After a few years, I left Augusta to work in Columbia, SC. Karin and I kept working together. I'd make the hour long drive every few weeks to Augusta for shoots.
After a few more years, I left Columbia and moved to the Atlanta area. Still, Karin and I kept working together. By then it had become a two hour drive each way for the food shoots.
I stayed in Atlanta for just over two years before I decided to make my way to Nashville, TN. It was six hours from Nashville to Augusta. It felt like I was halfway across the country. But still, Karin and I made it work. We'd schedule our shoots far enough in advance that if I couldn't make it for a month or two, we still wouldn't miss our deadlines.
Now I'm in Raleigh, NC. I'm only four and a half hours from Augusta now. Not quite a world away, but getting closer.
Over these nine years, Karin could have easily left me for another photographer. The same guys I worked with at the paper are still there in Augusta. Each of them is talented enough to do what I do. But Karin's stuck with me. And for that I'm thankful. (I just think she doesn't want to train someone new.)
We've also been fortunate to have a great client. Viking has been with us all nine years. And what a fun nine years it's been.
(Just for the record, I've put at least 250,000 miles on every car I've ever owned.)
