Born and raised in Kentucky, Russ was that kid always playing outside and has literally spent a lifetime among plants and wildlife, hence his love for gardening, hunting and natural photography.  

He entered the US Army Infantry in 1994 and from there his love for the outdoors truly started to take hold as his travels began.  He departed active duty in 1998 and re-entered the Reserves from '02-'04, and again 2010 to present, qualified Light Infantry, Heavy Scout, Airborne, Drill Sergeant, with many other schools and training completed in various extremes from Arctic to Desert environments.  Wherever the Army sent him, he had a camera in his pack.

His time out of uniform has equally been adventurous as his wandering spirit keeps him moving.  With a sales and marketing background, in 2005 he had a vision like so many do, to create a life of service to others and founded Dreams International Incorporated and has created and executed dozens of projects for a positive impact on society.  In 2007 he met a beautiful, small town Kentucky girl, that changed his life and thrust him into even bigger and better projects.  Several of their first dates were photo shoots, mainly of her, and he still captures her beauty wherever they go.  He has wings, she has roots, creating a peaceful balance that prevents him from flying too close to the Sun.  To this day she continues to be the inspiration behind his efforts. After raising three children to productive adulthood, Russ and Debbie now travel together.

From 2005 to 2012 Russ displayed his work through various local festivals, art shows, fund raisers, galleries and private events.  These events helped him to identify his strengths and fine tune his collection.  From 2013 to 2019 military obligations brought an abrupt halt to operations, but during this period he slowly transferred previous collections into quality portfolios while creating new projects, and is excited to be working again.

Russ will generally try anything once, and sometimes only once, to try and get that shot he thinks it is worthy or just to say he did.  His travels have taken him through a majority of the US with excursions to Mexico, Canada, Egypt, Bahrain and various other places along the way with several other projects already underway or in planning.  Whether viewing the world from a window seat in a plane, flying doors open in a helicopter, or standing atop a mountain, he loves the view.