How did you become a professional photographer?
In the early eighties I was assisting several Washington D.C. based photographers.
At the same time, I was pursuing my interest in wildlife photography. I was given
the opportunity to spend two summers photographing a Great Blue Heron Rookery
in southern Maryland for National Geographic. When that article was accepted, I
made the jump to full-time shooting.
Do you remember what it was like your first time shooting from the
air?
It was a short flight in a Piper Cub over the Great Blue Heron rookery on Black
Swamp Creek along the Patuxent River in Maryland. I remember the pure joy of
the flight and how in one photograph I could tie the
interaction of water and land together in a graphic
image.
Can you tell us about your 15 day
circumnavigation of the world for Heinz,
and what it was like to cross the planet in
such a short period of time?
Serious sleep deprivation. I started at Dulles
Airport and flew to Los Angeles, then on to
Auckland, Queenstown, Singapore, New Delhi,
London, Manchester, London and back to Dulles.
Many time zones, an all aerial shoot, and we hit
it right on the money with weather. India was
tough because of the high winds and dust, but it all
worked out. I remember when I got home I slept for
three days.
What moment do you remember most
when you reflect on this project?
Taking a personal day and chartering an airplane
to photograph Mount Cook/Aoraki in very clear
weather. We took the plane up to 13,000 feet and
shot the mountain at sunrise. A buddy of mine was
living in New Zealand near Mount Cook and he said
that in the six months he'd been in New Zealand he
had never seen the mountain like that.
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