This project isn’t about making images. It’s not about creating the world’s largest camera. It’s about doing what you love. If you had been searching your whole life for something you love, what would you be willing to sacrifice?”  

~Ian Ruhter, from Silver and Light

It was drizzling, but I preferred the soft light from the overcast sky. The toddler was very active, but adorable. My clients handed me a check and we prepared to start their session. Unzipping my camera bag I stopped in my tracks. It was empty. Not one piece of equipment inside. No, my client couldn’t wait for me to retrieve my camera. No, the toddler was done. No, the weather wouldn’t hold. I stood there with my client’s check in hand, beyond baffled.

I think of my dream as the photographer’s version of standing in front of an audience in your underwear. Recently, I confessed nervousness before a charity auction and a friend expressed surprise. Yes, I still get nervous. Like a famous performer who throws-up before her show, I get all wound up before I create. The only thing that can release that is creation itself.

Ian Ruhter documents his passion here in the following video. Stunningly beautiful, it will make you stop and wonder. And then wonder again, because it’s your turn now. It’s my turn now. Time to get creative.

SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter : Alchemist on Vimeo.