I am a photographer living in Westwood, New Jersey, USA.

I started my photography journey when I was in my early teens. I was self-taught early on by reading photography books by John Shaw. Having a State Forest in the NY Catskills as my backyard, at my parent’s summer home gave me a great opportunity to learn and practice my new passion.  Wildlife and nature were my early subjects. Armed with a Canon AE-1 Program and a few lenses I spent many hours photographing the natural world around me.

High School gave me more opportunities to progress. My school had classes for both black and white and color photography.   There I learned more of the fundamentals of photography and how to develop both the film and prints. Halfway through high school I worked part-time at a local camera store. I went from stocking shelves to the sales floor to printing customers slides on a large Cibachrome machine. Working at the store gave me an opportunity to try different cameras and lenses and experiment with the new advances in the photography field. This is when I started enjoying shooting action sports, motocross, car racing etc.   

In college I studied Graphic Design and Advertising.  Here, not only did I advance my photography skills and vision but also learned how to incorporate it into different media. I spent many hours in the computer lab learning Photoshop. Photoshop was in its infancy back then. Digital cameras were just starting to become mainstream and honestly for a long time I rejected the digital age.  To me digital photography did not have the same feeling and enjoyment as shooting film. However, a lot has changed since then.

After a long break, roughly 10 years, I started photographing air shows. This has brought back the enjoyment that I had all those years earlier. I have so many images that I want to share with the world. This will be a forever work in progress.

Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me.

 Mark Gronbeck

markgronbeck@gmail.com