Don's love of photography began with the camera that his parents gave him for Christmas his junior year in high school  The gift led him to procure a position as a photographer for his Senior Yearbook in Heron Lake, Minnesota.

His working career centered on education, where photography complemented the work.  He taught Industrial Arts and Geography which heightened his approach to landscape photography.  He later taught administrators and teachers about different learning styles and became a teacher consultant.  He then went on to become a College Dean of the Dodge City Community College (in Iowa) and then an Assistant Director at the Hillar Technical center in St. Joseph, MO. 

Don moved to Kimberling City in 1995.