The Beginning

This blog is meant to discuss my passion for photography and the journey I am taking to make it a career.

Over the past year, I have been taking photos pretty much everyday. I carry my camera around with me most of the time, unless I'm on my way to work. When I take photographs, I get lost in a new world. I lose track of time and space. I don't care if I look like a tourist or if I'm taking photos of something where people look and go "what is he taking a picture of..?" The best part is that I'm stopping to examine life around me. To examine the everyday things we see, but don't see anymore. To get the detail out of something ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Recently I received some words of advice from an amazing photographer out of New York City, Tony Pettinato. Check out his website for his exquisite work! You won't look at makeup and other items in the same way!

http://www.pettinatophoto.com

Back to his advice:

"You have a good eye. Try to always maintain a point of view in each image, and kick back a little from image manipulation. Try to understand light. Light is photography! Do a study in black and white. This will force you to work more with lighting."

He is right of course. I set my camera to black and white setting and I must say, it is way more challenging to take a photo in b&w! In color, things don't have to have full light and later you can brighten up the colors if they are dull or in shadow. But black and white you need the light as a guide to tell you and the viewer what you trying to say in the photo.

This is where I am currently in my journey: I am taking the next steps to make photography go from a hobby/passion to a career. I am getting together a portfolio and a DVD so that I can go around to coffee shops and try to get my work hung up and seen and hopefully purchased. I am trying to challenge myself and move from just still life to something more creative. I have the eye, now I need vision and individuality in my work.

The photograph you see abofve is one I took on July 30, 2009. Now I want to post one below which is more recent to show where I'm at now in my work:

Both are excellent photos of an object but the black and white is showing a more dramatic moment. Of course the fog helps but what I'm trying to say is that b&w brings it down to the basics. You are only relying on emotion rather than pure color to guide you through what you see.

All my work can currently be seen on Flickr at the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/