I am grateful to all those who help bring the images to life.
My subjects, the models who spend time in front of my camera, are the most obvious collaborators. They put in extended time before and after photo shoots, that help us achieve our results. Preparation for a photo shoot, as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle take effort. And photo shoots can be exhausting, working just a few hours can still mean their day is committed to this one job.
The printer I use to produce my limited edition photographs spends many hours maintaining and calibrating equipment. I can take accurate, consistent color and premium photo paper for granted, although I know that a lot of effort goes into providing excellent service. I am lucky to have a counterpart who is a small business proprietor as passionate about quality as I am.
I spend many hours in Photoshop after a photo shoot. I am grateful that I am afforded the time and focus to produce these images. It’s only as a second career that I’m in the financial situation to be a full-time creative. I am thankful to all the things that I have learned leading up to this point: that happy coworkers are productive coworkers and that people’s hearts need to be into their work.
It’s not lost on me that I have the opportunity to practice my particular craft and style in a country and culture where creatives are allowed great freedom in what they produce. When I’m spending tedious long hours marketing my work, I remind myself that there are worse ways to earn a living, and that I wouldn’t choose any other profession. There are many unseen tasks such as packaging art shipments or maintaining equipment, but I would not trade this job for any other.
I’m glad I live in a time where I can market my limited editions and books online to collectors around the world, as well as ship them to almost every corner of the globe.
And of course I am grateful to those who collect my work. Obviously without sales, I would not be able to pay my mortgage or buy food. I am fortunate to be able to practice my photography and painting full time. It takes a bit of effort to persuade a serious collector to spend hard-earned money on compositions that they will frame and display. I’m thankful that collectors continue to catch me every time I take that leap of faith when I put time and investment into creating and marketing my work.
My thoughts are frequently consumed with creating my next composition and I want to take time to acknowledge the feelings and contributions of others. It is important to say “thank you.” So I will take this opportunity to include everyone who has made a contribution.