I’m one of those lucky people who found their passion early in life. In 1999 at the age of 12 and at the earnest peer-pressuring of my best friend, I took an elective photography class at my middle school. It was 35mm black and white film. I got my hands on an SLR camera for the first time and developed and printed my own film in the darkroom. I was smitten from day one.
It’s been a long time since I first fell in love with photography but I’m even more enthusiastic and passionate about it today than I was all those years ago. My work and approach has evolved immensely since then. My early influences were the icons of nature photography - Thomas Mangelsen, Galen Rowell, Art Wolfe. Fiery sunsets and vivid colors were my muse, and I was proud to call myself a landscape photographer.
In more recent years I have moved away from that epic landscape style. I discovered the work of Gregory Crewdson, Andreas Gursky, and Julius Shulman. I transitioned back to traditional film photography for nearly all of my personal work. And although you’ll still find heavy nature and landscape influences in my portfolio, I like to think my approach now is more mature and thoughtful, less reliant on crutches.
The incredible resurgence of analog film photography along with the ever-increasing popularity of YouTube has been a driving force in my professional success and my continued passion for the craft. Through the wonderful community around film photography, I have been lucky to meet other passionate photographers, reach new audiences with my work, share my knowledge with aspiring shooters, and do my part to push the community and craft forward.
About My Photos
My photography could be divided into two basic categories: there’s the work that I create for my clients, and then there’s the work I create to fulfill my passion for taking photographs. The way I approach each can differ wildly. When shooting for a client, I am very cognizant of the fact that it is my duty to deliver the photos they need. That generally means shooting digitally and applying the necessary post-production edits to both satisfy their requests while maintaining my artistic voice.
But when it comes to my personal work, I can let my passion steer the ship without constraint. That generally means shooting with traditional analog film using cameras that are the technological equivalent to a record player (or at best a tape deck). My film formats of choice are medium format 645 and 6x7, large format 6x17, and large format 4x5 with most of my images exposing to Kodak Portra 160 or 400. I typically prefer traditional film in my personal work because I feel the slower pace and higher stakes of shooting film over digital helps me build a stronger bond with my subjects and engenders creativity. But I’m no luddite. I believe digital photography and film photography both have roles in this modern age and each has their merits. When the subject or project is best suited for digital, I’ll gladly pick up a modern DSLR or mirrorless camera to get the job done.
I don’t classify myself as strictly a “landscape photographer” or “architectural photographer” or any other constraining title. Instead, I seek only to create art that communicates what I got going on inside my head. I try to make photos that convey a vibe, a feeling - the type of thing that transcends the limitations of my vocabulary in such a way that I can’t communicate it any other way than through photography. After all, if I could put it into words, I would have been a writer.
Watch me at work creating pictures in my on-location photography videos on YouTube
