who, me?

Here’s my cover letter and resume.

Here’s my digital portfolio.



Hi. My name is Michael Winter and I play pedal steel in a rock band. It’s loud, and it’s awesome.
I love photography and spent 8 years in the United States Navy specializing in capturing day-to-day life onboard a really big ship, the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63. When I left the Navy I moved back to Portland, Oregon and started to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

I picked up a camera, a pedal steel guitar, and joined a rock n’ roll band.


My band put out two records and toured extensively for a few years. Just like the Navy, I documented life on the road in a touring rock band. Eventually deciding to hang up my rock n’ roll shoes for a cubicle and healthcare, I settled down, married my sweetheart and bought a house. I soon abandoned the cubicle life for a career working with military veterans at the Portland VA Medical Center.

My love for photography and hearing stories that need to be told is where my heart lies, and I meet many veterans on a daily basis that have pearls of wisdom from mistakes they’ve made in life and lessons learned.

So… That’s me.


Check out my work. Here’s my resume. If you like what you see, contact me.

Miles and I.
Mount Hood sunrise from Portland VA Health Care System
Kidney transplant

Alaska Cruise 2022!

My wife and I spent a week on the Discovery Princess Cruise line touring ALASKA in August of 2022. We had a wonderful experience spending time with my father and his wife, taking in all the sites, and eating all the great food! We highly recommend the Discovery Princess cruise ship – staff and service were TOP NOTCH!

NEW VIDEO!

VA Portland Health Care System video project highlighting how important EVERY job is in the hospital… in this case: The Librarian.

September 2020

CYPRESS MOUNTAIN DRIVE is the latest release from the band WANDERLODGE. We spent a beautiful August evening into the night shooting these guys in their environment and havin’ a helluva good time! This film documents their personalities and showcases a few of their songs from the record. Click the picture below!

WANDERLODGE – Cypress Mountain Drive promotional video
That’s me rockin’ out on the Fender pedal steel guitar with my band Truckstop Darlin’.

As a Navy Photographer part of my job was to shoot full length portraits of officers so they could show the promotion board that they were “ship-shape squared-away!”
As a Navy media specialist part of my job was to shoot and edit video as well as document daily life in the Navy.
An SH-60B “Seahawk” helicopter attached to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron One Four (HS-14), lowers supplies to the flight deck of USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) during a vertical replenishment at sea operation (VERTREP)
US Navy photo by PHAN Michael D. Winter
Bathed in clouds of steam, Crash and Salvage Crews in red jerseys standby as an F/A-18 Hornet from Fighter Attack (VFA) 195 “Dambusters” prepares to launch off the flight deck of USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63), for a mission in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM
US Navy photo by PHAN Michael D. Winter