In the over five years since I first picked up a camera, I have easily taken over 100,000 photographs. When I look back now through the several thousands of photos that have survived the waste bin, something becomes clear when I single out my favorites.

Having always placed the largest emphasis on capturing “photogenic” images, I have historically missed out on capturing many authentic and ultimately more memorable shots because my focus was distracted with what has traditionally worked in the past.

Flipping through the images from over 100 portrait shoots, the shots that stand out most are not the ones with the perfect lighting, or the most compelling wardrobe or location. They are not the shots that took the most planning or even the ones taken of experienced models who improve the entire process. The shots that have remained my favorites through the years are the spontaneous unique images that could only exist in the context of the moment they were taken — when a subject completely surrenders their inhibition and allows their true nature to take the wheel.

The ultimate truth I’ve come to discover about photography, and to a larger extent life, is the things that truly make us beautiful are the sometimes subtle and other times polarizing differences that make us each unique.

Despite the overwhelming similarities of our circumstances, through a lifetime of choices, we each quickly become something distinct from all others. No matter how ordinary your life may seem from the surface, there is a story unlike any other inside each of us, waiting to be told. My goal as a photographer is to help your discover your story.