It was hard enough dragging myself up the summit of 19,341-foot Mount Kilimanjaro. But the people I was photographing had it much worse: disabled veterans, literally climbing the mountain on stumps, one good leg between the three of them. Then there was the time I took workshop clients snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands and sea lions swam rings around us while blowing bubbles in our faces. I’ve found beauty in photographing a small lakeside wedding, capturing moments as the couple pledged their love. And while most people wouldn’t even try to shoot at night in the rain, I showed my workshop group that very combination can be magical — with a jazz trumpeter on the streets of New Orleans. Whether shooting a rainbow over Yosemite Falls, lion cubs in Africa or a corporate portrait, I love photography, teaching and sharing. My career has spanned over 40 years, beginning with jobs at newspapers in the Midwest, South and East. Now in Kansas City, I divide my time between shooting and teaching photography. My corporate clients have included USA Today, The New York Times, The Associated Press, Getty Images, NBC, Children’s Mercy Hospital, EPA, Reuters, Nikon, Lexar, Lowepro, Best Buy, Blue Pixel, Eco-Challenge and Mark Burnett Productions. My teaching career began in the ’90s with a class on photojournalism at Rochester Institute of Technology. After managing my newspaper’s switch to digital in 1997, I became a regular speaker at conferences around the country . In 2000 I left being a newspaper photographer and spent the next few years helping dozens of newspapers and other organizations convert to digital. In 2002 I began a sixteen-year stint teaching the Nikon School of Photography, creating the programs, teaching and managing the other teachers. I currently moderate Nikon’s Nikon School Graduates Facebook page, and lead training for Best Buy employees working in their camera departments. Every year I also lead a number of hands-on photography workshops, ranging from weekend treks in the U.S. to two-week trips abroad. My goal is to help people at all levels improve their technical and creative abilities with cameras and computers, and have fun while doing that. In my newspaper days, I won the National Press Photographer’s Association Photographer of the Year honors for my Eastern region twice. And I’ve also received several industry honors, being named a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens, a Lexar Pro Elite photographer and a Microsoft Icon of Imaging.