Since the beginning of the year, I have been feeling like nothing has gone my way. I’m not usually pessimistic, but man, have I had a tough start. My business is slow, I’ve gained weight, and I watched my dog die in front of me. It hasn’t been something to write home about. Granted, I’m…
I saved a baby from a burning house
I take a deep breath, then bust the door open, look to my left, to my right… nothing. I hear a cry a few feet away. I get low to get through the smoke. The cries got louder as I keep moving forward. I kick the door open, scoop the baby. The flames got higher…
The First Shot
I almost didn’t take the job. I’ve done film only shoots before but for some reason this shoot was different. The client wanted film only, no digitals, my safety net. Every film shoot I’d ever done had my digital camera. I would set the settings my light meter gave me take a shot with the…
How I know the shot is good before I see the photos
Over the years I’ve conditioned myself to see the types of images I like so well that I can foresee them happening the moment I click the shutter. It started with discovering my taste. I began noticing what kinds of images I was drawn to — in my own work and in the work I…
What I think about when I’m not thinking about photography
If you asked me this three years ago, I would have told you I don’t think about anything other than photography. I was obsessed. I would watch many youtube videos, a bunch of content on IG, and power through all of my photo classes I bought. So when I say I lived breathed and ate…
The photo I almost lost and what it taught me about myself
Growing up, I was never a confident kid. I was shy and kept to myself. In my high school days I became a little more sociable but mostly with the people who would talk to me first. But then toward the end of high school I started becoming aware of something. All of my friends…
On building slowly and on purpose
One lesson I learned the hard way you can’t get to the end of the race without running it. I wanted to do and become so many things so fast. I stopped doing photography for about two years to focus on building a graphic design and copywriting agency. And I wanted it to take off…
How I Design a Shoot Before I Pick Up a Camera
I used to think the best photographers could just walk into a room, size up the model and the light, and pull greatness out of thin air. Like the craft was some kind of instinct you either had or you didn’t. There’s a story I heard years ago about a ship that kept breaking down….
What 13 Years Behind a Camera Taught Me About People
I started photography in 2011. My first camera was a Nikon D3000. If you know cameras, you know how that dates me. Like everyone else starting out, I photographed everything. But one shoot changed the direction of everything that followed. I was in college, running late for an assignment that required a studio portrait. I…
YOU DON’T HAVE TO PICK JUST ONE NICHE
You Don’t Have to Pick Just One “So what do you do?” One of the storytelling group members asked me this, and I had a loooong pause. Not because I don’t do anything. Because I do too many things. I’m a writer who doesn’t want to be an author. A graphic designer with a bachelor’s…
