n a way, that is how I came to be a photographer. I started as a painter. I used to dream my paintings and then paint them. I had gallery showings throughout the Midwest. A painting takes time to create. It can be hours, days, or months before the piece is finished. A photograph is there and gone in a split second. A photograph is a challenge. A challenge to capture time and light as the photographer sees it. It's a challenge to capture beauty, so that it may remain for all to enjoy, timeless. I use my skills as a painter to see the world. I look at my photos as paintings. My goal is to have each one stand alone as a work of art. I was always a good drawer in school, doodles in my notebook more than anything. I was interested in art in college but majored in archaeology instead. When I began my first real art class I learned about shape, color and form. I learned the basics of what makes an art piece interesting. When you add the concepts of line, contrast and texture to the subjects, your work begins to pop. Still life gave way to figure and human form drawing. The proper way to understand the human form is to view it nude. You need to have an understanding of how the body moves and how it is shaped. When you begin to add layers of clothing you start to understand how the fabric lays, how it follows the contours of the body. I take the same approach to my photography. The best way to see the angles of the body and the lines it creates is to view it nude. I started getting serious about photography in 2008. I needed models for some paintings I was doing for a show. I began to photograph models for my paintings. I found it was easier to create art with my camera and my computer than it was to create it on a canvas. I am, for the most part, a self-taught photographer. I have learned along the way from some great photographers. I pick up little tricks here and there and I am a quick learner. Everyone has a different way of doing things. I try to incorporate what works best for me. The most important lesson I have learned is to get it right with the camera. The closer the photo is to perfect when it is taken the less time you have to spend trying to correct it. I have been published on several websites, mainly models submitting the photos I take to promote themselves. I am always glad when they get the recognition they deserve. Without quality models to work with, I would be shooting flowers and landscapes. Even though I do enjoy flowers and landscapes, a flower in bloom is an amazing sight and a beautiful landscape tells a story. That brings us to the purpose of this book. I hope you enjoy the scenery as much as the models. The models are not sexual objects but rather, they are art. They are shape, color and form. Their bodies adding texture and contrast to the piece, smooth skin with a rough rock surface or tree bark. I think in the end I wanted to explore how humans, in their natural state, conflict and contrast with nature. I wanted to show the beauty that is Ohio. As long as I have places to explore and models to accompany me, I will be out there capturing the world around me, as I see it and how I want to present it to the world.