My father operated the Climax High Altitude Observatory Coronagraph; our family lived on site, so I picked up an interest in astronomy at a young age. When I was sixteen, I purchased my first telescope, a Meade 6" Newtonian. Later I upgraded to a Meade 10" SCT. When I retired and moved to Michigan, I came across the Hemlock Crossing observatory and learned about the SAAA. I joined and started learning about astrophotography.