Photography is my passion.

For more than two decades I have had the privilege to pursue careers related to the field of photography.  This has allowed me to incorporate my education, my interests and my passion into my daily work.  I wasn’t always “focused” on photography.  Just out of high school, I thought I wanted to be a journalist but after enrolling in my first photography course at Citrus College, I was sold. I suppose I haven’t meandered to far off of that original path since I am still in a communication field, it just so happens to be visual communication instead of written communication. 

I was blessed to have my first “real” career as a photographer for a Fortune 500 defense contractor. In the Public Affairs Office of Lockheed Corporation in Burbank, I photographed the SR-71, U2, F-22 and the F-117 Stealth Fighter.  Eventually I went to the corporate office in Calabasas where I managed the corporation’s photo archives in addition to my role as Assistant Photographer in the Creative Communications group. During those years in the corporate headquarters, the subjects of our photographs expanded from “just planes” to a variety of scenes, scenarios and set-ups.  Lockheed is made up of so many diverse divisions; I was on photography assignments involving the space station model at our missiles and space division, maintenance of commercial aircraft in Arizona, and even a set-up for the child support collection division. 

Soon I found a way to combine my two passions, photography and writing.  Following a memorable photo shoot involving an all night session where we “painted” a C-130 gunship with light, I documented the process and wrote an article with accompanying photographs for Industrial Photography. 

Other images that I photographed during my days with Lockheed have been published in magazines like Aviation Week and Lockheed Horizons, and books such as Destination Baghdad: The Story of the F-117A Stealth Fighter.

In 1996 I left the world of corporate for a career in higher education.  In October of that year I was hired as the University Photographer at Cal Poly Pomona where I went on to create thousands of images during the next four years.  Two of my favorite projects were international projects involving digital storytelling, photography and virtual reality – all of my favorites!! 

Stay tuned for my next blog to learn more about digital storytelling and my photography for an educational CD project in West Africa and a virtual reality project in the Middle East.