I started my photography journey in 1982 with the purchase of my first Yashica SLR film camera while serving in the U.S. Marines. After the Marine Corps I worked in sales management, database design, web design/development, and then full-time as a photographer. At each step of the journey I've worked in marketing or communication departments within the various companies and even owned my own small photography business for a while on the side. I've always been very technical and a devoted Apple fan since the original Macintosh. I got my first Apple product, a used original Macintosh with the 9" black and white monitor in the fall of 1986. Since then, technology (mainly Apple tech) and/or photography have been a daily part of my life.

Along the way I've learned about branding, design, some programming from my web development days, database design and development and most importantly, I've honed my communication skills — the soft skills as many refer to them. Some of this I learned in college, some studying on my own, but mainly from the school of hard knocks.

I've been ready for a new challenge and direction for a while now, so last year I applied for a new Digital Marketing Manager position in my company. I was fortunate to be selected for the position and started in October. Digital Marketing allows me to utilize and strengthen the large variety of creative and technical skill sets I've learned over the past 30 years. So, while I will continue to post here on ShootLighter, the posts will be more of a broader mix than before.

My new obsession is iOS Development and I plan to have my own apps in the App Store at some point in the future. As I learn about developing apps, I may share what I've learned here on ShootLighter for those that may be interested. I will also continue to do my video reviews of Apple and photography gear as I have time.

Lastly, I'm also considering changing the name of the blog to something more encompassing, maybe just my name. If you have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them in the comments or reach out to me via the contact page, or Twitter @shootlighter.  

If you're still reading at this point, thank you for listening and following me on ShootLighter. I've always felt the value is in the journey and I'm excited for all that I am about to learn as my journey takes a new path.