Born and raised in New York City, and with a passion for photography, apprenticed with a master photographer in Manhattan during his junior and senior year in high school. In November of 1967, he joined the Navy to be a photographer and served with the Navy Combat Camera Group based out of San Diego for two years. He continued his military service and in 1983, while stationed in the Washington, DC area became Navy Photographer of the Year for his production of a multimedia show about the Navy Recruiting Command.

In 1984, he was discharged with a medical disability for his back and stayed in the DC area until 1987 when he and his wife (who was military) got transferred to NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium where they stayed for a li