At the beginning of 2009, a friend asked me to review a new digital SLR camera that was capable of shooting high definition video. I had a background in shooting video for the past decade and had written reviews of equipment in the past. I wasn’t all that interested but said yes anyway. He told me there was no hurry and would send me all the equipment.

When everything arrived by mail, I was mildly intrigued by what it would be like to shoot video with a still camera. The attraction of this particular camera was the quality of the lenses and the control over depth of field. I took a couple of test shots and shrugged my shoulders. Sure, it looked good but it was awkward to shoot video with a camera designed for stills.

I vowed to write a review and get the equipment back to my friend but he reminded me he wasn’t in a hurry. For a person like me, not in a hurry means I simply won’t deal with it until I really have to.

As the weeks went by, my interest in shooting stills grew. I spent time snapping away and was wowed by the quality of the pictures. I shot some more. I began changing some of the “looks” on the camera to see what would happen.

There was a broken paddle in my backyard by the lake. I set the camera to monochrome and took a picture. This picture changed the direction of my creative life.

I looked at the paddle on the ground and then I looked at what I had captured but they were not the same. The one at my feet was clearly just an interesting object yet the one in the photograph existed on a completely different plane. While it was recognizable as a paddle, it was also removed from reality. The shot had a sense of timelessness that color simply couldn’t convey.

Later that night, when I studied the photograph in more detail, I realized that deep inside this two dimensional picture was a wonderful creative world, both real and surreal all at once.

So it was with this revelation that I began my journey into the realm of black and white. While I still shoot color photographs, my vision has now transcended to monochrome. Although I had already honed my eye to see things that others didn’t when shooting video, it has been fine-tuned ever further with this new way of seeing.

To me, black and white photography is art. When I take black and white photographs, I am not merely taking snapshots, I am painting a canvas. I am simplifying the complexity around me to produce an image that has the bare essence of beauty and balance.

For now, this is my passion and I truly love life because of it. I wake up with a reason to live every day knowing there is so much of the world to explore.

Being a photographer is a gift of the highest order because it not only encourages me to see the magnificent beauty around me, but I can also capture it and make it my own.