Transitions: From Photographer to Storyteller

Slowing Down, Looking Inward

There wasn’t a single moment when I decided to slow down with photography—it just started to feel different. It wasn’t that I no longer wanted to create for clients. I simply began to realize I wanted to create for myself.

Beginnings Behind the Lens

American River College, circa 1987

I started my photography career in the late 1980s, wandering around campus with a camera in hand. Photographing people was easy, accessible—an excuse to connect and observe. From there, I shifted into what I called “pretty girl photos.” This was the era of the supermodel, and I thought, “Hell, I can shoot them just as well as anyone.” I was ambitious. Naïve, maybe. But like most twenty-somethings, I believed I was unstoppable.

Reality hit, of course. I didn’t have a portfolio, so I built one—photo after photo, shoot after shoot. Over time, my eyes sharpened. People started noticing. Not just for fashion, but for portraits, weddings, school photos, and editorial assignments. I shot for magazines. I worked for a local paper. I grew.

They told me I’d honed my craft. Maybe they were right.

Learning Never Stops

Through it all, I kept chasing growth. New techniques, better gear, more intentional composition—I always wanted to see more, learn more, create better.

Isn’t that what life is, in the end? A quiet, ongoing pursuit of something just out of reach. A search not just for images, but for meaning.

The Shift to Storytelling

Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Lourdes

Now, at 58, I’m in a different place, creatively and emotionally. After years of shaping my work around what others wanted, I started to wonder what I wanted to say. I’m not even sure where my voice is anymore. Or maybe I curated it for so long that I forgot how it began.

Still, something shifted.

The camera remained in my hand, but the intention behind it changed. I leaned into video—something I had dabbled in years ago. It felt natural, even freeing. I started telling stories again. Stories about travel. About where I go, what I see. About the food I discover, the colors I chase, the beauty in both new places and old places seen through a new lens.

And yes, I still take portraits. Those “pretty girl” photos are part of it, too. Not separate from the story, but woven into it. A face in a place. A moment with a heartbeat.

Coming Home to Creativity

Creating at Coffee Bay at Ayala Terraces in Cebu.

And this-this feels like home.

Capturing what I see and sharing it, even if the audience is just one. Maybe it won’t grow into something big. Maybe it won’t be monetized. That’s okay.

At the very least, my kids will have something to look back on—something that shows them who their dad was, and how he saw the world.

Maybe that’s the story I was trying to tell all along.

Your Turn

Have you ever felt your creative work shift? Like the “why” behind what you do quietly changed?

I’d love to hear your thoughts or your own story—drop a comment below.