Yesterday I received my 2015 Golden State Warriors championship ring. I have been a freelancer for the last twelve years with the Dubs and to say my time with the team has been a journey is to say the least.  Now that I actually have my ring in hand I found myself thinking about my career to date and what my ring represents.

Back in November the full time front office employees received their rings and I secretly hoped I would be included with them as they received their symbol of hard work and dedication (freelancers were on a short list to be determined at a later time).  In February I received the call notifying me that I was getting my very own ring, I was thrilled to know the organization thought highly enough of me to discuss my inclusion of this special symbol.

So what's the first thing I did while wearing my ring you ask?  Like any freelance photographer who has an entire day free from field assignments; I cooked a full breakfast with it on, of course!  After breakfast and before getting back to retouching wedding photos I quickly grabbed my macro lens, a couple of strobes and some light shaping tools and created the photo backgrounds of the four different looks you see here.

This morning I sat down to retouch my photos and for the first time the ring's "cool" factor wore off and the real meaning behind it became apparent.  I find it fitting that I began to think about my career and what the ring represent while sitting in my photo retouching studio.  As a wedding photographer, retouching photos is when I reflect on the many meaningful images I am responsible for capturing.  So what went through my mind as I fine tuned the rings clarity and saturated it's colors?  I thought about the hard times, the early years and the opportunity that has opened up for me because of my efforts and what I have learned from working for the Warriors and the NBA.   

To sum it up, my ring will sit in my trophy cabinet and represent what my parents and grandfather instilled in me, which is the freedom to dream, patience, perseverance, drive to never give up or be satisfied, this is my championship formula.