I was born in Dallas on March 26, 1963. I graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1981. Woodrow, as it is known around Dallas, has educated some extraordinary people. It is the only high school in America to produce two Heisman Trophy winners: Davey O'Brien in 1933 while at playing football at Texas Christian University and Tim Brown, the 1988 winner from Notre Dame. Several former and current political and judicial leaders can call Woodrow Wilson their alma mater: Jim Collins, Jim Mattox, Sam Johnson, Tom Phillips, Wallace Savage. Other graduates include Carroll Shelby (race car driver and builder), Trammell Crow (real estate developer) and the Haynes Brothers. Al Haynes was an United Airlines pilot whose experience saved many lives when his plane became uncontrollable and crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, while older brother, Jerry, had a career at WFAA-TV (Channel 8) and starred as "Mr. Peppermint", the host of a children's program, during his later years.
In 1985, I graduated from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. During my years as a student at SMU, I became intrigued with sports journalism and spent a great deal of time photographing the football and basketball teams. I began covering high school football for The Dallas Morning News during my sophomore year and continued writing for the newspaper and its sister publication, Garland Daily News, for 10 seasons. My experiences led to a position on the SMU Daily Campus during my junior year as basketball beat writer. I was named to the newly-created position of associate sports editor during my final semester despite not being a journalism major. My greatest sports moment occurred when I worked the 1983 Cotton Bowl for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a photographer's assistant, which provided me the opportunity to shoot for my own portfolio.
In 1995, I earned a MBA degree in corporate finance from the University of Dallas.
After photographing sports, railroads and architecture, I decided in 1998 to focus more on portrait photography.