My name is Michael Cozad. I live in Jackson, California, a small historic gold country town nestled in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County, approximately 48 miles east-southeast of Sacramento, on Highway 88/49. I am a self-taught, semi-professional photographer, specializing primarily in night-long exposure, aviation, landscape photography and photojournalism, though I do dabble in wildlife, sports, fine art and time-lapse photography. I have long been fascinated with aviation since childhood. My dad was in the Air Force, and my uncle was a civilian contractor with the Air Force at McClellan Air Force Base. I have fond memories of spending many a day attending various airshows at Mather, and McClellan Air Force Bases.
My love for photography started at an early age. I probably got it from my dad, who has been an amateur photographer, since an early age as well. I think my passion really began when I first held that Pentax 35mm SLR in photography class, during my sophomore year in high school. I began to learn the fundamentals of taking a good photo, shooting in black and white, and developing my own photos in the dark room at school. After graduating high school 1990, I moved onto a Minolta 35mm SLR film camera, which I used for many years, until I finally, and reluctantly, gave into digital photography. I now sport a Nikon digital SLR, which I love, and will never give up. I love the fact that I can take hundreds of shots in a session, reviewing, and deleting bad shots, or whatever. I just love the versatility, storage capability, and ease of use of the digital SLR cameras.
My first passion for photography started with nature/scenic photography. My biggest influence is Ansel Adams. The walls of my home are littered with large and small prints from this talented man. I love black and white photography. I enjoy the simplicity, and majestic look it gives to nature photography. But don't get me wrong, I also enjoy brilliant color as well. My favorite place in the world to photograph, is Yosemite. With it's majestic waterfalls, magnificent granite cliffs, meandering Merced River, and beautiful green meadows, it is a photographer's paradise. Like an open gallery, it feeds the drooling artist inside me.