I never went to school for this. I picked up a camera with no formal training and just started paying attention, to light, to the second right before someone laughs, to the difference between a photo where someone's performing and one where they're actually there. That's still the whole job.

I run my business out of Jacksonville, Florida, and I shoot everything from flying dress sessions to family portraits to women who walked in convinced they're not photogenic and walked out very confused about that opinion. My style has a name now, editorial storytelling, but really it just means I care more about the truth of a moment than whether everyone's smiling the exact same way at the exact same second like a school picture from 1988.

Some of the work I do matters to me in a different way. The Present Project exists because I know what it's like to run out of time to get a photo with someone you love. I built it so other families don't have to learn that lesson the hard way.

When I'm not shooting, I'm probably editing in my home studio, which I affectionately call "Not the Main House," or trying to convince a client that yes, that awkward laugh mid-sentence really is the best photo of the day, no matter how many times they ask me to "just take a normal one."

If you want someone who's going to tell you to say cheese, I'm not your photographer. If you want someone who's going to see you, actually see you, let's talk.