About Me
I love building relationships with people and communities as I photograph and tell their stories. I’ve always liked to see the positive, listen and hear the important, and be honest and genuine to my subject as I tell the story. This has been my approach as I photographed my hometown Saginaw, Michigan and then Flint, Michigan where I won numerous international, national and Michigan photojournalism and photo editing awards including the Robert F. Kennedy photojournalism award for outstanding coverage of the disadvantaged. I am also a five-time Michigan Press Photographer Association Photographer of the Year, winning four times consecutively. I left newspapers in 2013 for a new challenge- to be the photographer/photo editor for Central Michigan University. During my five-years at I was the point person for all things photography. This helped me grow with new insight to university branding and collaboration with designers across the campus community. Teamwork made our story stronger.
I left CMU in 2018 to begin a new chapter in my life in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I feel fortunate to continue doing what I have passion for — freelance photography based on storytelling, problem solving, collaboration, branding and community journalism. I’m ready to bring my 30-plus years of publication, photo editing, problem solving and higher education photography experience.
Jump ahead to 2020. While scary and life changing, Covid presented many of us a rare gift of time. My work was mostly cancelled, and my calendar cleared so I pledged to myself to use this time constructively and learn something new. I bought a kayak and challenged myself to photograph the world around me. My passion became birds doing things, using a combination of my photojournalism and artistic skills to tell their story. The isolation experiment paid off as my skills grew. I posted to social media and received countless notes from those shut in of how these images brought joy daily to their altered lives. I also decided to enter the Audubon contest. My photography entries swept both prizes awarded in the professional division of the 2021 National Audubon Photography Awards- winning first prize and honorable mention. Fast forward to 2022, I repeated with another first place in Audubon again- winning the Fisher prize for most creative approach to photographing birds. The image graced the cover of the awards issue Audubon magazine. Other published avian credits include The Smithsonian and Ducks Unlimited magazines, the Cornell lab of ornithology annual report and Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.
I am available for assignment, speaking, personal coaching, consulting and willing to travel, so let’s discuss the possibilities. I’d be honored to have the opportunity to help visually tell your story, so please drop me a note or give me a call. I also do wildlife installations of my work.
Some of my recent clients include: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Flint Cultural Center, EGR Friends of the Library, Alma College, Central Michigan University, CMED, Michigan State University, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, Gift of Life Michigan, Courtyard Marriott- Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, Grand Rapids Community College, Ferris St. University, Western Michigan University, Northwood Institute, City of Mt. Pleasant, Ascension St. Mary’s Saginaw, CMU Medical Education Partners, Centralight Magazine, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth and the Michigan United Way.