9 years later, I am now a graduate of Averett University. I got my Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Management: Flight Operations. During my schooling, I completed my Private Pilot training. I then went on to get my Instrument Rating (lets me fly in the clouds and in poor weather). After that I completed my Commercial Pilot training that replaced my Private Pilots License (basically allowed me to fly for hire). Next I completed my Multi-Engine Training, followed shortly after by graduation day! The next month I moved to Vero Beach, Florida to complete my Certified Flight Instructor Certificate. From there, I moved to Addison Texas to teach people to fly. I did this for awhile and my expense/income ratio caught up to me leading me to move back home to Virginia to flight instruct. The switch also allowed me to act as co-pilot in a King Air charter operation at my flight school. While in Texas, I had interviewed with a company called Air Cargo Carriers. I was hired but put in a hiring pool that would go on to last six months. One day in February of 2007, I got the phone call to come to class in early April. I completed training on May 9th and have been working for them flying freight in the Shorts 360 and 330 ever since.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER IN ME...
I was introduced to cameras very young. As a kid, my parents or grandparents always made sure I had a disposable in my hands during every vacation. I got my first digital point and shoot on Christmas day of 2002. It was an HP Photosmart 320 that shot images at 3 megapixels. In April of 2004 I took a trip to Europe. Sometime between landing in Vienna, Austria and leaving the airport, the LCD cracked and the camera was useless. I ended up having to buy 800 speed disposables for the entire trip. Needless to say, I wasn't to happy about it. As soon as I got back I bought a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F707. The camera was sort of a hybrid, part digital compact, part electronic SLR. It had a Zeiss zoom lens attached to the front with a zoom range of 38-190mm (35mm equivalent). This camera was so amazing to me. I shot with it for a few years, but when I moved to Vero Beach, Florida to go to Flight Safety Academy, I realized lugging the larger camera in the plane with me became tedious. I decided to Ebay it and switch back to a compact point and shoot. This lead to my purchase of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200. The camera was OK, but I started noticing dust particles showing up on the images. In a DSLR, this is cleanable, but on the point and shoots, it required shipping the camera to Sony and paying more money than I wanted to pay to have it cleaned. I started shooting photos with a 3 megapixel camera phone. It was nothing spectacular, but I always had a camera with me. When I was living in Dallas my second time, I had been eyeballing the DSLR's at Best Buy. Naturally I looked at Sony products because that is what I had the most experience with. I'd refrained from buying one for awhile...that is until I was filling in for another pilot in Fresno California in June of 2008. I went to Sequoia National Park and shot photos with my camera phone as usual. When I got back to the hotel, I was very dissapointed by the quality of the photos of the Redwood trees taken that day. I knew I wanted to visit San Francisco over the weekend, so I made an impulse buy. I purchased the Sony DSLR-A200 from Best Buy. I shot with it on auto mode the whole trip. I got some pretty good photos nonetheless. It wasn't long after I returned home to Virginia that I decided I wanted to learn to shoot in manual mode. I started looking for clubs or classes in my area. What I found was the Tidewater Digital Photography Club. This was a free club full of very knowledgeable individuals. To this day, I attend every meeting that I can make, schedule permitting. My schedule did limit how fast I learned, so with my large amount of free time in hotel rooms while working, I studied! I read books, magazines, websites, blogs, you name it. I practiced all that I could. I quickly added a number of accessories and lenses, further expanding my creativity and options as a photographer. I really loved my A200, but many reasons had me looking at other manufacturers and camera models.

All this has lead me to my current camera. The Canon EOS 50D! I bought my 50D in December, and I am truly amazed with everything about it. I've added a number of items to my equipment list as follows:

-Canon EOS 50D (Body)
-Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens
-Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II (I use for Weddings, Portraits, and Sports)
-Giottos Aluminum Tripod
-Manfrotto Ball Head for Tripod
-(2) Vivitar 285 HV Flashes
-Westcott 43" Umbrella
-Impact Multi-Boom Lightstand
-Impact Shoe Mount Umbrella Bracket
-Impact 42" 5-In-1 Reflector Disc
-Hama 16.5' PC Flash Sync Cable
-Alienbees Cybersync Flash Trigger System
-Photovision 14" Whitebalance Calibration Target
-SanDisk 8GB Compact Flash Card
-SanDisk 2GB Compact Flash Card
-(2) Rosco Sample Gel Packs

Most people are very surprised to hear that I've been actively pursuing photography for such a short time. I personally have noticed a world of difference in the quality of my photographs. As your photographer, I can assure you that you will receive the highest quality images from the highest quality print labs.