I'm just going to begin by saying that I'm terrified of heights and this is coming from a guy who's more than comfortable sitting in a plane for trips of ten hours or more (yawn). So why is it when I find myself atop one of the tallest, if not the tallest buildings in town, my body gets weak and I think I'll faint and drop to the pavement below?

Today, I ventured through a bit of a maze and eventually to a ledge which yielded a few vantage points of the city. IF you've made it this far, please note that it took everything in my power to stay calm and act as if I had everything under control (I HATE heights).

As I stood for a moment and observed just how spread out this city is, I also thought for a moment of how things used to look years ago in the 70's, 60's, 50's, 40's, and 20's; rest assured, there weren't any Africans on rooftops taking pictures of the city, back in those days, yet here I stand today.

Yesterday, one of my brothers asked me if photography was just a hobby or if I wanted to make it a career, something which I could monetize. The ease with which the question was asked has bothered me since it came off of his lips, because the answer to the question is simple but complex all in the same breath. How does one overcome the fear of possibly not being good enough/talented enough, the fear of failure, the fear of heights?

The answer is, one climbs many steps, embraces the wind, and dreams a bit...

Years from now people will remark about how downtown Fresno looked c.2017 and I'll dust off this "old" photo and say something along the lines of, "Yeah, I was just hanging out on a rooftop, in my suit and tie, taking pictures for no reason other than because I found a way to the top."

Nothing can stop me, I'm all the way up...