I bought my first camera when I was in the Marine Corps. I would wrap the 35mm and lenses up and put it in my backpack whenever we went to the “field”, the desert. Stationed in California, I would travel to Yellowstone, Tetons, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Joshua Tree National Monument on long weekends and vacations. The day after my enlistment was over, I found employment at a gold mine in the southwest mountains of Colorado. The place where I dreamed to live, came true! Several days a week I would hike and photograph the lonely trails in the mountains, and breathe the crisp air. Peace and solitude. I would drag my friends out with me when the silence became too much. After a period of time, I drove back to my home state of Pennsylvania, where I live now. I found many places to photograph here, but I still take trips out west almost every year.