What's My Story?, Buckle up...
Anyone can shoot pretty. I shoot what's true.
Who I Am
I don't shoot to make people look good. Anyone can do that. I shoot to catch the second someone drops the act and stops performing for the camera, and most photographers never even notice that second exists. I care about what happens right before someone remembers they're being watched. That's the only shot worth taking. Portraiture and Art are the obsession. Boudoir happens when someone asks, not because I go hunting for it.
How I Earned This Craft
I spent years in school, years in the studio and years behind the lens and the screen. Burned fingers, botched rolls, cheap gear held together with tape, a crashed drive, corrupted files and long nights in post-production. That's the real cost nobody sees in a finished shot.
I was raised around film and darkrooms. My mother taught me the bones of the craft. My turning point came when my stepmother, Louella, a photographer who was moving into digital, gave me her old film gear. Without that gift, I couldn't have chased this path. I've carried that gratitude and generosity into every project since.
I trained at the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies, but my edge came from trial by fire: late-night shoots, street work and gear I could barely afford. The streets and the shadows were my proving ground. I'm going on my 20th year shooting photography, and to say that it's been all awesome, is not true.
What Keeps Me Coming Back
My work has been in Der Grief, USA Today, Halogénure, The New York Times and a few others. That's nice, and I earned it. But it's not why I do this. I do it for the one moment in a shoot when someone stops trying to look good and you catch what's actually there. Most photographers never get that moment because they're too busy directing. I just wait for it, and I know it when I see it. Once you've seen that moment, you can't unsee it. You start shooting for nothing else.
Let's Make Something That Actually Lasts
If you want images people actually remember instead of ones that look fine for a week and then disappear, you found the right person. don't take everyone who asks. I take people who are ready to drop the act and give me an hour of something real. No filters, no fake smile, no posing for the algorithm. I've been doing this long enough to know exactly what I'm looking for, and I get it almost every time.
