Outside of Work #
I am a man of many hobbies. Some are discussed in depth in the menus above and for those that aren't this page covers them.
Faith #
A critically important of mine and my family's life is our faith. My wife and I are members of Woodland Baptist church in Waynesville North Carolina.
She serves on a rotation in the church nursery during Sunday morning services on occasion and I help lead the youth group on Wednesday nights including mentoring, serving, and occasionally teaching from the Bible.
I also meet weekly with a group of older men and we share what's going on in our lives and have a brief devotion that is on a rotation.
We both also contribute both financially and with service to a number of causes in our local community and elsewhere.
Photography #
Photography has been an important part of my life for a very long time. My dad had been a serious nature photographer prior to my birth and it felt a bit like I was continuing that tradition.
I am still very much an amateur and have up to this point (December 2023) only been paid for a single photo shoot. I have a personal preference towards nature and landscape photography but if my wife is willing to help me organize people I do photo shoots for families and friends.
The worst part of being the dedicated family photographer? There's a lot fewer pictures of me than everyone else...
As this question seems to come up pretty regularly, here's the equipment I've been using for the last few years.
- Nikon D7500
- Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
- Tamron AF 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD
- Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3
Hiking #
I live in the mountains of western North Carolina, definitely one of the most beautiful places in the country for hiking. I'm not able to take advantage of it nearly as much as I would like, but when I can, I do my best to get out into the woods.
I even proposed to my wife Megan on the trails at Graveyard fields off of the Blue Ridge Parkway .
Some of my favorite photos from hiking trips:
When spring rolls around I hope to rejoin a group of retired men who go hiking every Tuesday. Not every Tuesday but definitely some Tuesdays.