My story begins likely not unlike your own. Taking art classes throughout my time at PV was a mental break of sorts as I never excelled at math or science or those other core classes, so digital photography, graphic design, and PVTV were classes that allowed me the flexibility to breathe and create, opening up a world of possibility where the other classes made me feel more trapped than anything else. Throughout high school, I never thought much about my career, but I knew that I wanted to do something that allowed me to create. After making a few films in my junior and senior years with friends, I decided to study filmmaking at a small private school. During my sophomore year of college, I grew to love being behind the camera and decided to focus on cinematography. To develop my eye for creating motion pictures, I realized I should be able to tell a strong story within a single photograph. I practiced and studied photography more and more, drawing from my time in Mr. Komp’s classes, and eventually, I was asked by a friend if I would photograph his wedding. I happily said yes for the small price of $200 which to me at the time was an outrageous amount of money for someone who had never once photographed a wedding, nor been to a wedding since he was a kid. But at the end of the wedding, I was hooked. I wanted to do this as a job. Now, over 10 years later I have photographed over 200 different weddings, am a full-time wedding photographer, and filmmaker, and live a life that is flexible and allows me to create work with the happiest people every weekend.