A little about my photography:

Photography has grown to be an important part of my life. I have learned much that is important through photography. What am I talking about, you ask? If you look at the things around you, a rock, a tree, your family, the sky, these things form something large. They are all part of the whole, that whole which is life. This lends itself well to my approach to photography. See "My approach to Photography" below.

My involvement in photography started in 1975. Initially I was drawn to the all those interesting knobs and dials found on the top of SLR's. I pined for a Petri 35mm SLR. It offered the best knobs per dollar value. I pored over the camera ads in the back of "Popular Photographer".

As I got older my interest in photography changed.

One turning point was the reading of Ansel Adam's "The Negative".

This opened my eyes up to the greater possibilities of what photography could be. Ansel is the king of technique. He literally wrote the book on the techique of fine art photography. Later I would go the Ansel Adams work shop in Yosemite, California.

"Alfred Stieglitz and the American Avante Garde". This book opened my eyes to the dedication of such American painters as John Sloan, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O'Keefe, Albraham Walkowitz and Arthur Dove. It intrigued me that these individuals could give themselves over to their art fully and with total dedication. It was their food and their air. Art was all there was. It was at this point that I saw photography as a path to something different. I soon bought my first view camera. A 4x5" Sinar F1. I still have that camera.

This brings me to where I am today. Since 1982 I have studied the work of many photographers, painters and other artistic mediums. Today I take what I have learned from these artists and I sit on their shoulders.

My approach to photography-

My approach to photography is to view the world with an open mind and heart. When I am moved by something or my intuition tells me something of a different order is at hand I expose a negative. There is more to the photographs than what immediately meets the eye. Look at the photos in this site. There is something else there.

Cameras and me-

Over the years I have owned many modern cameras- In 35mm- Canon, Nikon, Leica. In 2 1/4- Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Mamiya. In view cameras- Speed Grafix, Sinar, Deardorff etc. I enjoy the craftsmanship and engineering found in finely made cameras and automobiles.

A little about my involvement with cars-

My interest in cars started with my father. He raced sprint cars on dirt track ovals in Western Pennsylvania. My first remembrances of cars was my close inspection of the dirt track race photos my father pasted in an accountant's journal. I drew racecars in and car parts along side those photos. I was 4.

In my preteens and early teens I built many many plastic AMT and Revell car models. My collection was vast. I read from cover to cover every issue of Road & Track magazine. Any spare time that my lack of friends and a social life afforded me went to cars and car related areas.

My father has been in the automobile business in one form or another for 30 years. He has owned many interesting cars. I remember inspecting his brand new 1965 Mustang in the street in front of our house in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. It was a foggy morning before school. Kids walked by and I engaged them all in conversation about the new car - "Don't look at this car (As I spread my arms over the hood in mock camouflage). You aren't supposed to see it. It won't be introduced until next week". Which in that case was true. Some of the cars that my father Dan owned are- Convertible and fastback Corvettes, a Lotus Elan, an Olds 442, The Judge, a 1965 Convertible Impala SS with "Tri-Power" and a four speed stick, a yellow 1959 Eldorado Convertible with red leather interior (Oh you should have seen THAT). People borrowed it for parades), Studebaker Avante, President and Hawk, some Mustangs and Camaros, a '49 Beetle, a '63 Thunderbird and a number of Coupe and Sedan Devilles. Even today I follow Formula One car racing. Which team do you think I root for? Tifosi? Cavillino? Enzo? Figure it out yet?

Sports cars- I have always had a bent towards sports cars. They were more rare in Suburban Pittsburgh than, let's say Mustangs or Impalas (although I like all cars). A big break came when my uncle George generously gave me his Austin Healey 3000 project car. I couldn't believe it. The car was in desperate need of major restoration, but even in that state was well beyond my means. The deal he offered was that when I got the car finished he could borrow it for some weekends. You should have seen him when I delivered it to him the next summer. Bright red Imron paint. The roof was down. It sounded great and was fun to drive. He said, "I can't believe you did it!" This car took me into my freshman year at college before I crashed in a most major way.  I will post a picture of that and other cars I have owne in this site at a later date.

 I have owned my 1975 308GT4 Ferrari since 1986. It is sometimes a love hate kind of experience.

The love-

There is no car like a Ferrari. Every time I drive it it is exciting. It goes fast easily and urges you to do so. The sound and feel is like no other car I have experienced. When you put the pedal down there is a loud vortex roar as the air rushes down those 4 - 2 barrel carbs that are located just behind your head.

The image that people may form of you isn't necessarily good. It is frivolous. What right do I have in owning such an expensive car? Parts are extremely expensive. The purchase price of the car is only the beginning. The distributor caps, of which there are two in this car are $140 each. New spark plug wires are $200 the last time I checked. These are just normal maintenance parts. If you need a more involved part such as a distributor (you need 2) they are $1200 each! The car is low- I got stuck on the speed bump at the elementary school. You can't take it to a shopping Mall, store or coffee shop and leave it unattended for long. No matter where you park it even if it is 1/4 mile away from the building people will park beside it. There are no door protectors. It is 100% Corsa Rossa lacquer all way around. I won't drive it in the rain or snow. That’s about it.

The engine in this Ferrari will run at high RPM's and the car will go fast. I have driven it at 120MPH and I know that it will go to 140-150 as my Ferrari friends have demonstrated. The handling is like you would expect- You sit low and close to the road. The car is wide and it has fat soft compound Pirelli tires and they are sticky. The 308 neither oversteers or understeers. It is amazing how fast you can go in the corners before it begins to slide. My first real experience driving the car at its adhesion limit was at the Watkins Glen race track in NY. When the car would begin to to slide all four tires would slide together. The steering would get light and the car would slide to the outside of the track an a graceful controlled manner. My mother's '66 Oldsmobile offered none of these properties. I noticed t his as I hustled it around the light posts in the East Hills Shopping Center parking lot in my 16^th year.