About Me:
I grew up in the very rural area at the south most tip of Illinois. In high school I was top of my class (woo-hew - all of 63 seniors), but perhaps that was more about being in a small pond than being particularly bright. I went to the University of Illinois on an AFROTC federal scholarship. My dorm had more people living in it than the entire population of my home town. Talk about culture shock; all the sudden I was a tiny fish in a huge pond. I served 4.5 years in the Air Force after getting my degree in Aero / Astro engineering. Like many of my generation, during my twenties I took a career turn into IT. Along the way I've done some writing (mostly technical), managing, teaching, coding, public speaking, etc. - but not necessarily in that order. My interest in photography has grown over the past 10-15 years now, largely due to having a very photogenic wife who loves to have her picture taken.

About my Family:
Viktoriya and I have been married for 15 years. She is originally from Ukraine and her native language is Russian. On occasion I'm not sure whether she is praising or insulting me. Vika became a naturalized US citizen in 2008. In 2009 we adopted our daughter, Samantha. At that time Sammie was only 16 months of age. Sam was born in Moscow, but of course, has no recollection of being there. She loves to dance, and is in her second year of dance classes. Sam also loves Frozen and pretends to be Elsa regularly.