Mr. Martinez has been taking photographs since he was ten years old. His first camera was a Kodak Brownie, and he developed and printed his own black and white photos. However, he did not become a serious photographer until he served in the US Army where he traveled to Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and Southeast Asia. During that period, his concentration was primarily on travel photography. His photographs won numerous awards in military competitions. After retiring from the US Army, Mr. Martinez embarked on a career in information technology, becoming a programmer, systems analyst, software project manager, and college professor. During this period his photographic interest turned to nature, and fine art photography. His concern for the environment and experience with computers and software moved him from the chemical darkroom to the digital darkroom. With the advent of digital photography, he has quickly moved to embrace it as his preferred medium. Realizing that photography was his first love, he quit his “day job” and formed his freelance company, Meadow Pines Photography which has the Trademark “A Lens on Nature” ™. He sells his work, both prints and stock, as a freelance photographer. His works have been exhibited locally and nationally. His works have won numerous awards, with one of his photos being awarded an honorable mention in the 2000 Popular Photography International Photography Contest A sampling of his work can be seen at his website at http://www.hmmphoto.com.