When I began shooting photographs around the age of 12, I was considered a geek.

40-years later, I woke-up to discover that everyone had become a geek with a camera … as in overnight.

“Hey, how ’bout taking back all those nasty things you said?”

To me, it was always a passion. I captured images of the world around me to satisfy me, and no one else. Each one of my Kodachrome slides still holds a story, which means I have thousands of untold stories.

I don’t necessarily shoot subjects that would be considered popular, as I have always been attracted to the different … not necessarily the pretty.

Since I don’t shoot for admiration or recognition, photo competitions have never been important to me. In 40+ years of shooting, I’ve been persuaded to enter only *two* competitions. The first, back in the mid-70s, was a Nikon-sponsored national contest. I didn’t win, but I was the third loser … some call that Fourth Place.

In 2006, I allowed a friend to persuade me to enter another competition. Since about 35-years had passed since the first, I decided it wouldn’t be considered competitively-obsessive. This was a huge competition, as everything is international now. In my last-minute, procrastinated-rush, I narrowed it down to five potential entries, and with the deadline looming, I just entered all five.

I’ve never won a contest of any kind — even a raffle. So out of those five photos I entered, one of my entries did nothing … it was a no-show. Of the remaining four, one took a Silver (second place) and three took Bronze. Once again, I remained winless. I was told I should be excited.

Oh. Really?

I figured that you, my clients, would be more excited, since if I had won, you’d pay more for my prints.

Lucky for you, yes?

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