He was strongly influenced in high school and college by the photographs of Ansel Adams, by the photographs of the western expeditionary photographers such as Timothy O'Sullivan, and by extensive travels in Mexico and the arid regions of the Southwest. These interests led to majors in photography, geology, and geography, and eventually to a desire to create formal photographic documents of the lands and peoples of these regions. To assure excellent photographic quality he uses large-format cameras and makes contact prints from 4x5 and 8x10 inch negatives. Seeking maximum permanence, as well as physical beauty, he prints exclusively in platinum/palladium.