Ron and George

Lately I've been feeling a noticeable lack of inspiration photographically-speaking. So yesterday I decided to open up one of my favorite photo books, Sam Abell's The Life of a Photograph. His images and words always give me a boost when I take them in. After looking at a few pages I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood with my camera. I planned to just explore, to see the world, as I used to do on an almost daily basis when I first started out in photography.
  As I was walking around, I saw some dogs barking by a house and the sunlight in their hair caught my eye. I shot a few frames of them, and their owner came out and asked what I was doing in a pretty gruff tone. I explained I was a photographer and was just out enjoying the day. He softened up very quickly and we chatted for a while. We talked about how people let their dogs poop in his yard, how that upsets him, and how things aren't as nice for him as they used to be. I asked him if I could make a picture of him and his dog George, and he kindly obliged.

 I left that interaction with my spirits lifted. It had been a while since I just walked around with my camera with no intention or purpose, other than to reconnect in a more intimate fashion with the craft I engage in on a daily basis. I realized how important it is to do that from time to time. The pay in this profession is most certainly not the reward. And so we must always question and keep seeking for that which will give us personal satisfaction as photographers. On this cold and sunny Thursday afternoon, I found it in an idle conversation with a stranger and his dog.