August 2005, I had come out from the east coast on a family vacation. I brought along my trusty Canon G5 P&S and while I was mostly still shooting JPEG I was excited that the camera allowed RAW and full manual control. One morning, before the family woke up, I drove into Mt Rainier NP and found a beautiful little waterfall to photograph. Last week, as I was scouting for an upcoming photography workshop with McKay Photography Academy, I realized I was standing in the same spot, looking at the same waterfall. Almost exactly thirteen years to the date! And a few days later, as we returned as a group I had a few moments to contemplate this wild ride of life and how in no way could I have imagined this life today. I have no deep statement about this other than to say - you are probably reading this because you are at least a little passionate about photography and who knows where life will take you but bring your camera along for the ride! That morning I also captured this shot of Mt. Rainier in Reflection Lake When I returned home I printed these images along with one more of my daughter from the vacation. I matted and entered three photos into our local town fair where they all received a bit of recognition - Honorable mentions and 2nd place in a landscape category!  When I went to pick up my photos someone had left a note that they wanted to buy the photo of Mt Rainier. To say I was excited is a bit of an understatement. You see before I had submitted these photos I told myself that if they received any type of recognition I should take that as a sign to get more serious about photography. And not only did I have three ribbons someone actually wanted to pay me money for my photo! Now - I look back at these photos and see quite a few things wrong but there is enough that was right that got me where I am today.