Artist Statement

I believe, as a photographer, that everything has a story and everything has a perfect image that can be made. It's curious and a little ironic that my two favorite and most influential photographers are such a contrast... one is a photojournalist and the other is a sports/commercial photographer. This is fortunate in that it shapes my style in a unique way. I borrow my own personal philosophy from Scott Kelby, one of those photographers: You never go wrong by doing the right thing. I don't believe that there are any photography "trade secrets." Some high-end agencies, photographers, and retouchers make employees sign confidentiality agreements, saying that they won't reveal how they work. I think that's absurd.

Photography isn't just a way of looking at the world; it's a way of experiencing life. As Joe McNally says, remember that all photos are a currency. You can make someone's day or break their world with a photograph, and photographers should remember that what they do is something very raw, emotional, and powerful. It would serve all photographers well to remember the power that we have in our hand with that camera. The best feeling in the world is to give someone a picture of themselves, and see their face light up when they say "wow... that's me???" -- there is no better feeling, and that's what I live for.

Spring Break (Late)

I did a lot of work over spring break! I did some shooting for a local club volleyball team, central's prom, and my brother's boy scout troupe.

Message to Parents

Same Subject, different composition

For this blog post, I chose some coins. I thought they were interesting enough to photograph, and I got a few neat results.

I didn't really think a shallow depth of field looked good without the other composition elements, so it was kind of in two pictures, out of the three I have (because I didn't really get shallow depth of field without the other things)

I think the first image is definitely the strongest, because the other two pennies give a nice sense of depth. The third image would have been the strongest if the background were not so textured; that could have been done with more distance between subject and background to blur the table a little bit. I also like the second one, but I think the angle is nearly too dramatic.

Mundane to Marvelous (late)

Putting on a camera strap is about the most boring thing you can do in terms of photography - no longer! Put on a sleek, stylish strap like this, and immediately become a professional photographer.

Photojournalism

OLD TIMER

LEGACY

OK, I hope the second one, at least, really speaks for itself.

Friends

Louis is pretty darn interesting, and always has something interesting or odd to say. Hopefully, this expression captures that feeling accurately.

Tessa is certainly one curious lady! She's amazing at art in general, and she is a super hilarious person! I was lucky I could press the shutter release here because I was about on the floor in hysterics. Tessa wins at everything art with me, except for photography! So I'm going to take this opportunity and post this picture of Tessa. Really, though, I don't think this needs any explaining.

Accentuate the positives

Sorry, I had to reuse this photo! Just so awesome.

GENTLE

OK, I just had to use this one! I love hands. They are very neat, interesting aspects of a person. Here, Mrs. Neel's hands are holding some fuzz from a nearby plant.

"Looking right through you"

I wish I had an ultra macro lens. As I don't, this is a major crop from Kane's eye. As they say, eyes are the window to the soul, and among the most interesting things to me, photographically.

"Give me that!"

OK, maybe this one is pushing the requirements just a tad, but I love this picture far too much just in sheer moment not to use it, and it illustrates the point well. People's candid, raw expressions will make or break a photograph, and this photograph just happened to be made from it. Could you imagine how interesting the image may be without the player's expression so intense?

Family Picture

Top left: my grandfather, "Pop."
Top right: My cousin, Megan
Bottom left: My brother baiting a fishing line
Bottom right: My dad, looking incredibly cool in some stylish sunglasses out in bright daylight.

My family is very unique because we all come from very unique walks of life, and most of all we all do very cool things! My family has some very interesting occupations and it allows me to pool from every one of their jobs as well as get assistance where I need. This collage is made up of some random, fun pictures that I took.

Post 1 - Self-portrait

Here is a portrait of myself that I took over the weekend. It is very subtle, but hopefully it tells you something about me.