How photography and I became friends
It was early 2008 when I came across my first dslr. I got it for my 20th birthday off of QVC.com and my mom agreed to make the first payment but that I was responsible for the other 3 payments. So working part time for my fathers construction company I just figured I would have the money to pay it off no problem, so I clicked order.
The camera came in a few weeks later and immediately I began to snap away. I initially got into photography because I had recently made a friend who was into it and she was the inspiration behind the purchase. I was blown away by the facebook albums she was able to make from just walking around with a camera. I had many years of graphic design under my belt and knew that if i had the equipment I could put the work in and make some stellar images even if I wasn't a very good photographer.
So I learned very fast that I wasn't going to get anything good just setting this thing to auto and shooting away. Thats when I hit the books, and by books I mean Youtube. So I spent a few hours soaking up as much as I could about DSLRs and then started experimenting with the manual mode and thats when my world was changed. I set out at night and started trying out these cool tricks I found online and as soon as I got my first light trail from a car I was hooked.
my first light trail image from atop a parking garage downtown chattanooga
From then on my camera went everywhere with me and my friend Amy and I started going on photo walks and I was officially obsessed. Now me becoming obsessed with a hobby is a pretty regular occurrence in my life. I learn and obsess over each and every new thing I come across. Ask anyone, it's out of control. But something about photography was different. I started out wanting to show off cool images but it grew on me like nothing else had ever done. Pretty soon I was gathering up friends and going all over the place just to take pictures.
Kane overlooking the city
Joel at my bdubs birthday bash
Josh being Josh
me playing with light
So instead of it being "let's go hiking, oh and I'll grab the camera". It was actually "Hey I wanna take some pictures, let's go hiking". So it wasn't long before I had thousands and thousands of images and it was an addiction.
A few months after getting the camera and taking thousands of pics my mom told me about a wall at the hospital where worker displayed theirs and their families photography, and she said I could print up some of my best shots and put them up there for sale and that would cover the rest of the bill for the camera that I still owed. So I loved that idea because it meant I would feel like a real photographer with my work on display so we got some printed up and framed.
Well a month went by and I got nothing from it. I went to the hospital and took my picture with my photos that were on display but I got discouraged because I had been all excited to make money but no one seemed interested. Then it happened. My mother was contacted by a lady at the hospital in charge of the decor in a new section that they had just built. This lady loved my work and said it would be the perfect thing to display in the new wing of the hospital. So thats when I got my first check. Even after payin my mom for the remaining bill on the camera and all the prints and framing I still had enough to buy 3 more cameras! I was stoked and that immediately led to getting published in the book Chattanoogas Heroic Drive. That is what planted the seed that you now see budding before you today in Newtogrpahy.
My first prints "Chattanights"