EXIT, STAGE RIGHT:

This is going to come as a surprise to most, but a handful of people have known for a while that this announcement was coming. I’ve spent the better part of the last 6 months thinking about my exit strategy, and 2026 was going to be my last year in the photo business. That was before I spent the last couple of months re-editing a wedding gallery to make a client happy, because that made me realize just how burned out I actually am.

I’m just going through the motions, and probably have been for longer than I’d like to admit. Because of that, there won’t be one last go-round this year. I’m stepping away from the business of photography, immediately and indefinitely. Probably permanently.

When I dove headfirst into this business full-time in 2016, I never thought I’d still be doing this a decade later. Hell, 10 years ago, there were people actively rooting for me to fail. But here I am, 10 years later, bringing the curtain down on what’s been a hell of a run.

Somewhere in the grind of running a business, I forgot why I even got into photography in the first place. If I’m ever going to find that again, I need to walk away from doing this as a job. Some of you have come into my life recently, and I wish you could have been here before I lost the magic. When you could hand me any camera and one light, and suddenly I had wizard powers.

To those of you who have been here for a while, maybe even since the beginning, thanks for coming on this ride with me. It’s been a wild one, and I have absolutely no regrets.

And to the people who were hoping I’d fail or told me I’d never make it: fuck you, I win.

So what’s next?

Right now, I’m going to enjoy the last few months of my 30’s. Ride the fuck out of my new bike, make – and eat – a ton of barbecue, travel, and make some memories of my own after making so many for other people. I think I’ve earned that. Am I giving up photography entirely? I don’t think so, no, but I do think I’m going to put my camera down for a while unless I’m traveling, and just give myself a hard-earned break.

As I’ve said on set so many times, that’s a wrap.