I will admit,  I first became interested in photography when it went digital. Film and dark rooms just  didn’t excite me.  However, I was always fascinated with technology and pursued a degree and career in it.  I loved programming computers when I was growing up.  But before computers came along, I remember as a child loving to draw and create things.  I used to spend hours building scale models for my father’s model railroad.  I was always meticulous and had to have everything look realistic (i.e. perfectly imperfect).  Once computers came along, they captured my attention and I got into programming and once again had to make sure my programs were perfect and efficient.  I loved the fact that computers didn’t ask questions.  They did exactly what you told them.  Programming made me realize how imperfect “I” was.  Years passed studying technology and I never really gave creativity another thought until photography went digital and I discovered Photoshop.  It was kind of like being a kid all over again; except this time, I was combining creativity with technology!  The more I learned about the field of photography the more engrossed I became.  Eventually I realized if I wanted to continue shooting I was going to have to make money at it.  This meant I was going to have to spend time learning how to create great images right out of the camera so as to have the best images to work with on the computer and of course speed up the post processing.  It became a real quest, and this is where I began to learn that creativity was something much more than I ever imagined.  Someone once said, “It is only the phenomenon of creativity which separates man from machines and animals.”  I felt like I had been going through life with my eyes wide shut.  In the technical world I had become used to getting my hands around something and solving it.  For some reason I couldn’t do this when it came to creating images.  It was literally limitless.  I set out to learn all the rules of creating great shots, taking class after class, reading book after book, only to realize there weren’t really any rules per say, only suggestions.  I kept seeing great images that literally broke all the rules.  I struggled with this for a long time and I think I finally had an epiphany.  It was this limitlessness that I had somehow been blind to all my life.  I couldn’t help but feel I had been living a good part of my life not exercising this essential human element. So I decided to stop struggling with it and instead began to embrace it and even more importantly, cherish it.  I truly think my work started to improve.  I kind of just let go, and gave myself the freedom to create, while either incorporating or breaking all the rules, I mean suggestions, I had learned.  I actually started to have fun; something my wife never thought I was capable of, but that’s another story :-).  All this time, I’m not so sure if it was technology or digital that was captivating me, but maybe creativity in and of itself.  I must say I have learned the hard way there is a difference when you can see the difference.  It’s kind of like when your tastes develop over time and you start enjoying the finer foods in life.  It’s not until you can taste the difference that you can truly enjoy the  difference; and once you have, you’ve been enlightened, and isn’t that what it’s all about.  It is my hope that I can instill into my clients some of that awakening I experienced on my journey as a photographer.  If I can do that through my work and my relationships with them, it will make it all worthwhile.  I truly hope I can make your portraits a lasting memory throughout your life and that you too will see the difference.