I've taken photos for myself since high school. The moment when I considered making a career taking photos for other people came much later and was an accident.

At a weekend event, a friend noticed I had a "nicer camera than my phone" as he put it. He asked if I would take his portrait there where we met on a path through the woods. When I sent it to him later, he replied in a message with a level of gratitude I hadn't been expecting.

He explained that this particular moment that I had captured - at his request - was a moment of profound personal growth for him. He didn't share the details, but in his telling of it, when we saw each other - when I took the picture - he was one person, but moments before he had been a different person. He had changed inside, quietly conquering some obstacle long in his way. The coincidence of running into me, a trusted friend with a camera, allowed him to memorialize the moment for himself.

I was flattered to have been a part of this, and loved the significance my photograph had for this man. It had been accidental on my part, but I wanted to do it again, to be more intentional about capturing and preserving these fleeting moments for people.