I need your help!

After many months of struggling to make money with photography, it is with profound sadness that I am now forced to say goodbye to my apartment (and life in Austin).

My back-story: for many years, I made very good money selling tutorial videos of my Photoshop/post-production techniques, but about one year ago, bit torrent reared its ugly head, and I discovered that all of my videos are being "shared" all over the internet. This proved to be my financial undoing. I went from making over $1K a week, to now, where I'm lucky if I make $300 per month in sales (at least there's a few honest people out there who actually pay for my videos). But those few honest people aren't sustaining me, unfortunately.

I have done many things to supplement my video sales over the years, but those supplementary things have now become my main source of income, and these things are far from enough to make ends meet. I have done workshops, taken-on small paid shoots, spoken at photography conferences, done freelance design work, and whatever else I could find to make up for the loss of my video sales, but despite my efforts, I haven't been able to land on firm ground.

Where I am now: at this point, I have to give up my apartment and get back on my feet. I do have a friend who can give me a few weeks of crashing on her couch, but I have to drive over 1,600 miles across the country to get to her house, where I can set up a temporary base.

The problem is, I need money for new brakes/rotors (very important), gas, a hotel room, an oil change, and a little to get-by with...and I will need it very soon (no later than Oct 3rd), in order for this to happen.

There comes a time to put aside my pride , and ask my friends for help. My father used to say that if you don't ask, then the answer is automatically "no", so, my pride-aside, I am asking for your help.

It's never easy to hit the reset button on life. I am scared, and deeply saddened...but I've done this before. This is by no means "Plan-A", but I have to do what I must. I believe that things will be ok (one day), but for now, I must humbly ask for your assistance. Hitting my "reset button" begins with this cross-country drive.

If you've read this far...I'm very close to reaching the amount I need, and I greatly appreciate everyone that has given to my cause, here.

I thank you...your kindness means the world to me.