I got my start in photography in April of 2023. It's hard to really say what drew me to it - while I have always enjoyed the visual arts, photography was one of the genres I didn't really understand for most of my life. I didn't appreciate the craft, care, awareness, or patience required to grasp the artistry behind a good photo.
But one day, while in the midst of a difficult mental health battle, I discovered my wife's old camera and just... started taking pictures. I was interested in the mechanics of the exposure pyramid, and learning a new tool is always exciting for me. I'd take pictures of our pets and random items around the house, or really just anything that caught my eye for more than half a second.
Then I stumbled across some YouTube videos about bird photography, so I went about reviving one of the many obsessions of my youth that I had placed by the wayside over time, got a new lens, and went exploring our local parks, eager to capture whatever birds I could find. As many photographers will realize (I did not at the time), this would be quite the learning curve, but I was passionate and went out for hours on end.
This would also extend to an overall nature/landscape photography practice as well - we took a big trip to Arizona to see some friends, then we made a long drive to Joshua Tree, CA, one of the most beautiful and amazing places I've ever seen. I was most excited for the potential for bird photography (which ended up great as I got to photograph a lot of birds that I would never see at home), but I was not quite prepared for how beautiful I would find the entire area. Twice we got up around 5am to go watch the sunrise at Keys View (see top picture), and once we had gotten our fill of the sunrise we would drive all around the park to see what we can find (I would highly recommend the Cholla Gardens - absolutely beautiful).
Then as time went on and I became interested in expanding my craft, street photography became my next venture. I think there was a sense of the "thrill of the chase" that was reminiscent of bird photography, but in some ways it was much more accessible of a journey than bird photography (unfortunately, decent bird photography favors very expensive lenses - street photography on the other hand can be done on a bargain). Street photography requires a different set of eyes from bird photography; you have to be as keenly aware of your surroundings as with bird photography, but you're often looking for the overlooked. Whether that be a dramatic lighting scenario, the patterns and textures that can be found in everyday objects that many might not ever notice, the way towering buildings chisel out the skyline, or in documenting the every day lives of people as they inhabit these urban environments in stark contrast to our ancestors, there's always something to keep you on your toes with street photography.
Eventually, I came to a bit of a challenge in keeping up with my photography habit - winter had come and the world slowed down considerably. Bird activity in the area was reduced, and I don't live in a "big" city where there's still a lot of hustle and bustle once it gets cold. On top of that, Ally (my partner) underwent a fairly major surgery so we were stuck in the house for about a month and a half straight. But the itch to photograph was still there, so I started taking on the project of documenting our home. We have a pretty unique old home, and Ally is such an eclectic decorator that I realized that I had plenty to experiment with - natural lighting, textures, plants, knick-knacks of all sorts. Not only did I find that there was much more joy to be found in photographing the mundane that I had ever expected, but it also gave me a much deeper respect for my partner's creativity and eye for constructing a comfortable living space to call our own.
I like to think of myself as more of a "generalist" photographer - it keeps my mind active in the creative process and forces me to consider my awareness of my surroundings much more than I have in the past, and I appreciate that additional benefit. I've learned to slow down and appreciate the world around me, a stark contrast to how I lived the first 30 years of my life. The generalist approach I've taken on is actually why I finally decided to create this site - social media sites seem to drive this mentality that in order to be "successful," you have to "niche yourself down" into such a narrow band of photography in order to get consistent engagement with your followers - for example, if they came for your street photography, why would they care about your bird photography? Why would they care about the beautiful, everyday objects in your home that catch your eye? Not to mention the constant push to move towards, well, things that aren't photography.
If you've made it this far, well done! I can be a bit verbose at times, but I appreciate that you would take the time to learn my story a bit 🙂 I'm sure I'll update this as time goes on, but I'm still in my photographic infancy and I'm excited to see what happens next on my adventure!