About Our Instructors

I grew up in Newport, Tennessee, a small town at the foothills to the Great Smoky Mountains.  I spent my early years around folks that care about each other, work very hard, and encourage each other…people that love their country, trust in God, and want for very little.
My outdoor interests were keen as far back as I can remember. My mother and father and brother camped and hiked in the mountains all my young life.  As I look back to those years, I can clearly see that my early locations, associations, and vocations all led to this great pursuit of photographing wildlife and everything else that nature presents.   I had a camera as early as 12 years of age and began to get real serious about my photography in my early twenties. After all of these years, I still get just as excited when I am watching a bear or a beaver as I did when I was young.   My first book (if you could call 28 pages of text and photos a book) came out in 1983. It was titled “A Walk With the Smoky Mountain Bears”. Soon to follow was “Bathed In Glory” a photo essay book on the Cades Cove region of the Smokies. Later on, I wrote a series of wildlife books called “The Wilderness World of…Baby Bears”, “…of River Otters”, “…of White-tailed Deer”, “…of Baby Raccoons”. My first coffee table book was published by Graphic Arts Center Publishing in 1993 and was titled, “Great Smoky Mountains National Park”. Later titles were Reflections of the Grizzly, Reflections of the Wolf, and Reflections of the Black Bear.
We began Pathways to Nature Publishing in the early 90’s and released an assortment of note cards, posters, journals, and other photographic pieces. It has been a wonderful pursuit traveling around this wonderful world and recording the beauty of God’s hand.  I spend time in twelve different national parks each year along with many days along America’s rivers all for a special sixteen year relationship with a corporate client. I climb all over my beloved Smokies where I live on the edge of the park.
My great passion is in the world of birds. They fascinate me and teach me and I love to watch birds more than anything else I observe. I read extensively and especially the old writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to all of the above, I work a lot at the publishing warehouse, the galleries, and the stock photography business. I like to work because everything that I do reminds me of something positive and wonderful in my life.

So I'll admit that Ken and Brett are definitely the instructors among us, but I'm available for one-on-one support and basic camera and technique questions.  I am more help in the field or the person who can find an answer to your question if I don't know it myself.  I was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee so I grew up in these mountains as well.  However, I don't know them nearly as intimately as Ken does!  They are, however, part of me and in my blood.  I never really found a good reason to leave (even for college as my Dad told me that I could go anywhere I wanted as long as it didn't cost more than UTK and it was in the SEC.  Bleeding Orange is a hereditary trait I'm pretty sure...), so I'm still here!

While I am a portrait photographer who fell in love with nature, wildlife, and travel photography, I spend most of my time running f/32 Photo in Knoxville, Tennessee.  f/32 Photo is a professional print lab (yes, we even still develop film), camera accessory store, rental program, and small studio.  We also produce a few workshops like this one each year.  Another one that you might have heard of is The Great Smoky Mountains Photography Summit.  Nature photography and being out on a trail is my joy, so it is a blessing to get to do that with other like-minded people and get to call it work!