I don’t claim to know the right answer to this question and suspect it is different for every individual, but it has plagued me and so many other photographers for years.  The question at hand….. Do we specialize and create a niche with our photography or not? To be honest, I have been picky my entire career and for the most part have been very selective about the work I show and the jobs I accept.  I have never wanted to water down a web site or portfolio with images that I thought a client might want to see or hire me for, if it would somehow reduce the quality of work that it was among.

For all intents and purposes I completely stand behind that philosophy, however as I mature in my career and creativity, the fact that I like to push myself to be challenged in shooting different subject matter, grow creatively, and have a passion for creating and problem solving in general, is hard to ignore.  It also seems counter intuitive to the way I was educated in a liberal arts and Jesuit tradition in both high school and college, which emphasizes a love of learning, well roundedness, and critical thinking.  Who would have thought that having a wide variety of talent and experience to bring to the table and a passion to learn and challenge one self to deliver the best results would be a disadvantage.

I completely understand that to be great at any one thing, an individual must invest an incredible amount of time and effort to pursuing that education or craft, but I wonder if as a society we have taken it a little too far.  Witnessing the intensity and training of some of my sons teammates in particular sports at the early age of 8 is a prime example, and I find it sad.   It is determined for so many children at an early age by their parents, what sport they will play and dedicate their lives to.  In China, children who show promise and talent in a particular sport or area of education are plucked from their families as early as 5 years old to train year round.  In a global market, those are exactly the individuals that we and our children will compete against at every level and wonder if trying to keep up, compete, and follow the mold of success like the Tiger Woods of our generation, is the wisest choice.  Yes they might have far superior training in one area of expertise.  Yes they may have played a sport so many hours for so many years that their bodies operate like machines on instinct or they might have studied complex math problems and equations from the age of 3 that they can make sense of any complex code and command their salary for a job at the NSA, and yes, I have absolutely gone a little further down a road then I anticipated, but my point is this.  As much as I respect the Peyton Mannings of this world, or the Frank Lloyd Wrights, or Warren Buffetts, the reality is, most of us are not in a position to win a Superbowl, are trying to build the most creative and unique home in the world, or have the means to seek Warren Buffetts investing advice to make millions.  The majority of us simply want to seek satisfaction out of our work, do a job well, love and be loved, and live a quality life.

I am not sure what grand revelation I have come to, or whether I will brand myself as a specialist or not, but what I do know is that the friends that I enjoy the most are those that I can hold an intelligent conversation with about anything,  the best solutions to specific problems seem to come from people who are able to look at it from a different perspective, drawing from a broader knowledge base, and as much as I hold myself to a high standard and would love nothing more than to be the absolute best at one thing, I believe the sacrifice of not experiencing all the diversity that life has to offer, as well as the time with my family in the pursuit of perfection, is far too much to sacrifice.

This image is from a trip I took to San Paulo, Brazil to visit a friend.  For whatever reason I like this photo, probably in some respect to the fact that it is chaotic, which is what San Paulo feels like.  It is like New York city on steroids and is the most populous city in the Americas.  I happen to fly in the day the airline workers went on strike and ended up standing in the customs line for over 5 hours. With no way to communicate with my friend on the other side, I finally emerged through customs with no one to greet me.

Weighing my options, and not able to speak any Portuguese, I exchanged some currency and finally decided to show a cab driver the address I had written down on a piece of paper.  It was then that I experienced the most thrilling and nerve racking cab ride of my life, complete with motorcycle messengers racing in between traffic and kicking the cab if it dared impede their progress.   They are commonly referred to as “cachorros locos,” Portuguese for “mad dogs” and rightfully so.   One or two die every day doing their job.  Surprisingly, I made it to my friends place in one piece.  As interesting and cultural as San Paulo is, the ability to escape the chaos in a couple hours to some of the most beautiful beaches and small coastal towns in the world is what I found most appealing about the city.

This was back in the days of film when one of my clients was South Carolina State Parks.  It was after sunset on an incredibly calm summer evening.  If I recall correctly the exposure was around 20 seconds or so and the boat was so motionless that it is still sharp.  It was the last exposure of the night before I called it a day and went back to my tent for the night.  To think I actually had to wait several days before picking up the film from the lab to see the results……… boy have things changed in this business.

This image brings me back to my formative days.  After college in Baltimore I moved to Greenville, South Carolina to take a full time assistant position with a commercial photography studio.  After work on Friday I would head to the mountains to camp, hike, rock climb, kayak, and shoot.  It was during those two years of exploring that I fell in love with this region.  I was hooked……..and still am!

Rolling Kayaker on the Chattooga River on the South Carolina/ Georgia border.

This was a photo shoot of a Pheasant Hunt for “Garden & Gun”  in West Virginia.  It was a great assignment, but I was also thrilled to come back in one piece.  Walking ahead to be able to photograph them shooting over top of my head when the Pheasant was flushed out, was a little unnerving.  It was right around the time Dick Cheney shot his friend while hunting, which definitely affected my typical “these are experienced professionals, I have nothing to worry about”  mentality.

Pheasant Hunt in the fall at Primland Resort in West Virginia for a story in Garden & Gun Magazine.

This is a category that will encourage me to produce fresh content on a consistent basis, share recent work and projects, or dig into the archives and find images that may have been overlooked or just forgotten.

It is truly amazing how many images we create as photographers, never to see the light of day.  Only a tiny fraction make the cut to be published, used in the marketplace, or even grace my monitor for more than a second.  If the most recent re-release of the infamous 1972  “Exile on Main Street”  album, by the Rolling Stones, isn’t a testament to the gems that may be buried in the archives, I don’t know what is.  Not that I could ever compare myself or work to that of the Stones, but if songs like “Plundered My Soul”, which has quickly become in my top ten list of all songs, could some how be passed over and missed by the band and producers, surely, there are a couple image in my archive ready to get a second look.

There will be no rhyme or reason to this category.  It will  simply serve as a place where I can upload an image on a consistent basis that does not need to fit into a category, illustrate a story, or be approved by an art director or editor.  It can stand on its own for what it is.  Here begins a personal test of my commitment to posting work on a consistent basis.

Between May21st and 31st race fans from all over the country descend on Charlotte to enjoy the Nascar experience.  At the center of that experience is Speed TV, the Charlotte based broadcasting company that is the nation’s first and foremost cable television network dedicated to motor sports and the fan experience.

While hundreds of photographers covered the drivers, race teams, and events, my job was to focus on my clients needs by documenting the broadcast teams, sets, fan interaction, corporate involvement, and the overall brand that has become synonymous with all things motorsports. These are just a few but if  interested you can find a larger selection under my recent projects category of my website.

Well I was poised to add another blog today about another subject when I received an email and learned about the death of Ken Gehle, a fellow photographer out of Atlanta,  just shy of his 47th birthday.  Although I did not know him personally, I knew his work well and the loss comes as a shock. Perhaps the shock is due largely to the fact that I see the similarities in our lives and it hits a little too close to home.  He too had a wife and 2 children, one boy and one girl, just as I do, and we both had similar styles and passions in life as well as our photography.  A battle with cancer took him from his family and already having a melanoma myself when I was 27, I understand that cancer can strike anyone at any time.  So naturally, when I heard the news, it caused me to reflect on my own mortality, and on what truly matters in life.

First and foremost I want to share Ken’s website with you, where proceeds from print sales will go towards his kids college education  http://www.kengehle.com .     From his landscapes of Newfoundland to his environmental portraits of everyday people, his work was beautiful, clean, and of the highest quality.  I myself would visit his website from time to time to seek inspiration in my ow work.

The unfortunate news conjured up various thoughts.  What about the the longevity of my photography and more importantly, it’s ability to earn income for my family, if I were to meet a similar fate.  The reality is, if I were to suddenly die today, my computer would gather dust, the 12 external hard drives with over 6 terabytes of images would become paper weights, and the filing cabinets full of transparencies would remain in the dark.  Like most photographers, I can be very controlling when it comes to my work and therefore am the only one who really knows the system, what images are where, and how to access them, so the reality of my photography living on and having the ability to earn residual income as stock photography or prints for my family, is remote.

While the thought of it can be depressing it raises a more fundamental question, which is what is my true worth?  As artists we put our hearts and souls into our work and it very much can define us.  We value it more than any client is capable of doing because to them it is utilized to gain a result or profit, but to us it is often an expression of who we are and how we feel.  But when it is all said and done, they are just images, it was just work, and a means to supporting a family and although I would like to commit to having a plan for my work to live on in the event of a tragedy, perhaps my time would be better spent enjoying time with my wife and kids so instead of my images living on, the memories of me in their lives will be what endures.

I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Ken to fight everyday knowing that sooner or later the cancer would take him from his family.  I can’t comprehend how heart wrenching it must have been for his wife and children to witness it.   What I do know is that it is very easy to get caught up in the every day and let work take over our lives.  I am very fortunate to make a living doing what I love, but in the end it is a job that will cease the very second that I do and there will be plenty to take my place.   The memories that I create and the love that I give to my wife and kids however will live as long as they do and my role in my family is unique to me and not one that is easily replaced.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Ken’s family and I thank him for  producing work during his time that was inspirational and for reminding me how  fragile life can be.

For no other reason than this past weekends Kentucky Derby got me thinking about Horses and Kentucky, where I spent many days of my youth having grown up right across the river in Cincinnati,  I thought I would share some images of a Horse Farm I photographed in Paris, Kentucky back in November.  Siena Farms recently converted an old cattle farm into a breath taking horse farm with striking yellow stables and is dedicated to breeding and raising world class race horses.  Here are a couple images from the photo shoot.

If you are ever driving on interstate 75 through Kentucky and can afford to take 30 or so minutes off your drive, veer off to the East around Lexington and get ready to see some beautiful rolling hills, breathtaking horse farms, and a truly unique and history rich part of our country.