About Me

I have many interests, particularly in the areas of history, culture, film, politics, art, philosophy, spirituality, green building, and the natural sciences (which probably covers just almost everything!). One of my serious passions is travel and I love to combine it with photography and writing.

Travel

I've always been drawn to maps and distant places. For a while I was posting travelogs online, but this became very time-consuming. Consequently, I've decided to let my photos speak instead. You can view these images at my Photography Gallery.

Creating Positive Change

Following Mahatma Gandhi's view to 'Be the change you want to see in the world,' I'm very interested in discussing and developing ideas, and in participating in activities that can improve, educate or enlighten--however small these efforts may seem at times.

I'm an environmental advocate for green-building, recycling, alternative energy, and conservation. I'm very active in the Dallas Sierra Club, where I currently serve as Conservation Co-Chair and as a member of the Executive Committee. I'm the organizer for the Dallas Alternative Energy and Dallas Organic Gardening & Permaculture meetup groups as well. I'm also founder and editor of The Dallas Green Zine, which was launched in October, 2006. It examines green living and environmental concerns in the Dallas metroplex.

The Dallas Alternative Energy Group - at the experimental Walmart in McKinney, TX

Photography

Photography is one of my passions. As a child, the first thing I saved up my allowance to buy was a camera and I have been shooting ever since. Perhaps not surprisingly, my father had been a photographer. However, he never discussed it and he died while I was still in my teens; therefore, I had to learn photography on my own.

I took a class in photography when I was an undergraduate at Rutgers where I learned mostly about darkroom techniques. Then I worked on weekends as an assistant wedding photographer for Lindell Studios in Jenkintown, PA to learn more about portraiture. However, my best 'formal' learning experience came when I was working in Austin, TX and discovered a Fine Arts photography group led by Barbara Hagen. There, we would spend weekends photographing small towns in central TX and then meet in the middle of each week to critique each others' work. I did this for 2-3 years and I learned a great deal from Barbara and from other photographers. A friend, Carol Schiraldi, was also involved with this group, and she has done very well. You can view her work at Carol's Little World.

Most of my photography is focused specifically on wildlife and travel photography. Check out my Photography Gallery for examples. Although my photography has more documentary in nature, more recently, I've started experimenting with collaging and this has started to creep into my photgraphy. I don't have anything yet of a quality that I feel comfortable sharing yet ;-) but hopefully, this will appear soon.

I've also felt very inspired by one of my friends, Lisa Vollrath, who is not only a very creative person but she also runs a business called Ten-Two Studios. You can view Lisa's work and business at LisaVollrath.com.

Other Interests

I love films and documentaries, and I'm a huge Netflix fan. I participated in Director Stephen Mims' film-making bootcamp several years ago in Austin to get a better idea on how to develop educational films.

Dallas Indie Film meetup

I'm also a genealogist and a serious student of history. I've found that genealogy research is an excellent introduction for learning how to do good historical research. I've gathered research for over 1700 names so far.