Michael Cantwell

Kentucky was only my home for a few days after my birth. Raised in Ewing Township, outside of Trenton, New Jersey, I dashed off to South Florida during my college days. Hard to pass on bikinis in January. I’ll give a shout out to Notre Dame High and LaSalle University, the upper schools I attended. Readers will notice the schools are mentioned a few times. Soon after college graduation, I married my wife of so many years now that she won’t allow me to tell you how many. We have three great kids. They paid me to mention it, so it’s the least I could do.

I began my writing career after a few gray hairs began to show, though not many. I kinda stumbled into writing and now it’s forced me to wake up most mornings before dawn with crazy characters or several lines of dialogue permeating my brain. So, I have that going for me.

After finishing my first manuscript, I had no clue about query letters, agents, or what publishers do. I’ve learned a lot, with much more still to accomplish. There have been more bumps in the road than I had expected, but since I still wake up most mornings with voices in my head, I’d better write stuff down. I don’t want anyone to think I’m hearing things for no good reason. 

My dad purchased a Pentax K1000 for me for Christmas in 1980. That's when I began making photographs, while attempting to understand the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speeds. For many years, I photographed with Kodak T-Max film and an occasional roll of Fuji color film. I learned about the darkroom from Dr. Tom McCartney. He also taught me platinum printing.

Fast forward several years later. My own children began playing sports and I advanced to another level with my photography. As my experience grew so did the advancement of cameras and lenses. I trust my images did as well. The Pentax was stolen. I switched to Nikon and have moved from the F5 to the D700 to the D750 to the D850 and now the Z7II. As my own children began families and my body became older, my interests shifted from mostly sports to landscape, seascapes and portraits. 

 I've had the privilege to shoot many sporting events. I've freelanced for Max Preps and have had multiple images published in newspapers and books. I now travel South Florida, the USA and occasionally overseas in search of the perfect light or a trace of fresh air while witnessing views few get to see for themselves. I can't complain.