It is nice to be recognized.

I always enjoy when people at an event I am covering or just happen to bump into on the street recognize my name and tell me how much they like my images. I want to thank Jack Teal for stopping me today at the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Open House and telling me how much he enjoyed my work at the paper. I did a presentation at his camera club, the Digital Photography Club of Annapolis, in February, and he said since then he has been looking closer at the bylines under the photos. Did you ever notice how big the writer's credit is compared to the photographer's?

Positive recognition is always an ego boost. Sure, the paycheck is nice and I could not live without it, but hearing "Good job" from people, whether my boss, a coworker or especially regular readers is great. On that note, I want to again pass along congratulations to my fellow Capital shooter Josh McKerrow. He has one or more award(s) in the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Editorial Contest this year. We do not know how many or what for until the awards presentation next month. Good work, Josh.

Hey, you know what is just as good, if not even better, than telling me in person? A letter to the editor telling them how great I am. That reminds me of a funny story about a friend of mine and Capital photographer, the late Steve Fears. He had to cover a regular, somewhat mundane assignment, nothing award-winning, but the folks were so excited that he was there that they wrote a letter to the editor. In that letter, they ended with "Thank God for Steve Fears." He liked it so much that he cut out the letter from the paper, enlarged it and made it into a T-shirt.

I am still waiting for my "Thank God for Paul W. Gillespie", but until then thanks for all the kind words I do get out there. They really make me feel like I am doing something worthwhile.