I’ve been actively involved in photography in various capacities for the past decade. The beginning of my photographic journey probably sounds all too familiar to anyone who ever picked up a camera. About 11 years ago, I was struggling to take “good” pictures of my then newborn son with a brand spanking new three megapixel point and shoot. Having never taken an interest in photography growing up, I was literally starting from scratch at the age of 30. If you can pardon a horrendous pun, thankfully something “clicked” for me. Because I am a computer guy at heart, having the ability to reverse engineer the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO from the exif info baked into each shot I took with my fancy Nikon Coolpix 4500 was a godsend. Digging into the digital files of each shot sent me down a path of experimenting with the various settings on my camera in attempts to emulate the kind of photography and photographers I admired.
In short order, I was making photos of just about anything that crossed my path; flowers, toys, waterfalls, rust, and yes, several thousand frames of my growing family. My interest in shooting a wide range of subjects continues to this day. Whether I’m photographing food, junkyards, unique personalities, or the pastoral scenes of Lancaster County, almost every subject area speaks to me in different and engaging ways. I’m particularly drawn to details and vibrant colors and try to focus on bringing out beauty in everyday objects and settings.
One of the great things about being involved in photography in this day and age is the wealth of freely available information. Because of this unprecedented amount of sharing, everyone has an excellent opportunity to expand their photographic abilities. Because I gleaned (and continue to learn) so much from these types of sources, I’m happy to be able to give back whatever I’ve picked up along the way in the form of the Lancaster County Photography Meetup Group. Formed six years ago, our group has grown to an organization of more than 800 members that puts on roughly 30 events annually, most of which are free of charge.
I will be forever grateful that photography found me. It has given me an outlet for my visual creativity, connected me with amazing friends, and opened my eyes to a world that I was missing before I started looking for how well it was lit.
[list styles=”icon-plus-sign^icon-plus-sign^icon-plus-sign^icon-plus-sign” sc_id=”sc1396835645389″]My Flickr Photostream (Where I post most often) ^ My 500px Photostream (My curated work)^ My Instagram Feed^My Images for Sale on Getty [/list]
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