Joel was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in Fairfax, Virginia for the past 33 years. He received his first 35mm camera (Canon AE-1) as a gift from his parents for his high school graduation. Since that day, he’s always had a camera close by. He went to college at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York, where he enrolled in photo classes while earning a degree in Graphic Design.
Opting for the warmer climate of the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area versus upstate New York, Joel returned after college to work for the Federal Government. Joel currently works full time for the Federal Government in a communications department in Rockville, Maryland. Joel works on publishing, offset printing, graphic design, and event photography projects during the day. Being stuck in an office building all day, motivates Joel to document and photograph wildlife, nature, and his outdoor surroundings during the evenings and on weekends. Joel attempts to capture the local wildlife in unique and unusual situations with the hope that his photos inspire others to care about the conservation and protection of our natural wonders.
Songbirds, herons, and waterfowl are some of Joel’s favorite subjects to shoot. Fortunately, the Mid Atlantic area offers him many diverse photo opportunities throughout the year. Joel especially likes the changing of the seasons and how each season brings migrating birds and waterfowl to the area and how the local scenic spots change depending on the season. Joel also loves shooting in the wintertime when everything seems quieter, calmer, and less hectic. Joel has had the good fortune to shoot black bears in the Shenandoah Mountains, bald eagles along the Potomac River, tundra swans and cavnasbacks on the Choptank River, and vintage schooners on the Chesapeake Bay.
Over the past 15 years, Joel has exhibited his photos at numerous juried fine art exhibitions, including: the Potomac Arts Festivals in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, the Patuxent Wildlife Art Shows in Laurel, Maryland, the Rappahanock River Waterfowl Shows in White Stone, Virginia, the Fine Arts Festivals in Oxford, Maryland, and the Waterfowl Festivals in Easton, Maryland. Joel’s work has also appeared in fine art galleries in Annapolis MD, Alexandria VA, Fredericksburg VA, Richmond VA, and Rochester NY. Joel’s frog and osprey photos have
been used by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in their calendar and on their website.
One of Joel’s other frog photos was exhibited as part of a “Best of Nature” show at the San Diego Museum of Natural History. In 2014, Joel was featured in the January issue of élan magazine, and in 2017, Joel’s photo of a foggy morning at Great Falls National Park was selected as one of the year’s top 100 by the North American Nature Photography Association. In 2017 Joel had a solo exhibition of his work at the Potomac River Fisheries Commission headquarters building in Colonial Beach, Virginia. Joel is a juried member of the Northern Virginia Handcrafters Guild and the Art League gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia where some of his work can be viewed in Gallery 75.