Bio

A Little About Me

I’m a child of the 50’s and 60s.  I was raised in New Rochelle, NY which many people know as the fictitious home of Dick Van Dyke.

This was a real and wonderful place in which to grow up. We had loads of friends of every persuasion and were located just a stone’s throw from the most world’s most vibrant New York City. My parents pushed to make sure that my sisters and I received the best education possible – not just academically, but world-wise too.

At an early age I picked up the photography bug. As a teenager, my first several jobs were working in photo studios and professional photofinishing labs. Then I went off to college at the University of Michigan after which I found myself heading for an amazing life with Kris who would become my lovely wife and mother of our soon-to-be large family.

With my career in photography thwarted by a lack of prospective jobs, computers and lots of “techie things” came into my sight. I spent several years learning how computers work and the art of programing and systems analysis. In the mean time we “temporarily” moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We’ve been here since 1973 – a long temporary.

My Dad must have passed on his entrepreneurial gene to me because I was anxious to go out on my own when the first microcomputers appeared. In 1978 we started Abacus, one of the pioneers in a nascent field. Over the next 34 years we published many hundreds of computer books and software packages. We were into early machines such as the Pet, Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, the IBM PC and finally simulation software for the popular Microsoft Flight Simulator, selling them through major retailers and big box stores to the consumer market and partners throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

During this entire period with Abacus and with the Lee household growing to 9 children, I continued my love of photography. As I traveled the globe extensively for business, the varied vistas offered me great opportunities to photograph places and things that I only dreamed of in my youth. And with our large family, I became a very experienced portrait photographer.

The advent of digital imaging merged two of my skills – computers and photography – and strongly rekindled my interest as early as 1998. Fast forward more than a dozen or so years and I continue my affection for picture taking – as a lover of the outdoors and nature, as an admirer of faces, as a recorder of life’s precious moments.

Borrowing from my 50+ years working with cameras, I’ve compiled many articles which may be helpful to those of you who want to turn your snapshots into gallery quality photographs. You’ll find these at Stay Focused Magazine.

Now Kris and I have lots of photo activity centered around our twenty grandchildren and travel frequently to spend time with them. Professionally, my special interests are this country’s amazing treasures that make up our national park system. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time these past few years enjoying and photographing many gorgeous vistas. If you enjoy the beauty of these place, please visit the Gallery.

Since I’m still planning on being out on road, who knows where I’ll be next?