A Lil' Bit About Me...

I was raised in South Jersey most of my youth. My father took both my brother & I on vacations all over the Northeast, and later all over the East Coast. Most often, we went to Vermont for two weeks each summer. Early on, we had a thing for riding tourist trains all over. As early as 1987 I recall riding the Knox & Kane tourist train across the now destroyed Kinzua Trestle, and even earlier memories of riding the Wolfesboro Railroad in New Hampshire. Of those that stick out emmensely, the Lamoille Valley trip from Morrisville to West Danville, VT - which was torn up in it's entirety during 2005. Pictures are memories, and memories are priceless, so I took up photography by the time I turned 18.

My youth included riding upwards of 70 different tourist operations across the United States. At some point along the way, my younger brother didn't develop the interest in railroads that I'd grown on. My father retired from his job in 1991, and now had more time to take trips. Before I had gotten serious about taking pictures, Dad & I made a 2-week trip to Colorado in August 1996, where we rode many operations - including the Durango & Silverton; and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic - both narrow-gauge operations in some of the most beautiful territory I've ridden through.

Along the way, I met many folks along the way who shot slides, and remember getting interested in all these rail publications by this time as well. When I returned to my job during the 1996-97 school year (11th grade), I decided to work for my first SLR camera and try this "slide-thing". In March 1997, I purchased a Canon EOS Rebel-G body with lens. Boy, I tell ya, some of my earliest stuff is the biggest garbage that ever came out of Kodak's labs! I even kept record of everything I shot, too! My first years I recall shooting 28 and 27 rolls of film, respectively. I even got active in shooting pictures for my high school sports program, as paltry as it was. I graduated in 1998 from Fort Ann Central School in Fort Ann, NY. Later that year, I attended Adirondack Community College for one year, it wasn't for me at all.

Under some pressure from my family in June 1999, I moved in with my sister in South Jersey for a month. A month later, I rented out my first apartment in Cementon (Whitehall), PA and took a job with a pet supply distribution company, where I worked for 14 months (thru September 2000).

Hearing about an ad in the newspaper, a coworker from the pet place told me about the railroad hiring. So I went, the job of a lifetime, the one thing as a kid I always wanted to do (and should have done sooner!). By October 2000, I hired out with Norfolk Southern as a conductor out of Allentown, PA. Like any newbie, I worked the extra board for about 2 years, and was even laid off to the point of boredom in 2001 (when I opted to drive to Harrisburg to hold work). By 2004, assignments were very forgiving and I held various road & yard assignments regularly for the most of the year.

Today I own a Canon EOS Elan 7 35mm SLR body and I shoot approximately 150 rolls of slide film each year. I can safely say things have vastly improved over the past 10 years! In October 2003, I went digital for the first time with the purchase of a Canon Digital Rebel (300D) D-SLR to supplement my photography, if nothing else, to replace some of my exaggerated film shooting habits. In November 2005, I upgraded to a Canon 20D and will have it until something far greater comes along. For those interested, I sell some of my work here on the website, and on eBay under seller name VRSFAN303.

Between vacations, rest days from work, and personal time - I can be found driving anywhere in the US. I travel alot each year, over 27,000 miles, in my Jeep Grand Cherokee which I purchased new in 2002.

In the past 10+ years, I've seen my railroad interests evolve from Tourist Railroads to Freight, and currently 60% or more of my annual film usage is spent on photographing locomotive rosters of either genre. In 2004 alone, I covered various operations in the states of Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois and the Atlantic Maritimes of Canada. The year 2006 was a big travel year for me as well, traveling to Nevada, Arizona & California for the first time, as well as revisiting Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina.

Growing up in northern New York also yielded some great oppotunity to soak in scenery, another photographic interest of mine. So when I come across a vista that I find refreshing, I stop and soak it up digitally for later reminiscence. My photographic interests have evolved to actually taking self-portraits once in a blue-moon as well, seeing I've behind the camera most of my adult life.

In December 2005, I was released from Norfolk Southern as a trainman, ending 5+ years of service with them. I've enjoyed most of 2006 by traveling all over the US, ready to start fresh in with a new employer. The only things I'll miss are the great folks I worked with, and of course, the big paycheck. I'm currently in search of new railroad employment with anyone who can pay the bills.

I started this website on my free 10MB of webspace provided by my cable provider (RCN) in 2003. Ever since, I've taken the time to learn some HTML, etc. I began to host my "reject" train photos online, and it's slowly evolving into all photos taken by me (or photos taken OF me, by others). When my good friend Alex Lang approached me with an offer for more webspace, I gladly took it and any help I could get in preparing to archive MORE of my photos on the web. Erixpix.com now has 100's of photos (mainly railroad), and lies on 250MB of webspace.

Enter mid-2006, I've been expanding this website, with hopes of someday diverging my railroad photography to a seperate domain. I'd also like to establish some short-term goals for my work, one of them being studio photography. I attended adult industry events twice in 2006 to seek a comfort level with some of talent, and more importantly, myself. That part of my life has been quite refreshing, I just wish it happened more often. It also helped to reacquiant myself with candid & casual photography. Those who know me, know that I like certain kinds of modeling & appreciation of the female body! :) A little investment can go a long way, if not financially, at least a learning experience. I'm certainly not looking to make a living from photography (but envy those who can!), as I take more pride in my career in the railroad industry.

Now hopefully those of you who've never met me, or don't know me at all - have a better understanding of who I am, and, uhhh...what I do. Thanks for reading, and enjoy Erixpix.com! :)