About the Photographer

Michael has a life-long obsession with nature photography. He was raised and worked under the big skies and rolling prairies of North Dakota.  There he a gained an appreciation for the splendor of the natural world. He earned degrees in mathematics from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the University of Maryland.  From these he learned of the beauty in simplicity and elegance.  He is the father of two boys and has four grandchildren who have taught him the value of curiosity.  He has a fulfilling career as a scientist in the area of automotive safety. 

Michael has studied photography under Philip Rittermann, Mario Castillo, Leland Foerster, and Brenda Regier. He has exhibited extensively at the San Diego County (Del Mar) Fair receiving several honorable mentions for his nature and abstract photographs.

He primarily uses medium format and 35 mm film cameras; however, he is starting to experiment with 35 mm digital.  His preferred film for nature photography is Fujichrome Velvia 100F.   To produce color photographs, he scans the transparencies and performs minimal contrast adjustments as well as burning and dodging digitally.  Black and white photographs are made from color images by merging the color channels into grayscale layers and then printed using a  Piezography system. 

Michael is a member of the San Diego North County Photographic Society and the Luminaries Photographic Group.