The Man Behind the Camera-Raw Form

Greetings All,

I hope all is well. I hope that this blog may inspire confidence, positivity, and courage for someone today to make moves. A part of life is about changes. You must be willing to change or life will pass you by. I was speaking with a friend about myself, I decided to write this blog and open up a little. I hope that you don't allow life or even one day to pass you by because you were afraid to open up to the environment and those around you. 

I am in a better place now so I can allow myself to open up to you. Now I don't normally open up to any and every one, however, for once I believe I can give some a glimpse into my window.

I am sure a lot of you may not know me so let me tell you who I am. My name is Jeff D Stewart. Mostly everyone calls me DStewy DSoul or Stewy. Some of the people close to me would describe me as a goofy, yet mature guy with some wisdom and knowledge. I am a 28 yr old negro man that was making a decent living for the last 6 years until I decided that something was missing and at times, feeling empty.

I decided back in January 2016 that I need changed my path in life and started over because the military became part of the reason I had a hard time opening up to other outside sources and being a lone wolf growing up added to the stress of opening up. It felt forced at times to be a family in the military because in my opinion some of the people in the military are not genuinely all too concerned about you or your welfare and there were some people I was around that I felt wasn't sincere about you until you got in trouble.

Then and only then they cared because it took away from their time. I need a breath of fresh air desperately by that point because I wanted to be free and not feel like I belong to someone else and have to do things 24-7 whenever they needed it. People have said, "Man how could you leave the military right now?" I said, "simply because money isn't everything and I was tired of the particular lifestyle at that point." I knew that the military wasn't the end all be all.

There was more to life and a career than the military. The feeling of being free was sort of non-existent while I was in. It wasn't like I could just go any and everywhere without having to tell a superior. I felt like it was time to move on because I was no longer satisfied with just making a decent living and not happy with what I was doing.

I felt like the military by that point was a safety net from taking a leap of faith and get out to pursue what I really want to do. Now I am glad that I left because it's possible now that I would still be stuck in the rut had I stayed in any longer. I can do whatever and go wherever I want without having to tell a superior or the idea that the military is all up in my personal and private life. For the record, I did my time honorably so no I did not do anything stupid to get kicked out.

Being a lone wolf, I walk alone and mark to the beat of my own drum going back to my childhood. I am an only child on my father's side. I have one brother left and I am the youngest. It's not that I didn't have a family, I have both of my parents. They did the best they could to take care of me and that usually was a lot of time at home by myself. My brother is 8 years older than me so a lot of my time as childhood was spent with grandparents and aunts when my parents were working.

I blame nobody for my upbringing because in a way it allowed me to analyze the world at the time without too many distractions from others at times. A lone wolf also has flaws too. Over the years, I haven't been good at communication and I understand that it's created some distant feelings from others. Fortunately today, It's a slow process to work on communication with others on a consistent basis. 

I do apologize to everyone that I may have pushed away from inconsistent communication on my end. It was never intentional. It has always been apart of my makeup due to walking alone. Hopefully today, I put an end to this type of behavior. It's one reason why I do photography.

It has allowed me to open up socially to others over time that I may not have had the courage to before I picked up a camera. It has been a crutch of some sorts but I will be able to walk away without always having a camera in my hand as far as social interactions go.

I understand that I must build personal, professional relationships with people, and be consistent with communication without always having a camera in my hand because if I don't then nobody will really know the real me without the camera. The bottom line is if you're interested in someone or something, no matter how busy you are, you must be willing to make time for someone or something. 

If you choose not to, then the opportunity, the person may not present itself again especially if the person has moved on to someone else or if the opportunity has run through your hands like sand.

I am single. I have no kids. I have never been married and of course, I am not rushing marriage or kids because there will be a time and place for that but it will not be anytime soon. One Day, I will have that all together, however, I am not in a proper mind frame at this time to even consider those major life-changing events. When the time comes, of course, I will be in a better place to take care of another time and marriage.

My first introduction to the art world was in the form of poetry as a teenager. That would last until I pick up the camera in 2007. I didn't necessarily transition into photography right away. It would take another 4 years before photography became a full-time hobby. I write poetry every blue moon not as I used to when I was a teen.

I do at this point along with my poetry have a ton of work that hasn't seen the light of day yet on my end. I've been reminded a time or two that it's selfish to have a talent and not share it with the world. It's a waste to have a talent and not show it. It's taking the time to slowly but surely post more and share my work. It's not easy quite yet but I am getting a little better than showing my work.

Whatever you do, please do not have a talent and not show it because at any given moment you can go from a talented living individual to a dead talented individual who people find out about you long after you're gone. It's okay to be a starving artist, entrepreneur, or whatever is your nichè but you do not want time going by not sharing it because you never know what you do could be therapy, inspiring, or make a positive impact on someone else's life. As adults, it's two of our responsibilities to be role models, mentor the community, teens, and kids coming up. Don't Be selfish and not show what you can do.

A random fact about me is I happen to have an appreciation for women with pretty feet. I happen to express that with my foot photography that a few of you may have seen. No, I am not ashamed to admit one of my loves for women's feet. Everyone has something that they like about the opposite sex. I love everything about a lady's body, of course, however, I just happen to like her feet just as much as I like her mind, body, and soul. Never be afraid to let someone you may be into know what you like.

I am not saying tell them everything in one sitting, however, let things organically play out. It will save you a lot of time and headaches later on and even if it doesn't work out, the individual will respect your honesty at least.

Part of my mission in life is to be able to teach, mentor, & lecture those whose willing to listen and it's up to you to do whatever you feel is best with the knowledge. Aside from being an artist, it's also my responsibility to express and share my work hoping that it will invoke some type of feeling within you. It's a duty of mine to the best of my ability to uplift someone's spirituality and positivity. It's a goal of mine to capture and record life's moments, cherish them, hopefully, it will inspire someone, give them the extra push to get out there and live life.

It's never too late to start or learn something new. We are here to learn, grow, adjust to the changes in life to the best of our abilities. I am a late bloomer as far as getting out more, going to more social gatherings, putting myself out there more so people can gravitate towards me, learning to do more, talk more without always having a camera on my hip, and beginning to enjoy life. I just learned after all of these years to tie a tie this past Thursday. So It's only too late when you passed on from this place.

Also if you tired of being stuck at a dead-end job, then it's never too late to start something new and venture into a new path in life. We all have talents and maybe you haven't tapped into all of your talents yet, however, with that talent you're capable of at least being able to survive.

It won't happen overnight, however, if your willing to make sacrifices, effort and dedicate them over time it will come to fruition.  Also, don't quit your day job cold turkey until you at least have something going for yourself that is making the same amount of money at your main job if not more.

Today I embrace my soul, my name, my work, my brand because they're gifts The Most High and Son gave me and I can't allow these gifts to turn into a curse for not expressing or showing them.

I believe that this will be a good stopping point for the moment to give you a glimpse into my thoughts. I hope that you take this part of me and use it to the best of your ability.  Enjoy your day and week ahead.

Peace & Blessings.

-DStewy DSoul

Out of Place

I live in an age where people would rather text or be in front of a screen instead of talking on the phone or taking time out to see a someone real time. I am convinced that I am not of the world. I am a spirit man on the outside looking in. I rather take time out in public around people that want to interact with each other real time. I do not have time spend all my days texting or sitting behind a screen texting my fingers to the bone if it’s not going to lead to real-time interactions. I am a spiritual man in the flesh, not a robot. I have emotions and feelings. This technology no human emotions or spirit. It is a flawed device created by man. I want to enjoy life and its journey does not text all my days hiding behind a screen.