Photography is changing faster than ever.

And for many, change means disruption - old habits are broken, rituals are lost.

So far in 2014, we've learned that a new, unknown app called Photos will eventually replace Aperture and iPhoto. We're still a year away from having to make any measurable decision about what to do, yet photographers are bolting for the exits like students at a recess bell.

I've had readers "unLike me because I deceived them by championing Aperture."

But wait, there's more.

The decline of DSLR popularity, the endless surge of social media, and the love affair with mobile phone photography... all of these harbingers of yet more change to come.

Here's the thing: you don't have to switch from Aperture, sell your DSLR, start an Instagram account, or buy an iPhone. You can stand pat. You can even go in reverse and set up a chemical darkroom and shoot film. People might think you're cool.

And if you do want to catch an innovation wave to two, there are lots of folks like me here to help.

I've never been one to say, "ditch everything you love and switch to this." I respect the history of photography. My work stands on the shoulders of others.

When someone asks me for career advice, I always have one answer: do what you love. I say the same to photographers. Use the tools you like and pursue subjects that interest you. Turn off the news if you have to.

If you doggedly follow your passion,

everything else takes care of itself.

-Derrick