Empowering Photographers

Why I Teach

I picked up a camera when I was about 13 years old.

Back then, it wasn’t about photography—it was about survival. I grew up in a home that was emotionally and mentally turbulent. As a kid, I didn’t have the tools to process what I was going through, but the camera gave me something solid to hold onto. It gave me a way to see things differently. I could frame the world how I wanted to. I could create beauty in the middle of chaos.

That lens became my escape and, in many ways, my healing.

Fast forward years later—I’ve built a career in photography, traveled the world, worked with big brands, and seen my work published internationally. But there was a moment that changed everything for me in a way I didn’t expect.

A friend of mine was struggling with a specific shot he wanted to create. He reached out and asked for help. I said sure. We spent about six hours together working on it—problem-solving, adjusting the light, tweaking the setup, bouncing ideas around. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I lit up. I was fully in it, present, excited, and completely energized.

At the end of it, he looked at me and said:

“You really know how to teach and articulate an idea or a message. You should do this full-time.”

I thought about that a lot.

He was right.

Teaching photography became something I didn’t just enjoy—it became something I needed to do. It’s one of the most natural and fulfilling things in my life.

So why do I teach?

Because I love giving.

Because there was a time when I had no one to guide me.

Because learning photography wasn’t easy for me—I had to piece it together, fail a hundred times, and teach myself so many of the fundamentals that should’ve been clearer.

And now, when I get to sit with a student and see the moment they finally get something—when the shutter clicks and their whole face lights up because they nailed it—that feeling is indescribable.

It’s more than just teaching exposure or lighting ratios or composition.

It’s helping someone build confidence. It’s handing them a tool that can become their voice, their escape, their purpose—just like it was for me.

And maybe, just maybe, they’ll go on to create something that helps someone else too.

That’s why I teach…to empower photographers