My story beings in a different place than most photographers in the industry. Unlike my partner Andrew, I wasn't given a camera as a gift, and I didn’t grow up with the urge to be a photographer. My yellow brick road started in a completely different timezone.
I began the journey down the path of photography as a kid who loved technology. I was a kid who lived and breathed on the CNET Webpage. I remember getting a summer job in high school, solely so I could afford the latest gadgets that were entering the market. Mind you this was a different time and place altogether. Think back to the technology of 2007, this was a time before the days of the iphone and android. This was a time before LTE, wireless Charging, and the cloud.
One day while watching the early days of YouTube. I ran across a tutorial for photoshop. It was at that time that I started down the path of being a retoucher. I spent so much time reading and learning everything I could about the program and gained a firm grasp on the concepts within the year. While I am not a great digital artist(I can’t draw to save my life), I became a darn good photo retoucher and could bring even the most damaged images back to life. After years spending time helping others in their own photographic endeavours, I decided to finally to pick up a camera for myself. Now you can imagine that I learned photography the same way that I learned Photoshop, through many hours of reading and Youtube tutorials. And I was ready to see if all that learning would pay off.
Once I finally gained enough confidence in my skills, I decided to take my camera out into the real world. I began my photography career mainly shooting crossfit sports, and fitness events(Don’t forget the crossfit wedding of the ages, and no you cannot see pictures). Honing my skills in the fast-paced crucible of sports allowed me to gain the skills and knowledge to produce images in a quickly changing environment.
I made the shift to wedding photography after being asked by a friend to take on the responsibility of shooting his wedding at the last moment. Once I successfully completed the task, I decided to make the shift on a permanent basis into the world of professional photography. So, while I didn’t go down the the same road as most, I have arrived at a similar location and horizons are brighter than ever.