A little history first
Although I've been taking photographs for most of my life, the first REAL camera I bought was a Minolta Maxxum 7000 for 50 Bucks at a sidewalk silent auction in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Armed with a good quality camera kit, an old 10 channel radio scanner, and tenacity, I embarked on my career as a photographer just as my career as a International Fisheries Observer was ending. My forte was emergency scene photography. Fires, car accidents, you name it, I shot it. My philosophy was that 'somebody has to take the picture'.
I had the support of the local Fire Department which gave me great access to otherwise unattainable pictures. It was about this time, the start of my passion of photography, that the Oklahoma bombing took place. I remember seeing the photo on the cover of TIME and remembering how controversial it was: the firefighter carrying the baby. I also remember thinking, 'If the opportunity ever presented itself, I could...no I WOULD take that photo'
A few short years later it did.
After that, my passion for photography waned. Probably because I had reached my 'goal'. I had faced the situation and HAD taken the picture. It was controversial. It did cause me a lot of pain. And it DID need to be taken.
I had been challenged, and I met that challenge.
That was over 4 years ago.