fargo, North Dakota, (8) Minneapolis, Minnesota, (9) Sarasota, Florida, (10) Boulder, Colorado, (11) Oakland, California, (12) Eugene/Portland, Oregon, (13) Spirit Lake, Iowa, (14) Washington, D.C., (15) Arlington, Virginia

- Hawaiian Islands (Kaui (Na Pali coast, etc.), Oahu (all), Maui (road to Hana, Mauna Kea volcano), Hawaii (the Big Island, Kona, Waimea, circumnavigation, camping, Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes, southernmost tip of U.S.)

- Most Alaska, south of Arctic Circle (Anchorage, Fairbanks, North Pole, Fox, Livengood, Homer, Soldatna, Paxson, Glenallen, Delta Junction, Wasilla, Palmer, Valdez, Moose Pass, Nilnichik, Talkeetna, Knik, Seward, Portage, Whittier.

        Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Katmai Park and Wilderness (Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Brooks Falls Bear Camp), Hatcher Pass, Denali Wilderness, Wrangell-St. Elias Preserve and Wilderness, the Alaska Highway (the Dalton Highway, or North Slope Haul Road, Elliott Hwy.) (part), Richardson Hwy., Gulkana, Glenn Hwy (Sheep Mountain), Prince William Sound (ferry from Whittier to Valdez).

- Camped and/or hiked (explored) the Shenandoah, Adirondacks, Bar Harbor (Maine), Everglades, Grand Canyon (raft journey down the Colorado River through heart of the Canyon), Rocky Mountains National Park, Pikes Peak (Gunnison and San Juan forests), Mesa Verde, Los Alamos, Taos, Santa Fe National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, parts of Wyoming (Grand Tetons, climbed Mt. Laramie), Oregon (coast and interior high desert region), Monument Valley, southern California (San Bernardino Mts.), drove the California coast, Outer Banks (N. Carolina), Chincoteague Island, Savanna Wildlife Reserve, Blackwater Reserve (Md), Laredo, Texas border area, Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), Badlands of North Dakota.

- Oregon/Washington: Columbia River Gorge, Spirit Lake Road to the Mt. St. Helens Volcano, The Dalles, Hood River, slopes of Mt. Hood, Prineville, Bend (the Three Sisters), Antelope, Fossil, John Day Highway, Malheur National Forest (John Day Fossil Beds), Burns, Crater Lake, Deschutes River, Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area, Pueblo Mountains Study Area (Catlow Valley Road via the town of Fields to Nevada).

U.S. Wildlife: black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, coyote, porcupine, raccoon, deer, antelope, bison, snakes (including one rattler), wild boar (had to climb a tree in Florida), alligators, pike and perch, tuna fishing (Massachusetts), moose, mountain goats, mountain sheep, tarantula spiders, black flies, mosquitos, many bird types,