I was born in Michigan, but moved to Costa Rica when I was four, where I learned Spanish. After one year, we moved to Guatemala and lived there for thirteen years. We lived in a very remote Mayan indian village called San Miguel Acatán--no electricity, no running water, and so on. What I did have was photo subjects galore, lots of time, and a pile of old camera equipment.

My favorite cameras to date: Olympus OM-4T, Mamiya RB67, Mamiya RZ67, Mamiya 7, Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 5D Mark III, and now the new Canon 1D-X, Leica M9, Gigapan Epic PRO, and the inevitably fun GoPro 4 . My pocket camera is a Leica D-LUX 40 or the Canon EOS M.

I've had lots of hobbies over the years (flying airplanes and helicopters, motorcycles, fine carpentry, and so on), but the only constant has been photography. I typically take six foreign photo excursions every year, to countries I've never visited. Capturing images, along with everything that goes into doing it artfully, speaks to my soul. It's so immersive that it crowds all the rest of life out.

I don't know if you'll enjoy any of these images, but I hope one or two of them make you smile or remind you fondly of an image in your own head. Or, maybe one of them will help you reconnect with life (or death) in an authentic, real way.

Thanks for stopping by. And if you want to chat about any of this, send me an email: david@retake.com.