diff --git a/imgrate.py b/imgrate.py
index 761d61f..cc9b923 100755
--- a/imgrate.py
+++ b/imgrate.py
@@ -16,8 +16,13 @@ def image_required(fun):
 
 
 class imgrate:
-    def __init__(self, image=None):
-        self.image = image
+    def __init__(self, imgfile=None):
+        self.image = None
+        if imgfile: self.load_image(imgfile)
+
+    def load_image(self, imgfile):
+        image = cv2.imread(imgfile)
+        self.image = cv2.cvtColor(image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
 
     @image_required
     def laplacian_variance(self):
@@ -38,7 +43,4 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     ap.add_argument('images', type=str, nargs='+', help='')
     args = ap.parse_args()
 
-    image = cv2.imread(args.images[0])
-    grayscale = cv2.cvtColor(image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
-
-    print(imgrate(grayscale).laplacian_variance())
\ No newline at end of file
+    print(imgrate(args.images[0]).laplacian_variance())