[Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/4000 – Alienbees B1600, Triggered with Pocketwizards]

When I took this photo, I was doing all I could to capture the look of musical Oklahoma! in Roswell, Georgia, at a friend’s horse farm.

I didn’t get paid at all for this photo shoot. However, I put as much effort into it as I have done for any client. I wasn’t doing this for my portfolio and wasn’t motivated to do it for the school.

I love my daughter so very much that I was doing all this for her. I wanted her to have the best experience in high school theater possible.

I also didn’t do this alone. Dorie, my wife, and I have been doing this all through the years for all of our kids. Dorie assisted me that day, and we got a great banner for the photo together.

I think the best motivation for any photograph centers around love. While we can show the joy of devotion through smiles, we can also show the sorrow that comes from seeing one suffer in life.

Yesterday we took our daughter off to college, where she will major in theater with a minor in dance and get a teaching certificate. I feel like all those photos of her dance classes, orchestra performances, choral performances, and theater productions let her know we supported her love of the arts.

As one with Asperger’s Syndrome, I can tell you that Aspie’s love. We love in a different ways. I do find myself experiencing lots of emotions but will struggle more than most people on how to convey this to others. I have used photography to demonstrate to others how much I care.

Now I realize that I still need to communicate using words, but this is much more difficult for me. I continue to work on it and am so blessed to have such a wonderful wife who has helped to bring me out of my shell and taught me how to interact with others.

Without the emotion of love as my motivator, I could not produce some of my best work.

Don’t get sucked into thinking about photography as working with technology, or you will develop a GAS problem—gear Acquisition Syndrome.

Too many photographers forget that the 6 inches behind the viewfinder are more critical than the 6 inches in front. The REAL KEY is to make the camera disappear to the audience, not the photograph’s focus.

Your inspiration must start somewhere. I found mine to begin with my family. Today I am just reflecting on the time with my daughter since yesterday we turned the page. We are now in a new chapter of life with my daughter.

Maybe you feel frozen in your work. Perhaps you are depressed or experiencing anxiety.

At first, it’s normal to feel rattled, frozen, or unclear about what to do. After a while, you do what you can to change things for the better. But often, there’s not much you can change, sometimes nothing.

Still, there is always one thing you can do, no matter what.

You can always find someone to love.

Love feeds us as it flows out of us. Soothing, calming, centering, and strengthening.