Il n'y a rien dans ce monde qui n'ait un moment decisi.

"Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever." Henri Cartier-Bresson

Missed opportunity:

My photographic choices (which seem to be the opposite of my filmmaking tendencies) match my personality; I do what's safe, and unfortunately everything I shoot seems to come off as light or insubstantial. Often my fingers are afraid to capture what my eyes see, and with great regret, fear triumphs artistic vision; I miss the Decisive Moment.

I am sure I have missed thousands of photos due to this fear of making someone uncomfortable. One specific image haunts me, it's lack of presence in my portfolio is a constant reminder of my fear and insecurity behind the lens. In 2010, I traveled to Ohio to surprise my biological mother with a meeting. Most of the interaction was captured for a documentary I made, and a few pictures were taken by my friend, support system, and fellow filmmaker Corey, but I never had the gull to take my own photos of the third shift bar I found her in. I am grateful of the photos acquired from the meeting, but am disappointed that there are none of what I saw, felt and needed to see again. This experience was truly once in a lifetime, and the stills that came from this were created through someone else's eyes. I had the opportunity, I even had the camera, I just didn't have the courage... and it's a shame.