A Little About Me

I grew up in Johnstown, PA and graduated from Westmont Hilltop High School in 1998. I started that fall at Brigham Young University. From 1999 to 2001 I was a Spanish-speaking missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Antonio, TX. I graduated from BYU in April 2006 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Minor in English. I am currently attending the University of Utah to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering (specifically, VLSI and Computer Architecture).

In October 2004, I was married to my wife, Emily at the Jordan River Temple in South Jordan, UT. We have moved from CA to UT to PA and back to UT, and loved every second (except driving over Donner's Summit by Lake Tahoe in January during a blinding snowstorm!). She keeps up a blog where you can get to know her. I am the oldest of seven kids; I've got a brother at Harvard law school, three more siblings at BYU, and the youngest still at home in PA.

Photography and Me

I got my first camera at age 18, and I have been hooked ever since! I started out with Pentax point & shoot, moved to a Nikon N80, a Nikon D70, and now here's my current lineup:

Bodies

  • Nikon D300 (with MB-D10 grip)
  • Nikon D200 (with MB-D200 grip)

Lenses

  • Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 DX
  • Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8
  • Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Supporting gear

  • Lowepro backpack
  • Manfrotto 3021BPro Tripod
  • Manfrotto 3030 Pan/Tilt head
  • Nikon SB-600 flash
My main photographic interests are nature and people, as you can see in my gallery. However, I do enjoy learning to frame patterns and objects — fire hydrants, for instance.

Computing and Me

I've always been interested in computers. I became more seriously involved when I began my Electrical Engineering degree in college. In and out of classes, work, and internships, I've developed an appreciation for the power of computing as a tool for research when used with purpose. Outside of school (although I often use these skills for my research) my interests have expanded to include Linux, Perl, C, networking, data storage, and web design technologies (PHP, MySQL, etc.). My current philosophy involves a new, realistic consideration of how much time this perlscript will really save me in the end! Although, at the risk of turning this into a sermon, I will say that I would not have reached that point had I not spent several years just diving in to spend the time to learn.

About this Website

This website is now in it's third major design revision and recently went through it's third major backend revision. It began in November 2004 when I decided I needed an inexpensive way to share my photos with friends and family. The major technologies I use are MySQL and PHP for backend API, and HTML/CSS with a sprinkling of JavaScript here and there. I have spent most of my developing time using VIM on a linux box (I am a believer). Since this website is my playground, it is always a work in progress! I "lease" a domain name through godaddy.com and I host at Dreamhost. I just recently switched from e-rice who offer hosting plans for $5-$10 and provide great service!