where this path started to take shape...

It was June 2015, I was looking to take a trip, but I had this desire inside of me that wanted to take a trip and devoted to photography. I bought a Canon SL1 for this trip, and set out to Montana to visit my sister and go explore Yellowstone. Man I wish i could take this trip over again. I took so many pictures, and was the first trip where I really started to devote my time to taking pictures. At the time I didn't have a clue what any functions were on the camera, in fact I don't think I took it off auto the entire time. As I went look back through them, it makes me proud that even then I didn't take the same pictures along every tourist stop. I remember thinking I want to take pictures differently then everyone else so I made it a point to go off the beaten path.

For me Yellowstone is what set in stone and made me realize the passion that is inside of me. Yellowstone is beyond amazing to me. Its incredible that something like it exists in this day and age. I almost feel like I should thank Yellowstone for changing my life or at least making me see whats been there since I was a little kid.

Its funny these pictures are 3.1 MP compared to my current Canon 5DM4 shoots at 30.1 MP

So Yellowstone we have a date and I can't wait to see you again...

The NASCAR All Star Race...

So I've been working in NASCAR as a Fabricator for about 12 years now.  Hard to believe really.  Since Ive been working in the series I have started to travel more and more.  The one thing that has been constant is I have loved to take pictures at the tracks.   I started out using my phone like everyone does but, last year I started taking a camera i had bought a few years ago.  Then I bought a better camera and took it to Phoenix and Homestead Miami.  Thats where the wheels really started to turn. I found that while I was doing my real job I found myself seeing these shots that I wasn't able to take.  It drove me crazy and still does.  But I have started to get more and more open about taking these pictures to the point that where people ask me constantly about the shots I had taken in weeks past.
 
  So here comes the NASCAR All Star race, a race in our backyard really.  About 27 minutes from my house,  so I didn't sign up to work that weekend and planned on going just to take pictures.  Thats exactly what I did and it was awesome.  One thing though, when you work in NASCAR you wear certain clothing that even without showing your pass they know you're there to work and usually leave you alone even if you have a camera in your hand.  So heres me last saturday night, in street clothes, with the same pass that gets me wherever i want usually, well let me tell you it does not work the same without that clothing. I had every security guard kicking me out of areas here there wherever.  I think they even started radioing down to the next guy to keep an eye on me.  I did manage to get to some areas and take some pictures I had hoped to but, it made me think, next time I need to work on getting the right media shirt that they wear.
 
  So thats my next goal is to figure out how to get some credentials here and there.  I want to start submitting some pictures to certain media folks and get them to know my name....

Infrared....

I listened to a Podcast that talked about Ansel Adams and at one point it talked about how he would use red filters which would change the way his images would turn out.  A few days later I read about Infrared Filters and what they would do, so i ordered one  (what I didn't read at the time was new cameras won't pick up Infrared) to play around with.  I had to use my old Canon SL1 to get the Infrared light picked up but I wanted to be able to compare it at the same time vs just changing an image into B&W in post processing.  The top is taken with a 15mm Zeiss lens on my Canon 5DM4 the bottom is with a 24mm lens with the Infrared filter.  

I love how it changes the sky and trees and I can't wait to play around with this more. If anyone has any recommendations on good cameras that will pick up the Infrared light without having to be converted to Infrared only let me know!  :)

This past weekend, I finally came home feeling like I was able to take the pictures I had in mind.  I grew up being drug to drag races, my Mom was in love with them and actually got her start in photography with help from John Force.  So to say they are special to me would be an understatement.  Ive gone year after yeR since they have been in Charlotte, but every year I've taken pictures and never really loved how they turned out, its amazing what the difference can be once you have a good camera and learn how to get the most out of it.  Ive really only been doing photography for about 5 months.  I have put a lot of effort into just learning everything I can about it everything involved.  Ive read article after article, blog after blog and just error after error but, I'm proud of the progress.

Here goes..

You know when you go to work everyday and you feel like you should be doing something different?  I've been working in racing and have worked my way up to where I set out to be, I thought once I got here it would be exactly where I always dreamed of being.  Now that I've made it, I go to work dreaming of doing nothing but traveling around and taking pictures.  All my life I've been around photography, my Mom was a photographer and a very good one at that.  She taught me a lot about it even if I didn't realize thats what she was doing.  In my teen years my Mom ran a photo lab where i got my first job.  Editing pictures day in and day out.  It always drove me crazy how people would only want her to edit their pictures,  looking back it makes total sense.. She was great at what she did.  She took the time on every picture she laid her eyes on and made it better than it could have ever been with anyone else.  I guess without realizing it she transferred some of that desire to make pictures into something special was transferred.  I absolutely love bringing out the image I had in my head when I take the shot.  Theres something about when you finally get the picture on the computer and you see the true colors come out that otherwise were lost within the image.  

 So I'm setting out in hopes to one day travel around the world and be able to share the beauty of this amazing place we all call home.