Alan believes that learning something new should be a fun experience. Humor is one of the hallmarks of his teaching style. He also excels at breaking down complex ideas into bite size chucks for anyone to grasp.

Alan has been making photographs since the 70's and teaching photography since the 80's. He has taught at the University of Alaska, Anchorage and Western Washington University. Having previously owned a commercial photography business specializing in advertising and public relations, he now concentrates on fine art photography. His photographs have been in many group as well as one person shows. He has work in the permanent collections of several museums as well as many private collections. Alan currently works in a photo lab, where he works with digital images all day.

When not making photographs Alan enjoys spending time with family and friends, particularly his grandson.leisure time is also spent hiking, traveling and lingering over a good cup of coffee.