Nature and Rural Photography

"Serendipitous"- that word best expresses my artistic style when I set out with my camera. The overwhelming percentage of the times when I turn the camera on- I’m talking massive percentage numbers- reveals subject matter I had in no way intended or even expected to find. A shadow-draped barn, a friendly cat, farm equipment at rest after a harvest, what my camera discovers never ceases to amaze me!

My "paying" job is as a middle school science teacher, which has given me my appreciation for the natural world around us. If you ever see me away from my classroom, you'll most likely find me with camera in hand, wandering across the Palouse region of Idaho and Washington. My range typically extends just north of Moscow, west to Pullman, south to the LC Valley and Waha, and east to Spring Valley Reservoir. You also might find me making friends with the female moose in the University of Idaho Arboretum, bribing squirrels with walnuts, or stalking bunny rabbits in my backyard to pose for me. 

Oh. . . and an explanation about my "name"- PaDaCo is the first two letters of each part of my name. I thought it was rather clever. Unfortunately the State of Idaho disagrees. After deciding to try and make a go of all this, I had business cards made, a logo designed (by one of my 6th grade students!), a vinyl banner, email, etc. Then when I started making semi-regular sales, I went to register my "assumed business name" with the state tax commission. They promptly informed me that "Co" does NOT stand for Collins, but for "corporation" or "company". They slapped a denied stamp on my application. And that's why my updated logo and most everything else now has the "Col" because that state says that does stand for Collins, but my email remains without the letter "L" because an email address isn't quite to easy to change. . .