"Da" is Mandarin for "large" or "big" and at 6' 2" 240+/- I am, at least in China, where I've traveled extensively and picked up the nick name. I am soon to be 67 years young and have had a variety of different lives (metaphysically speaking). This site is mostly about my life as an amateur camera buff but we'll probably get into. I was born in Chicago in the middle of WWII but have lived all over the United States. I have always had an "artsy" as well as "techno" side. I think I have passed the "artsy" proclivities on to my three progeny who are all accomplished artists, each in their own way. For an example, take a look at "Lizzy Bears" website. 

One of the ways I express my artistic instincts is through photography. I took the portrait above of one of my "neighbors" who lives right across the street in a small wetlands park.

I grew up by Lake Michigan which, if you've not seen it, is really more like an inland sea than a lake. As a result, I've generally preferred to live somewhere near a large body of water. I currently live in Denver, Colorado which, near as I can tell, is nowhere near a large body of water. However, I have to admit I enjoy the mountains much more than I thought I would. Nevertheless, when you get up to elevation and begin to do anything that requires exertion you quickly realize that the air (read oxygen) up here is half as dense as at sea level.

I've also lived in Washington, D.C., Boston, Massachusetts, Florida, and southern California. Each place has something special about it and somewhere on these pages you'll find out at least a little of how I feel about them all.