I am not a morning person

Photography is the only art of mine that is bred from my own set of rules and standards. I’m a musician, and I play by note structures that others have defined. When I write I do so by obeying, or at least attempting to obey, rules of grammar and punctuation that others have defined. When I design layouts for print or Web, I always keep in mind that I must do so with the intended audiences perspective in mind. But photography is something that, unless done for a particular project, there are no rules or limits for me that others set. Call it selfishness, greed, callousness if you will. I call it none of these. I’m only taking for myself in the moment. And if my sharing what I’ve seen, or altering images to show them how I see them, doesn’t suit others rules or limitations, it doesn’t change how I will continue to take or alter my photographs in the future. That’s not to say that my style is not largely influenced by every photographer, famous or not, whose photographs I’ve seen or every other kind of artists’ works that I’ve loved or hated. That’s not to say that if one person today shows disgust in a particular aspect of my style, I will not consider the possible flawed nature of this detail. What I mean is that I am the rule setter, the rule breaker, the eye, the shutter, film, the pixels, and the paper in the moment before I hear “click.”