Favorite Location: Don’t really have one. I try and make the most out of any place I shoot. But I always seem to find good stuff on this one back road near me. Whenever I’m stuck and just want to shoot, I hit that road and will always find something good.

Thoughts and such: Photography is a medium that usually doesn’t lie. Sure, people will over-process, totally change photos and do whatever they can via Photoshop, but photography by and large is a medium that can tell a story through the eyes of someone else. The beauty of the camera is that when you are looking at an image, you are possibly looking into someone else’s vision, their thoughts, their dreams, their wants and their hopes. A photo can be looked at so many different ways and it’s what makes photography so great.

A lot of times it doesn’t even matter what kind of camera you have – whether it be a point-and-shoot or a top-of-the-line DSLR, the photographer’s vision is what counts in the end. A good photo, a bad photo – it’s all subjective. What is art to one person belongs in a dumpster to the next.

About: I’m a simple guy. Live in a small town, work at a small daily newspaper as a sports writer and occasional photographer. I have the opportunity to do a lot of things working for a small place. I don’t know where the future will take me – whether it be in this field or another part of it – but I keep trying to move forward professionally and personally.

I started taking photos when I was younger. At one point or another, I’ve owned my own darkroom, was the main darkroom tech at a small weekly, shot weddings, events and sports, and also just known how to screw around and use a point-and-shoot. I love film although I find it harder and harder to use film cameras because digital is such an instant gratification. I think I got the photo bug from my grandfather and my brother, who both were big into it. My brother has recently gotten back into it as well. I once thought I would like to do this for a living. In fact, I was offered a job at my paper as a photographer. However, I turned it down in the end because I knew I would miss writing too much, and, because in the end I love photography – the way I want to do it, not the way I would have to do it.

In the end, everyone who picks up a camera is doing something right. No matter what, people see something and snap. I just do my thing, try and get better everyday and dare to try new and different things and looks. I find there’s only one way to grow as a photographer and that’s to listen, look and react – and in the end, smile because you never know if you’re on the other end of the camera!