A native of Los Angeles, California, Steve attended Hollywood High Schoool, Los Angeles City College and attended classes at Art Center College of Design.

He launched into a career as a professional photographer in 1979.

Much of his work including product photography and set photography including long term work for “Jeopardy” with Alex Trebek and “Wheel of Fortune” with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, as well as album covers for various singers and bands. In the railroad world he has done location work for both the Union Pacific and BNSF. On a smaller scale he did four articles for Model Railroader Magazine on the HO scale model railroad built by Sir Rod Stewart.

Steve first came to the NNRy in February 2006 to produce the night photo shoots for the Winter Steam Spectacular. He helped develop the Steam, Steel and Strobes Scholarship in 2012. In 2019, he again took a major hand in developing the Photography Workshop which has seen participants from around the world.

Steve has taken tens of thousands of photographs of the railroad,though none are more cherished by the NN crews than their white seamless portraits. To the public he is best known for his photo of Dirt the Cat launching a social media sensation that continues to today.

Though semi-retired from regular work for the NNRy he is still called upon for a variety of special photo projects.

He has co-authored three books on the electric railways that once served the L.A. area under Arcadia Publishing’s Then and Now series.

Steve and his wife Yoko have relocated near Dallas, Texas. They enjoy working on their mid-century home and traveling throughout the state exploring the vast expanse and experiencing its collection of unique American cultures.