It takes time and effort to improve your photographic skills. Ask any first rate working professional. But there can be events that happen along the way that become the catalyst to becoming a better photographer. Several events happened to me that changed my life as a photographer.

A single event will not make you a better photographer. But one key event at the right moment  can start you down an unexpected path or gives you an opportunity that leads to you becoming a better photographer.  I picked five key events that ended up making a dramatic difference in my photography.

My camera was stolen.

A sports editor approached me at a football game.

My wife gave me an unexpected gift.

Thanks to a teenager, I broke my ribs.

Thanks to a photo shoot, I tried a whole new kind of photography.

The articles about these events and how they changed me are in the links section.

Originally posted February 13, 2020. Updated July 19, 2021.

Links

It All Started with a Stolen Camera

A High School Football Game Changed My Photography

The “Teaching Thing” Started with a Gift

From Broken Ribs to a Book Contract and Teaching at OSU

Sarah was the Beginning of a Dramatic Change in My Portrait Photography