Hark, your words are far too kind. I'm sitting here more than slightly embarrassed, but I thank you for them. My brother has been a working photojournalist since he graduated from high school, working his way up from stringer to local papers to staff on one of the largest papers in the nation. He has been shooting digital since the original Kodak backs came out and he has been an incredible resource when it comes to learning how to work in Photoshop and what to do in post. He's an absolute master when it comes to the digital darkroom and I'd be at sea without what I've learned from him, so if there's an element to my photos that I can thank him for it's that he's helped me to "print" well.
I've never formally "studied photography". For the most part I absorb what I see in others work and try to incorporate what I see in their photos into what I'm currently trying to shoot. I'm still rather new to this, and even as I look chronologically through my own work I see myself jumping around wildly for the last two years from style to style and subject to subject as I get enamored with a new piece of equipment, another photographer's work, or perhaps I simply discover a new place to shoot. The biggest lesson for me was when I realized that great photos have been around me all the time, I just wasn't looking for them, or when I was, I wasn't looking for them properly. Over the last 2+ years I've made a conscious effort to develop a photographer's eye - to look for photos in the ordinary moments of life. While it's still a struggle, doing that has made finding the photos in the extraordinary moments of life that much easier.
Anyway, thank you again for the very kind words. I am humbled that anyone would think so highly of my efforts.
