I have always had a love of the ocean, whether perfectly calm or churned up by an offshore storm. I grew up on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island with my parents, Bob and Kat, and my sister, Allison. Whether we were boating, fishing or just watching the waves from our deck – the ocean has always been part of my happiest memories.
I also grew up playing baseball - Little League, high school, then college. I eventually played professional baseball for the Cleveland Indians and the Montréal Expos in the minor league system. During our downtime, I always sought out the nearest body of water. While away, I realized how much the ocean meant to me. I dreamt not of playing baseball but of traveling to Hawaii or the Columbia River Gorge to windsurf.
In my late 20s, I returned home to a career in teaching and shortly thereafter discovered a passion for photography. I started with a point and shoot camera that I would bring with me boating, fishing, kayaking, windsurfing, among other outdoor activities. I quickly found that photography harnessed my creativity and my ability to hyper-focus (thank you, ADD!). I purchased an HD SLR camera, a water housing, and a wetsuit and dove right in! I have since added a 50-megapixel medium format camera and a drone (okay, several drones) to my toolkit.
I now live outside Boston with my wife, Julia, and Labrador Retriever, Tess. We live about an hour from the ocean, but this drive allows me time to focus on what I want to shoot. I think of all the possibilities and variables - the tides, wave patterns, and weather conditions. As soon as I approach the dunes, I feel an overwhelming sense of anticipation about what the ocean has to offer on that day. Will it be low tide or high tide? Will there be six-foot waves or a calm tranquil sea? Will there be chop or will there be slow rollers? How will the sun play with the waves? How will the clouds reflect off of the waves? What color will the ocean be – clear, blue, or brown and churned up? Will I see fish? What type of birds will I see?
Photography has allowed me to see beauty everywhere. When I see something beautiful, I have to capture it. I will drop everything, grab my camera, and enter a zone where time no longer exists (much to the frustration of my family – though they generally concede that the end product is worth it!).
I hope you enjoy my photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them. I am sharing only a fraction of my work. Please feel free to contact me directly if you are interested in seeing more.