Welcome, fair readers. This is the chatty part of the site or the “blog.” A word I hate (and just the word, not the concept or execution of said noun). It sounds like something you cough up while sick. Anyway.

So, I’m giving it a go. I’ve had a camera in my hands since about age 12, which was a fair bit ago. I’ve been paid by people and companies to image their stuff, events or ephemera.

And when this network of internet tubes came about at about the same time digital photography technologies coalesced, I traded out my film cameras for what seems like a never-ending parade of digital sensors that grew in resolution and capability year after year. Which is… expensive. Remember that multi-thousand dollar 12-megapixel wonder machine from a few years ago? Yeah, now it’s a paperweight that someone with a strong sense of nostalgia might give you $75 for. Sad, as someone might say. Not exactly like owning and using an F3 for 25 years and just collecting ever more glass for it. But I digress.

In June of 2018, a small company I poured many years of my time and talents into in exchange for a decent paycheck (and badly needed health care) saw fit to show me the door in the most impersonal and callous way. At first, I thought I had done something wrong. No, they said, it’s us, not you. Sound familiar, young lovers? It hurt like that.

Looking over the body of my work (sadly copyrighted to them), I finally accepted a larger truth: It was their loss, and an opportunity for me. But a difficult road lay ahead, and I really didn’t have the right car.

What I do have is tens of thousands of images, two nice (but aging) drones and the love and support of a partner for the ages. And a great kid, amplified by another great kid who has recently emerged into manhood, more a brother than a son. An abundance of riches, make no mistake.

So from here, we go on together. I carry my latest frame grabber everywhere, a small wonder of a thing with capabilities I would have thought science fiction just a few years ago, but one that will be a new paperweight in a collection of months. Good thing I bought the budget model.

See you out there, friends.