I never set out to be a commercial photographer.
I set out to be a commercial filmmaker and that's what I became. But along the way, as they often do, things merge. Many of my motion clients also needed stills and we found ourselves bringing in still photographers to fill that need. One day, one of my agency friends said "why don't you just shoot it?". I explained that I was trying to keep my still photography "over here in a little box" as an escape...just for me... not as a career.
But he was right, why not merge the two? I already had the skillset and I loved photography. So, when a project interests me, I now often set aside my motion picture camera and pick up my still camera. It's taken me to some interesting places and let me meet some interesting people. In many ways, my directorial experience gives me an advantage because you still have to produce and "direct" a still shoot. They typically don't just "happen" The only real difference is the format I am working in. In some ways, its more exacting. With motion, although it has its own challenges, the frames fly by one after another and you only get to see them for a split second. With stills, the image can sit on the back of a magazine in some doctor's office for months. You can really examine it. So everything has to be perfect.
It's a challenge in that respect. And I like that.