the best.

in february at the seminole tournament, i got to shoot with the best. one day curtis mauldin was actually on my squad, short of having him shoot for me, you cannot do any better. another day, bruce ney, my coach of sorts, was on the squad in front of me and on the squad behind was non other then national champion dan carlisle. diane sorantino was on my squad for the main, the carey brothers and wendell cherry were always within eyeball shot as well. what other sport does this happen? shoot hoops with jordan, hit balls with tiger, kick balls with beckham. while much different a practice and world to compare as silly as it may sound, to be among the very best is to be among the very best. so watch close, you may miss something.

then the other day, in a small wonderful little gallery for those that really love and value the history of photography, i finally introduced myself to a photographer i have respected from a distance for years. while still my style of awkward, there was no other place or moment to thank someone whose work has been so important for simply doing what they love and letting me see it. the day was good.

this got me thinking looking at his 7 books on my shelf, there is (almost) no living photographer i admire i haven't met. the one or two i haven't met or seen speak or otherwise have a story on, i am more then content to never meet.

this means something. what it means is unclear and in many ways may not matter. yet it feels a sort of milestone nonetheless.