What has photography done for me?

The Out of Chicago Event went great, I had a great time and met a lot of really nice folks!  During one of my sessions a man asked me a great question and I wanted to share it, and my answer, with you.  The question was;  “After all these years of traveling and photographing every imaginable subject and location, what is the best thing all of this has given back to you?“

I didn’t have to think even for a minute, it’s that simple, it’s the people!  From the moment I fell in love with photography it has been the great people that photography has brought into my life!   There is a real danger of doing this kind of post, because invariably, I will leave someone out and that would be a shame since all these folks I have gotten to know through this craft are precious to me, but my mind is seventyone and that does tax things!!!  So, to all the students, and friends in the field, thank you so much!!!!

Let me start with now and work backwards, I am thrilled to be teaching with Jack Graham as my teaching partner, he is the consumate professional at running workshops with years of experience in how to do it right, and he does. “do it right!”  Jack is a great shooter and one of my best friends, I enjoy his company even when our workshops stretch over two weeks, I still, hate to go home and leave his comapny, though I love going home to my very best friend, Sherelene!!!  Jack is a real friend and brother too!

Jim Haverstock and his wife Sue are another couple of best friends that I have come to love dearly and enjoy every moment I have with them!  Jim is one of the best shooting partners in the field, we have endless things we both enjoy and our time together is always great!  Jim is as fine a Christian man as I know.

When the His Light Workshops were going strong I had the emmense pleasure of working with and being best friends with Jim Begley.  Jim is a real triple threat; a great shooter, great Christian gentleman, and one of the nicest guys you could ever have the chance to get to know!  I miss being with him out there in the field all the time!  Then there was all the fun we had with John “The Snake” Barrett and Chuck Barnes, two really great guys, and wonderful shooters too!  How could I think of those years without mentioning Dr. Chuck Summers, a long time dear brother and another great shooter, really love this guy!!!  During the days of the His Light Events I was so fortunate to meet Carl Turner who has become a very dear brother and a great friend.  Carl and I are both very close to Charles Stanley and our relationships are truly one of the real treasures of my life!  Carl is a very special man, and he has blessed my life in more ways than I can describe!

Going back to the Great American Photography days, I had some wonderful friends that worked side by side with me, Mike Ellison, the late, great Don Nelson, Cliff Zenor, David Akoubian, Wayne Bennett just to name a few, wow what great folks!  I won’t even start to name all the legendary shooters that taught with us, trust me they are the who’s who of nature, landscape, wildlife and close-up photographers!

What I’m saying is long after my images have faded and been forgotten, these great people will define what was best about photography for me!

Blessings,

the pilgrim

If you didn’t find yourself listed and you know you should have been, your’re right, sorry about that!!!