That’s where the typical “photographer” bio ends. You see I can’t tell you that I’m a wildlife, portrait, landscape or any other niche photographer. Why?, because I just enjoy capturing moments and storytelling no matter the subject. For me there’s always a story to be told, a feeling to be felt or thought to be had. So here’s mine.

So There I Was…… The year is 2024, and I’m staring at my Amazon cart. I ask myself “Am I about to spend $1300 on a camera I have no idea how to use?” *click* “Yep”

Fast forward 6 months of complete obsession and YouTube lessons on photography. I enter 3 photos at local photography contest. To my surprise I won 1st place in two of the categories and place 2nd in the third. It was also on this day that Canon USA selected and featured one of my photos on their instagram. Which was the first of two features (so far) It was at this point I told myself that maybe I can do this on a bigger level. So I made a plan to take a year and keep learning, keep shooting and figure out what makes photography important to me.

It always came back to one thing, the name.

So There I was…… Long before the camera in my teens and twenties I was a moment seeker, an adventurer, a wanderer. My best friend Josh and I did everything together, trips, concerts or just random hangouts. We lived in the moment, and when we would tell our friends about our crazy stories it always started the same “So there I was”. Sometimes it was just he and I. We’d look at each other and say “So there I was” acknowledging how lucky we were to be in the moment. Even at his wedding for my best man speech there was only one appropriate opening line “So there I was”.

It wasn’t until much later and I was writing while out shooting (as I often do) and I randomly wrote “So there I was” in my journal I realized those four words signified so much. For me it’s a moment forever frozen in time, it’s a memory of not just what you see but how you feel. Every good story has a good opening line now with this camera I can provide illustrations for those stories.