a slightly different focus

This isn’t a twenty-word synopsis. For an more concise view, please see this early blog post.

I’ve always enjoyed photography. I was in the camera club in high school, learned to develop film (and enjoy playing with hazardous chemicals in dark rooms), enjoyed the visuals, but hated the time and cost — and somehow never followed through. Because of what was involved, it was always a hobby. Something to enjoy, not to do.

Instead, almost immediately out of high school — more than twenty years ago, now — I went into another visual medium: graphic design. While not my major in college, it was clear before I graduated that I wasn’t going to pursue what I’d originally planned. I was going to be a designer.

That took me some interesting places. I did some great work … amongst lots of mistakes. I worked on logos, advertising, and then, when the internet was still fresh and new, web sites. Wound up in Florida, got married, and tried all sorts of things graphically, some of which I still really like:

Care Plus, a home-health business logo from the mid-’90s

However, for better or worse, I never really felt comfortable.

Then, almost ten years ago, I was turned onto book design. This marriage of design and literature excited me. Books are a constant companion in my life, and the idea of helping an author or publisher — providing the difference between “blah” and “buy now” — turned out to be exactly that comfort zone I was looking for.

Okay, sure, in the beginning, my efforts could best be described as “good” — nothing exciting:

Alligator Tales, my first book cover

In search of that excitement, there was a detour into the corporate world; I joined a major juice company’s design team — that one formerly based in Florida — and worked on designs that literally billions of people have seen. But it took less than a year for me to discover that corporate life wasn’t for me — the backstab-to-get-ahead mentality just wasn’t where I wanted to go. I quit on my second anniversary.

In my last few months in the corporate world, and especially once I went out on my own, I had only one goal: get good at book design. I worked on books for small and large publishers alike, studied the art, and, eventually, enjoyed tremendous success — my schedule filled up with projects, and book design blog, Foreword, generated more and more hits until, in its most popular year, more than two million visitors stopped by. For a while, I was, for all intents and purposes, at the top of my game. Book design was king.

Want proof? Here’s a jacket done this Spring, 2008:

Clean Election Reform (click for larger)

Yeah, that’s right, I still do a little book design. For folks like, you know, Cornell. But now, book design is the hobby. If you look closely at the jacket above, you’ll notice I did the photography, too — and am pushing that aspect of the project.

What changed? Two things: photography went digital, and I got divorced and moved to Macon, Georgia.

It took a few generations of digital cameras to really get me involved. But when I did, I could immediately see the potential it offered. I didn’t think, though, that it would ever replace book design.

Cue the divorce, which caused all sorts of problems with the book design company — and the blog, both of which I operated together with my (now ex-) wife. In the end, the blog and book design company had to die. I bought a house in the Vineville/Ingelside area in Macon. Priorities just seemed to … shift.

My career as a photographer is the result.

Inundated (Self-Portrait 2008)

Sure, it hasn’t been easy. Restarting from scratch — at almost 40 — isn’t something I wish on anyone. But I’m hoping that the visual skills I bring to the table, combined with the generosity of my fellow Maconites, will bear me out.

At this writing, there are more than a thousand photographs on this site, from weddings to local get-togethers, portraits to still life and abstracts, photographs from Middle Georgia to places like Florida, New York City, and much more — all available as prints, with some even available for electronic license, for use in advertising, media, and endless other options.

Please, let me know of I can do anything to assist with your photography needs.

Thank you.