Digital makes it so much easier. No bricks of film, no worrying about airport X-rays, etc.

Freelancing in Somalia during their civil war and in Kuwait right after the first Bush War, I had some rather intense experiences that made life in the U.S. seem rather shallow and superfluous.

Everyone should understand that getting good photos is paramount to everything. You have to do what it takes and often comfort and sleep are the first casualties of an assignment.

I fell in love with traveling and thought being a photographer would be an interesting way to travel and make a living.

Everyone thinks it would be great to work for National Geographic. So did I.

After I discovered my degree in photojournalism would only get me a job in a camera store, I taught myself lighting. I read tons of magazines and books and studied the photos trying to figure out how they were done. I bought some flash equipment and played around until I figured out how to make a subject look as I envisioned it should look.

I sold all my medium format equipment in 2005 after Canon came out with the 12 megapixel EOS 1Ds.