Finding Your Artistic Voice

I had such a passion for photography when I was younger.

I didn't care if anyone was better than me I just loved taking pictures and creating something that to me was beautiful.

I wanted so badly to be in galleries like my dad and sell my work.

When I got to college I decided to start taking photographs for people to maybe make a few extra dollars.

Little did I know that this seemingly small decision would effect my photography for years to come.

I began to be very sinister towards other people who had just started up their businesses and were making more money than me but had just barely started to get into photography.

Suddenly my passion for photography was gone and I was only doing it for the money and to be better than others.

It became a competition.

I started to hate taking pictures.

Even the times I would go out to take pictures just for me were complete crap.

It seemed like everything I had learned, and everything I had worked so hard for was ruined.

The "business" I had started was not going anywhere, and I began to really despise taking photos for people.

I don't really know when it hit me exactly, but all of sudden I realized why I was starting to break up with photography.

I was only comparing myself to others and not just shooting for the sake of art anymore.

I was devastated.

How did I get here?

and better yet...

How do I get back?

After A LOT of soul searching and taking a break from my business I was able to get back to my roots and start focusing on the beauty of photography again. 

Coincidentally my business started to really take off, and I started to actually like taking portraits for people.

I kept my photography separate from my client photography, and that made all the difference.

So now I've been on a photographic journey I guess you could call it.

Something that has really bothered me lately has been that I don't have a signature "thing".

I don't have one area of photography I am really passionate about.

When I was younger I just really loved it all, but now that my taste is maturing I didn't really have one thing that made me so excited to shoot.

Until I came across some conceptual work.

Surprisingly enough I fell IN LOVE

(and I say surprisingly because I was always very traditional and thought photoshop was of the devil. I thought people only used it to try and fix their terrible images)

I never realized photoshop could be a medium, and it intrigued me.

So lately I've been trying to do a lot of conceptual work.

Testing new things and learning so much about photoshop.

and I think I am finally starting to find my photographic voice.

Finally.

I get SO excited when I come up with an idea.

I get SO excited when I go out to shoot one of those ideas

And I LOVE coming home to edit, and see what I can create.

It feels so good to create art for the sake of creating art.

It's no longer about who is better than me, and trying to better than someone else.

It's no longer about trying so hard to get so good to be in a gallery.

It's about my love for photography, and boy does it feel good

Speaking of how much I love to do this,

here is a conceptual piece I just finished

enjoy!

"Grounded"

 

I feel like I am finally fulfilling one of my favorite Ansel Adams quotes:

"You don't take a photograph,
you make it"