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Running my own photography business has taught me so much.  I have learned about entrepreneurship.  I have learned that passion is a strong motivator, as is the fear of failure.  I have learned how to open myself up to people and to take chances on ideas.  And I have learned about the power of partnership and creative collaboration.

Three years ago I had a chance encounter with documentary filmmaker Mike Rogers.  During that first meeting we talked about our respective businesses and experiences, and we quickly learned that we shared a lot in common, both creatively and philosophically.  We became fast friends, and shortly thereafter Mike invited me to accompany him on a documentary film shoot to Bhutan.

For as long as I can remember, I’d fantasized about visiting the remote and enigmatic Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.  It was certain to be a dream photographic adventure for me.  There was a catch though: it was a small, independent documentary production with only minimal funding, so there would be no money to pay me; if I wanted to go to Bhutan, I’d have to agree to work for free.

I decided to just go for it, clear my calendar and join Mike on what I imagined would be the shoot of a lifetime.

Accompanied by our small Bhutanese crew, my role was to shoot still photography to appear in, and advertise, the film, as well as provide a visual record of the creation of the documentary for Mike's production company.

Exploring and shooting Bhutan was indeed my dream assignment come true, and the result was the most amazing travel and photography experience of my life.

Ironically, the photography I made in Bhutan “for free” has also been the most commercially successful collection of imagery I have ever created.

Photography from the Bhutan shoot has appeared in National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times and Adobe’s Photoshop.com website.  In 2009 I was awarded an honourable mention for "Excellence in Feature Photography" by the Society of Publishers in Asia for my Bhutan imagery published by Reader’s Digest (Asia).  And earlier this year the prestigious Luerzer’s Archive selected me as one of the “200 Best Advertising Photographers Worldwide” (2010/11) for the photography I made in Bhutan to promote Mike’s documentary film.

This month, some of my Bhutan photography will also

appear in the "Himalayan" issue of Germany's GEOspecial, a bi-monthly monothematic travel magazine in Germany.

My image of the joyous novice monks careening down the hill at their monastic school will feature on the cover of the December 2010 / January 2011 GEOspecial, as well as across a double-page spread inside, while one of my Tiger's Nest photographs will run across another (nearly) double-page spread.

Mike’s film, Shooting For Democracy: The Emerging Lens Initiative, was completed earlier this year and has been screened at a number of independent film festivals across the United States.

It’s amazing to imagine where I would be if I’d not met Mike or taken the chance on our friendship or the offer of adventure in Bhutan.

My father has a great expression: You never know if you never go.

Well, I went.  And I am so glad I did.