A bit about me… or story time
I’m a truck driver in my primary career. I have spent at least one night in every state in the continental US. I have over 1.2 million miles of safe driving experience. I’ve been a company driver and a company owner. I get paid to travel, but it’s not that fun.
Obviously, this is nothing to brag about, but it’s been my life for the last 12 years. It’s been a hard life. Days, weeks, and sometimes months away on the road just to do my best to make sure my family has what they want and need. As well as everyone else’s in the areas I delivered to. I’ve delivered everything from auto parts to zucchini. Parts for a Zamboni? Maybe.
But, over time, the industry has become more and more toxic, and just not fun anymore. The rules and regulations. The treatment we get from shippers, receivers, and general public has gotten terrible. Other horrible truckers giving us good drivers a bad reputation. The strain the trucker lifestyle put on my relationship with my wife. Oof, that’s depressing.
What got me into the industry was my dad and two of my best friend's dads were truck drivers, and that’s what I wanted to do when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool to hear about where they had been and what they saw on the road. It sucked not seeing my dad at home every night, but I understood why. I could only hope my wife and kids understand too. Thankfully I’m local now, but still.
So, what does this have to do with photography? Not much maybe, other than photography is something else I wanted to do since I was a kid. But, growing up lower/middle class, we didn’t have the money for decent photography gear, and developing film was expensive. So, I used whatever my parents could afford. Usually, it was some fixed lens Pentax, Kodak point-and-shoot, or disposable cameras.
Now, I can buy or rent the gear, but time cannot be bought. And sometimes I feel like I’ve run out of time. Time to take more photos. Time to edit and post those photos. Time to do what I’ve wanted to do, long before driving a truck. Time with my family.
So, starting this past summer, and into fall, I’ve been trying to make the time. My wife and I have a grand plan for me to retire from trucking and us to travel full-time in a skoolie when I get to age 50. That’s less than 3 years away. Another big oof!
My goal is to build this photography business to a point where I can take it on the road. This is partially why I have focused on elopements, intimate/micro weddings, and destination weddings. Most of these happen in places my wife and I want to be, (according to Instagram anyway lol).
After photographing my first couple of weddings, I learned a lot about the industry, but I also learned about myself and what photos I want to take. Big traditional weddings are great, and I’ve seen a ton of beautiful designs that I would love to photograph. But, as someone who has had an intimate wedding, and came from parents that did the same, elopements and micro weddings are more of my jam.
I hope to work with many clients over the next 10-15 years and capture their stories. A wedding on the beach of Malibu or Miami, cliffs of the Dolomite’s in Italy, forests of Banff or the PNW, big cities like Paris or NYC, and small Midwest towns like in my home state of Ohio. I want to be there for all of it. Anywhere in the world.
So, all of these words to say, I appreciate the life trucking has provided for me and my family, soon it will be time to move on and finish strong in my working life doing what I’m truly passionate about. And I’m probably driving my wife near insanity in the process obsessing over photography, haha. (Hope not. I love you babe!)