• Mid-South photojournalist and Kentucky writer wandering the United States in search of my next dateline.

• Chasing light and taking names (sometimes).

• Committing photojournalism, one day at a time.

About Me

I've been a professional journalist for more than three decades, photographing everything from city council and school board meetings to world leaders and professional sports (including two Super Bowls). I'm a generalist by nature, but my photojournalism specialties include political photography, concert photography and sports photography.

I've amassed a photo archive of more than a quarter million images along the way, many of which have never been published before because the news business kind of intrinsically sucks — hurry up and get the shot, hurry up and file the shot, then hurry up and go shoot something else. It's like being on a perpetual hamster wheel.

I've been working on cleaning up and remastering my news and sports photography archive for years with the intent of getting everything online, but it's hard work. It's even harder work when you have to do it all yourself, not to mention trying to create new content on a regular basis when you don't have some deep-pocketed corporation funding your efforts.

I've long shared photos and stories with friends, both in and out of the journalism industry. I've tried blogging before but never stuck with it for very long because it's just more work with diminishing returns, especially when you have to worry about trying to build, design, maintain and monetize the blog on top of creating content.

Content creator, computer whisperer and monetizing-figurer-outer are all full-time jobs on their own — they could each be full-time jobs for multiple people on just one website if they're all being done properly.

I'm not some kind of social media "influencer" and don't aspire to be (although I did have a higher Klout score than the governor of Kentucky in 2012). I don't seek to influence, I seek to inform. I don't bare my soul, I bear witness.

Photojournalism isn't a career — it's a calling.

Why Patreon?

I'd prefer to spend more time doing what I'm meant to do, which is not trying to reinvent BuzzFeed and come up with a constant stream of clickbait headlines crafted to maximize page views and minimize bounce rate. Your support here on Patreon will help make that possible.

The Pitch...

For as little as $1 per month, you can enjoy that warm-and-fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting quality journalism in addition to gaining access to exclusive content I hope you'll enjoy. And that's just the beginning — the more you're able to pledge, the more benefits you'll receive. For example:

10 for the Win: Patrons at the $10+ level will be able to enter monthly themed photography contests to win real prizes. You'll also gain access to exclusive content and more, all for about the cost of one salad at Chick-fil-A.
Nifty 50s: Patrons at the $50+ level receive even more tangible benefits, including one free 8x10" hand-signed photographic print of your choice and a reusable 20% discount on photo reprint orders from Apex MediaWire.
Put Me In, Coach: Patrons at the $100 level (limited to 20 slots) can receive ongoing photo critiques and an hour each month of personal instruction and photography coaching by yours truly, delivered via phone or other telecommunications service on which we mutually agree (Zoom, Teams, etc.).
Executive Producers: Patrons at the $250 level (limited to just five slots) become executive producers who'll help choose what I should photograph next (and I really hope it's Monkey's Eyebrow).
Unfiltered BS: Patrons at the $500 level (limited to just two slots) can receive access to even more individualized instruction and coaching (up to four hours per month), including frank and candid discussions beyond the scope of those meant for a general audience (like revealing which Kentucky basketball coach is an asshole). Each month you'll also get to choose two Kentucky counties — or one county in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee or Alabama (within a 250-miles radius) — for me to photograph. You'll also receive a beautiful, hand-signed 16x20" photographic print of your choice, in addition to other benefits.

And if all that's not enough, one King (or Queen) of the Hill can really get the deluxe treatment with up to eight hours per month of private coaching/consulting plus up to eight hours per quarter of in-person consulting for themselves or their staff at their business site (travel reimbursement may be required, depending on location and timing).

My Commitment to You

Become a Dateline TBD patron now for as little as $1. You'll be free to cancel at any time for any reason (because this is America). If you're not delighted within the first month, please let me know why. If I can't fix it, I'll refund your first month's pledge and we'll still be friends — it's as simple as that.

Come throw some change in the jar and let's see if we can change the world.