When I see birches bend left and right
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
Robert Frost

I began exploring the world with my dad when I was very young. I grew up in south Louisiana, a land of bayous and backwaters, of steamy summers, and the astonishing biodiversity of coastal bays and marshes and the Mississippi River estuary. It seems I saw it all, with a fishing pole in hand, or on the back of a horse. In those days I wasn't concerned with acid rain, ozone holes, or climate change. Nature was not something I fretted over, it was a place to play and learn. I knew the fields and forests at the "wild edge" of my neighborhood, each bend in the bayou and bump in the trail. I spent hours in the woods, just me and my dog, who seldom said much. Neither did I. Instead I listened to birds and watched clouds sail by. I built luxurious tree houses and swam in the creek. From these formative years came a reverence for the outdoors and all living things that set the purpose of my life.

My vision changed when I traveled to Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains at the age of 19, my first escapade with a camera. Suddenly my world was without borders, no longer just endless summers with a fishing pole or riding trails. In the Smokies were great rocky peaks, chuckling streams, and silent forests. No tellin' what else was out there. It all begged to be explored and I was just the one to do it. I committed to travel from sea to shining sea, the entire country, and capture images of her wildlife and scenic wonders, just because they were there, and because I loved doing it. No more, no less! (next photo)