When the object that is produced, the photographic image has the ability to make tears come to your eyes; to inspire you to the point where you have to catch your breath, then nothing else matters.
One of the workshop participants had shown me a single 8 X 10 photograph of a power plant where he actually was the general manager of this power cooperative. It was quite magical to me.
I started questioning myself: 'What's going on here?' I'm photographing power plants and Anasazi sites, yet I still love photographing the landscape.
There were a thousand reasons why it would be impossible and yet he looked at it in a different way. And today we take instant film for granted.
I remember being shocked when I came out from under the focusing cloth after a minute or two being submerged within that, at the startling green color of those ferns.
I'd never had a photograph in front of me that made your heartbeat skip and catch your breath. It was truly an inspiring experience.