My purpose is to see, to connect, to fall in love and share that love with others. In my photography and in my life I try to capture the emotion of what I see, to capture the essence, to involve all the senses. I look for 'soul.' I feel exquisite joy in the presence of wilderness as if it were a single living, breathing entity - which, in fact, it is. I see the critters and the plants and the almost tangible light as its spiritual center. I seek beauty and intimacy by simplifying, isolating. Beauty transforms, yet when an images strikes a singular, unforgettable note in our own hearts, it, too, is transformed. It becomes ours alone. Thus, I look for both universality in my images, notes that unite us as humans, and quirkiness that will strike individual notes within each soul.

The still image is incredibly powerful, searing a moment in the heart, causing one's spirit to soar or to weep or to ask why. It is participatory, interactive. It needs the imagination and the experience of the viewer to be complete.

To me, images of hope spark the imagination best. To find those, one must lay open one's own vulnerability. Without my own vulnerability sewn into every image, they would be sterile. There would be no connection. Recognition of my own vulnerability is the opposite of fear. It is courage and hope in the face of adversity.