Lately I have been struggling with where my passions lie and where I should be investing most of my time. To let you in on a bit of how this is happening here is a bit of an explanation.

Many of you know that I am working as an intern in the Kaleo program (an adventure based first year bible college program based out of Camp Qwanoes). Within this role I am basically asked to throw my life at these students, love them, care for them, have fun with them and watch them grow. It takes a lot of time, a lot of will power and a lot of patience - patience beyond what I can bare sometimes. 

On the other side of things is this passion, my photography. I am barely going a day without thinking about what I will be doing with it in the come years. It as well takes a lot of time, practice, patience and will power. 

Here is where the two worlds collide. Both allow me to do something which I have a joyful passion of doing, making a meaningful difference in the lives of others and in this world. Sounds like both fit, right? They do. So why am I struggling with this? I don’t know. 

Professionally I want to go all out for my photography. I want to dive into this crazy vat of glue called this world and get all sticky. I want to go out there and tell the stories that need to be told. I want to tell the stories of children around the world. Most of all, I want people to have their hearts broken for the issues tackled in my images. I want a child’s smile to warm a heart, a personality to speak through an image and attack a persons conscience to the point where they want to act. Most of all, I want to bring hope and love in a new unique way. 

Are you passionate for something? Do you struggle with a balance? How do you tackle the battle in your heart? 

I’m excited for the future and more excited for the now.

In a place where I so wanted to get away from, this time on my holiday here I have found a new character to the place that has perplexed me. A character that I’ve never really seen before. The idea that someone could love the look of rolling hills, fields that go on as far as the eye can see and gravel roads that criss-cross the landscape had always been a foreign concept.

Today I decided to drive some of those gravel roads, capture those rolling hills and understand the atmosphere. Here are some of the images that came from the trip:

Ever since I have jumped into this crazy world called photography, I have been plagued by the need of new cameras, better equipment and that ultimate piece of gear that will make you uber awesome. But lately I have been fighting that want for more, and replacing it with a need for more perfection in my shooting. 

As many know, I work with a minimal amount of gear. A 5D, 30D (thats almost toast), 3 lenses, and 1 flash. Part of this is good and most of it is great. Shooting at Qwanoes has challenged me to shoot with one of my three lenses exclusively when I should probably just fork over the money and get a better middle ground lens. But alas, I enjoy the minimalist amount of equipment. Here’s why…

Many photogs with pockets bigger then most 3rd world countries yearly budgets have the ability to fork over tens of thousands on gear every year. Alas what I find with a lot of photogs that do this, their vision for their story telling will often lack. They focus solely on the need to get the best lens for a situation rather then focusing on deepening and perfecting their storytelling.

For myself I have been focusing on the need to deepen my stories that I tell. This often will in turn make you focus less on the equipment you use and more on your creative ability to focus on a situation. A good friend has a tag line that he loves using, “Gear is good, vision is better.” - David DuChemin. He’s right, gear can be good, but your vision is what will set your apart from the rest. A vision is your passion, your heart, your connection to your subject matter. It can mean the difference between a snapshot and an immensely moving photograph. 

So for the love of the story, take pictures! Don’t let your equipment sit on your desk collecting dust while you surf the internet mindlessly for that next 5D Mark II rumor. Love your story, perfect the grammar, get rid of a bad habit, learning can mean failure, take it slowly and with a humble heart. It takes time, but your story will show your passion for the content.

I recently watched this video via TED.com on Jonathan Harris who goes around collecting and creating amazing artistic creations. Further on in the video he talks about an amazing photography project that he did while traveling.

Today’s inspiration is Heath Korvola. This specific photographer is an amazing adventure action photographer. Heath’s images always seem to make me feel like I am right there in the action. His set that I enjoy the most is the “first descents” set. A great collection of a whitewater kayakers life as they go down the river.

Here we are nearing the end of the month and I go way off topic with this one and choose a conductor?! What am I thinking!! But you have to understand that this man is one of the best thinkers when it comes to inspiring and teaching others about your craft. Getting them excited about the passion that you have. Here is a quick video of this crazy man, explaining what he does.

I recently came across this photographer while exploring the Nat. Geo. magazine website. Mark Thiessen shot an incredible article on the wildfires that ravaged a large portion of California over the past year. His images of this area are so incredibly, risky, dangerous and insanely cool that I couldn’t pass up bringing him onto my list.

He shot for six weeks straight in some of the most hellish environments on earth. His images capture scenes of complete devestation and utter ruin. You can feel the heat, if you stare at them long enough.

I came across this photographer close to two years ago. Ace Kvale has an extremely inspiration element to his photography. He gets close and intimate with his subjects, you can tell he interacts with them and their culture. 

Interaction, a word and action that many photographers don’t use and do enough of. Ace can teach us much about what can be accomplished when we as photographers become intimate with our subject(s).

What can a month of inspiration go by without the mention of James Nachtwey. There is little to say about this man, he’s rather shy, soft spoken, but he fills his images with his heart break for those around him. He describes himself as a “witness” and his photography is the testimony of events that he believes shouldn’t be forgotten.

He was also a TED winner in 2007, here is a video of him describing his TED wish.

Once again we’re going to feature an underwater photographer. David Doubilet has an incredible selection of images of creatures most people never want to encounter underwater, for example: crocodiles. He seems to get so close and personal with these animals that makes myself even feel uncomfortable sitting here looking at them. 

Once again, I’ll put out a call on photographers that you find inspirational. Drop a comment.

Today we are featuring the amazing U.N. photographer, John Isaac. This man has travelled to over 100 countries and captured so many of the people in those countries. He is featured on Lexar’s Pro Photographer Corner and has some great articles for the aspiring photographer.

How could any list of inspirational photographers go without mentioning the master himself, Ansel Adams. There are few people who have affected the world of photography quite like this man has. His devotion, philosophy and techniques have opened the eyes of many people. How many photographers spend their life in one specific area just perfecting how to shoot one spot? Adams has taught us that we must live and breath our context in order to capture it.

A while ago I posted a a link to the Media Storm about how they are started to revolutionize the way media and reporting is being presented online. They have been a huge inspiration to myself in how I believe I will go in the direction of my own photography and the presentation of it.

They have been featured on Washington Post’s website and in the photo gallery section. Possibly some of the best and most powerful media presentations I have seen in a long long time.