Making progress

One of the great things about photojournalism, and photography in general, is the distinct lack of bullshitting. What you have, is what you have. There isn’t any way to fake what you capture on film, or the sensor. Certainly with photoshop and the crazy array of tools out there to rescue and improve images, there are ways to turn an unusable photo into a usable one. But the really good ones take some planning and execution...and there it is. It really is a magical experience to visualize something and then, have it turn out exactly as you had hoped, and sometimes better. It's not so magical when you suck. But that's another post...hopefully not too soon.

What this means from a personal perspective, is that I've been able to witness my own progress quite distinctly. Each month, quarter, or year, many photographers dig into our archives in search of those worthy photographs to enter into competition. Usually it’s there that we can get a sense of what we’ve done over the past weeks, months or years. The contest itself, I’ve come to find out, is indeed irrelevant. I would love to win something of course. But it’s more important to me now to see that I’m a better photographer.

reminiscing on the lack of HVAC students in the county, despite the industry's 500,000 shortcoming of qualified technicians...

This woman was fighting to have the county create a dog park. In a county of nearly half a million there are no dog parks (until just the other day, that is, when the first opened up)

Recently, I've been able to see a progression from my portraits. Something I'd ben extremely reluctant to embrace has almost become something I relish. I've finally gotten past my fear and loathing of portraits. These are a few recent ones that really turned out the way I had hoped. More to come, for sure...

This woman has battled MS for 9 years, and continues to be an activist for those who struggle with the disease...