I have been asked several things since I came back in December. Why did you leave? Why have you come back? How come you did not stay gone!! I am here to tell you what is what.

I got into photography because of my full time job. I am an engineer, 3D designer and graphics designer for a display company. I have been doing this for 7 years. I have been in this industry for over 20 years. I started doing 3D modeling and creating things when I changed jobs in 2002. They found out I was pretty good with Photoshop so they sent me out to take photos (with a little Olympus point and shoot). I would fix them in Photoshop and we would send photographs to customers.

2 years down the road, work got a Nikon D70 and a set of hot lights. At this point in time I have been shooting with a Fuji 3500. I picked it up and said, "What is with all these damn buttons? What a pain in the ass." A guy that works with me said, "You know, if you learn to take better photos you will not have to do so much Photoshop work on these pictures." At this point in time I am thinking I am pretty damn good already. So I was like, whatever.

Work offered to pay for a non-credited basic photography course. I took this 3-night course and I was hooked. I have been learning ever since. I have read (and if any of you have read my posts you will know I hate to read and stink at typing) over 30 books on Photoshop and Lightroom and at least twice that many on photography.

Then I found NOBS while looking up information about wedding. You see, my wife informed me that if I wanted bigger and better toys I better start making money. So I come across these two crazy Canadians, one sitting on a toilet with his computer and one naked on his book cover and think, yup this is for me. I enrolled and got all their info.

Meanwhile, I was on my second wedding. I found out that I wasn't just doing it for money. I really enjoyed shooting weddings and as I have been told many times, it fits with my personality. I started reading everything I could find in the forum and copying everything I liked. There were very big influences on me back then. James and Rob were huge. Andy, Steve, Shelly, and Craig were also huge influences. Hell even Dan. As James said at the '07 inferno "Fake it until you make it your own."

I did just that. I tore the actions apart. I had to have bugged the hell out of James because I kept emailing him. How does this work and that? Sometimes it would take days but he always got back to me. I asked everyone everything. Like a lot of people that come on here, I started asking bigger names on here, how did you do this and this and this and I would get aggravated that they would not respond. In my mind I was saying, "They just think they are better then everyone else."

What I did not know, is that they were getting tons of emails and it is just not possible to get to all of them. At this point in time, though, I was still in my "thin skin" phase. I see a lot of this now.

I went to Inferno in '07 and made a ton of friends. People have no clue what the difference is between talking to people on here or on the phone versus in person. People also have no clue what a value the Inferno is. Try finding another seminar that will pack that much info into that amount of time for that price.

I tried and you will pay 4 to 5 times as much for what someone will promote as the same thing. I say promote because a lot of the times it is someone, who you have just paid a grand to go see, that it is giving a lecture that teaches you nothing that a CD or DVD can't teach you.

So I grew and enjoyed the time. I met (not just saw, but met) Guy and Julie Martin while at Inferno. What a totally awesome couple, especially if you want info.

For the next six months I personally started to get bored with things in the forum. I felt it was the same old thing over and over again and I was not really learning anything. I was frustrated. So I was told about a couple of other sites and I went over to them. I thought one was much more "professional" and had seen how many people were on it. I figured, hey new blood. Maybe things will be different.

I was right, it was very different. I am not here to bash other sites. I think they all have their place. I am here to tell you, it was not worth it. I wasted a lot of money trying to find what I thought I was missing. The problem with every other site is the same thing. Full time versus part time. It was one fight, argument, and complaint after another.

After about six months, I found that it was not this site that was the problem. I was the problem. More than that I missed the people from NOBS. The people here are like family. Not one other site out there made me feel that way. This site is not just about one or two people...it's about everyone here. That's what makes this site special. The same things that people promote there are promoted here.

I guess what bothered me was the lack of respect. I have heard for years that the "pros" hold onto their secrets. They will share, for a price. Until I seen it I would never have believed it. All in all it really just was not worth it.

In here, every day you have someone, whether it is a pro or someone just starting out to learn from. Just like anything else in life. You get out of it what you put in to it.

I contacted Rob one day on facebook to tell him how much I missed this place. I figured I would get a, serves you right or that is what you get butthead! Not even close. Instead I get an email saying why not come on back. We have all your info and we would love to have you back. I was blown away.

I have been asked what changed. Several things changed. I went back to my original philosophy of find beauty everywhere. It is about the beauty for me, even more than the money. It's funny, when I went back to looking at photos this way everything fell into place. I started out as a nature shooter and it is still one of my passions.

(A tree never complains about its ass looking too big.)

I started teaching and I think that is something that you has helped me also. I got bored not because of this place but because I wanted to learn tons of new stuff every day. Now it is to the point where I learn some new stuff. Watching or helping others learn new things, now that is freakin awesome. On top of that there are some up and coming big names here Jaco, Ricky and Wayne just to name a few. People I can learn from and seeing stuff I love.

Last I am opening a studio in a small town close to where I live. It will be a studio and a gallery. I have taken on a partner to make this dream come true. Everything I have learnt, from marketing, advertising and sales have come from this site. Even partnering up and how to run our schedule.

What have I learnt here... see for yourself.