The Rampant Lion Photography

The Rampant Lion Photography Thank you for the support through the years. Through good times and bad, we had fun, been a wild ride!

09/11/2026

This is my favorite therapist.

Sir Ozzy Pawsbourne protector of the Realm.



09/10/2026

Love is pain.

Love does not end with death. Sometimes the deepest pain comes from loving someone who is no longer here, still reaching for their voice, still remembering their laughter, still wishing for one more conversation.

Love is pain because love leaves something behind. A scar. A memory. An empty chair.

But the pain is also proof that what we shared was real. We hurt because we loved and even knowing the cost, I would still choose love.



09/08/2026

I got married in 1997, and in 1998 we brought home our first little four-legged family member.

He was a Chihuahua and miniature dachshund mix named Peanut, and that little dog became part of just about every chapter of our life.

He was there before the kids came along. He was there when we welcomed our first child in 2006, and he was still right there when the twins joined the circus in 2010.

Peanut was family.

In 2015, we had to make the decision every dog owner dreads. We let him go, and I truly believed I would never love another dog the way I loved Peanut.

We’ve had other cats and dogs through the years, and I’ve cared for every one of them. But Peanut held a place all his own.

Then twelve weeks ago, this little fella came barreling into our lives.

And somewhere between the puppy breath, the wild-eyed zoomies, the chewed-up whatever-he-can-find, and those little paws following me everywhere, I realized something.

The heart doesn’t replace the ones it loves.

It just somehow makes more room.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I proudly introduce the newest member of the family…

Sir Ozzy Pawsbourne.

Peanut will always be Peanut.

But I have a feeling Ozzy is fixing to write himself one heck of a chapter.



09/08/2026

The summer sessions are officially in the books, and now we’re turning the page toward fall 2026.

This season feels a little different. This is my farewell tour from portrait photography.

I’ve spent years chasing light, telling stories, and freezing moments people will carry long after the session ends. Now, as I head into these final portrait sessions, I want to slow down and enjoy every frame.

09/06/2026

It was another hot one today.

Every portrait session I finish is one closer to my last.

I’ve spent years creating for everyone else. Soon, I’ll finally get to pick up my camera with no deadlines, no expectations, and nothing to prove.

Just creating what I want, when I want.

And once again, the art will belong to only me. That is the feeling of retirement and freedom.

09/06/2026

People who want to be part of your life will find a way to be there.

People who don’t will always find an excuse.

It took me years to learn how to get quiet.

I was the one who called first.
Called often.
Checked in.
Kept trying.

And in a world where nearly everyone keeps a phone within reach, I spent too much of my life being left on read, ignored, or sent to voicemail.

I used to ask myself what I had done wrong.

I don’t anymore.

People will tell you exactly who they are by the effort they make.

So I stopped chasing.
Stopped explaining.
Stopped begging for a place in lives that made no room for me.

Close your mouth.

Open your ears.

Watch what people do when you stop doing all the work.

That silence will tell you everything.

And once I finally heard it, I stopped knocking on doors that were never going to open.

09/06/2026

John Lennon once wrote, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

I have been a dreamer most of my life.

When I was young, I thought I would become somebody different. Somebody bigger. Somebody people would remember.

Turns out, I’m just an ordinary man.

I worked. I raised my children. I made mistakes. I loved people. I buried people I loved. And somewhere along the way, I got older.

Now retirement is getting close.

I do not have some grand plan for what comes next. I just want to enjoy what time I have.

I want to take pictures, make little films, tell stories, chase sunsets, and work on projects that bring me joy.

My children are getting older too.

For years, being Dad meant being needed every day. But children grow up, and little by little, they build lives of their own.

That is what we raise them to do.

Still, nobody tells you how quiet that success can feel.

One day the house gets still, the phone rings less, and you realize the people you built your world around are busy building worlds of their own.

Maybe that is why these little films matter so much to me.

They will hold the faces, voices, laughter, ballfields, backroads, birthdays, sunsets, and ordinary moments I never want to forget.

I used to think leaving something behind meant doing something important.

Now I think it may be simpler than that.

Maybe it is just leaving behind enough memories for the people you love to press play one day and remember that you were here.

Not famous.

Not extraordinary.

Just Dad.

Just an ordinary man who loved his family, loved telling stories, and tried his best to notice his life while he was still living it.

So I am going to keep creating.

Keep dreaming.

Keep pressing record.

Because before the credits roll, I still have a few stories left to tell.

09/05/2026

I’ve said for years that there ought to be an 11th Commandment:

“It is what it is.”

Not everything in life comes with an explanation. Not everything can be fixed, changed, or understood.

Sometimes you’ve done all you can do. You’ve prayed about it, worried about it, fought with it, and lost sleep over it.

And eventually, you reach that place where you just have to accept:

It is what it is.

Take the lesson. Leave the burden.

And quit carrying what God never asked you to keep.

09/04/2026

We aren’t promised tomorrow.

The truth is, none of us know how many sunrises we have left. One day there will be a last conversation, a last hug, a last “I love you,” and most of the time we won’t know it was the last until it’s already gone.

So don’t waste today carrying yesterday’s anger.

Call your people. Hug your babies. Sit with your parents a little longer. Forgive where you can. Say the words you’ve been too stubborn or too scared to say. Take the picture. Watch the sunset. Thank God for another morning with breath in your lungs and people worth loving.

We spend so much of our lives waiting on someday.

Someday isn’t promised.

But God gave us today.

And as long as I woke up this morning, put my feet on the floor, and was given another chance to love, laugh, forgive, and do a little better than I did yesterday…

Today is a damn good day to be alive.

So love them now.
Say it now.
Live it now.

Because one day, “I wish I had” will be a heavier burden than anything you were afraid to do today.

Have a safe and blessed holiday weekend.

And when the sun comes up tomorrow, if God gives us another day, don’t treat it like something ordinary.

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Birmingham, AL

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+12059197525

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