I love stories. Two of the best storytellers I know are my grandfathers. As small children, my dad's father Kenneth Sherrod would regale my siblings and I with tales of days on the farm and an era long gone. However, some of my favorite stories were recounts of a road trip that began in Pennsylvania and ended in Alaska - all on gravel roads while outrunning mosquitoes the size of kites.
Then there was my mother's father, Jerry Smith, who being less of an orator, let his photographs do most of the talking. As a missionary doctor to the African nation of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he would calmly show us photos of venomous snakes, flash floods, and hippo bites. However, it was his beautiful black and white portraits of the local indigenous people that made me want to be a photographer. In fact, it was him who gave me my first very own camera - a classic Canon A-1 with a 50mm manual focus.
A lot has changed since I got that first camera. However, my passion for capturing stories through the lens has never faded.