"You’ve got but one life and a limited time to use it so those that create as a hobby, or for a living, embrace it fully. Never stop striving for those special moments when you can stand back from what you’ve created and feel that something churns inside and says, "WOW!"."

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time. And it just happens to come from today’s Shout Out recipient James Quantz Jr. who is no stranger to that "wow" factor. James is an expert photographer and photo collage artist, who’s work is getting to be quite famous. I’ve been a fan of James (also known as JQ) and his work for years and have had the great fortune of getting to know him through the NAPP forums. It is my humble opinion that he is the next Jill Greenburg or Dave Hill when it comes to the creative aspect of photography. He has developed this wonderful process of photographing bits and pieces of animals, people, places, and objects which he then assembles in Photoshop to tell these divinely unique stories.

And sinse images sometimes speak louder than words, see for yourself:

Quote James: "I think as a person with an uncontrolled imagination I need some type of outlet. I can’t sing, play an instrument, draw, or write a novel but luckily I’ve been able to cultivate a skill using a camera. I’ve also spent the last 8 years or so learning Photoshop in order to enhance my visual story telling. You see I would like to write a novel or fantastic short story but it would be very laborious for me and my grammar is terrible! Therefore, I am resigned to do my best at creating visuals that hopefully convey a story of some sort. I would like to think that is what sets my imagery and style apart from others."

I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of glad James doesn’t write novels, although I’m sure they would fantastically wild. But his images are so creative and inspiring that it would be a shame not having them in the world. Looking at James’ work not only pushes me to think out side of the box as a designer but also to work on my execution techniques. And I love that more times than not, James is willing to show the brake down of his work to enhance the inspiration. The first time I saw him do this on the NAPP forums, I was stunned that he was willing to share his process. And because he was so kind, I learned volumes about how to light my images. I was blown away and it’s a feeling that has never left me.

So for that, and for all of his amazing stories in photographic form, today’s Shout Out goes to James Quantz Jr! I am eternally grateful for having him and his work in my life. To learn more about James and see his work, you can click the pic or read the article about him in After Capture magazine.