On my 10th birthday I was given a small point and shoot camera. I was in one picture that day (the one where I am blowing out the candles on my cake), the rest of the pictures were taken by me, and I have had a passion for photography ever since. In my 20's I started to appreciate fine art. I went to museums, exhibitions etc... then in 1997, two friends and myself took a trip to Europe.

I was shooting a beautiful castle in England, I had my tripod set up, the sun was setting and the castle was backlit perfectly. As I looked through the lens, waiting for the sun to be just where I needed, it struck me that what I was doing was in fact fine art. I wasn't painting, drawing or sculpting, but just as the painter paints a portrait, I was in the process of capturing something to show others what I had seen, with a little of my own creative vision.

From that day on I have felt like an artist. Over the past few years many of my images have been shown in fine art galleries in San Diego and Los Angeles. Works have also been accepted into juried shows both locally and nationally. I would like to share my images with you, and hope I can express the appreciation I feel for nature as well as art. I have traveled the European continent, Ireland, North America and the Hawaiian Islands, and whether I am photographing castles in the English countryside or trying to capture the beauty of Wyamaya canyon in Kauai, if I can make you feel a little of what I did when I created these images, then I have succeeded as a fine art photographer.

Thank you all for your support
Don C. Gates