drum roll please

I am not a photographer -- not in the professional sense anyway. I do, however, love to take pictures, and I love when other people enjoy my photos. That is why I am starting this blog because I enjoy photos.

I love photography because it's something I do for myself. I don't do it because I get paid to (although I wouldn't mind being paid to take pictures) or because other people want me to (although I have been known to take pictures because people ask me to). I simply take pictures because of the joy that I get merely from the act of taking pictures. I love messing around with the settings and the angles and the colors. I love the rush I feel when I get that perfect shot that I wanted.

I take pictures because my best memories are tied up in them. A picture transcends time and change. A picture tells a story of what was and what is and what might have been. A picture is powerful. A picture is a world unto itself.

Sometimes I will perhaps tell you the story of a certain picture. And sometimes I will just let the picture tell its own story. My ultimate goal, though, is that you would enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoy taking them. That is when I will truly be a successful photographer.