I was introduced to photography in a high school photography class that I picked as an elective. While most students took it to earn an easy A, I always knew there was something special there, and found myself taking photos beyond what was required for the class. In college I would carry my 'point and shoot' camera around with me, and would take random photos of events, or just people around campus. The photos I did were never for work, and I never marketed myself as a professional photographer. I just genuinely enjoyed capturing special moments, I never upgraded from the point and shoot because I was a broke college student who couldn’t afford a fancy DSLR.

Midway through college I stopped taking pictures, and didn't pick up a camera for another 10 years. When I moved from Miami to Seattle, I immediately noticed the beauty of Washington State. I would go on hikes, or visit state parks, and would want to capture the beauty of it all, but there was always a huge difference between what my eye saw, and how the picture looked from my cell phone camera. I decided to finally bite the bullet and buy the DSLR camera I should have bought 10 years before. While walking around capturing scenery, I would often run into people who would ask for their photo taken. After showing it to them on the screen, I noticed how their face lit up, and how excited they were to see the images. I quickly realized that capturing a picture of a mountain or waterfall can be fun, but no matter how good the picture came out, the mountain or waterfall couldn’t share their excitement of how hot they thought they looked in the picture. I realized that receiving feedback from my subject brought me a lot of satisfaction. At that moment I decided to focus on portrait photography.

Why Photography

When I began to focus on portrait photography, I knew there was more to a good photo than just blurry backgrounds. I spent hours searching, learning, and reaching out to photographers to get a true understanding of the art, and to learn how to express myself through this art. To this day I feel like I am still learning and have accepted this as a lifelong journey. Will I ever master photography? Probably not, but I will do everything that it takes to be pretty damn good at it. Fortunately, my full-time job pays me enough to where I can be selective of the photos that I take, never will I take on a gig just for the money. I’m not in it for the money, I’m in it to grow as an artist.


Style

Photography has reached a point where the market is saturated, anyone can buy a fancy camera and start taking pictures. I’ve been told that every photographer should have his or her own “style”, and with this I have noticed a bunch of photographers manipulating their images to reflect a specific style, without any thought to how the images may make themselves, or their audience feel. I say why limit myself to a “style”? If there is a type of image that reflects what I am feeling I will shoot it.
If I had to pick what type of images interest me I would say Fine Art, Bright Colors, Fashion Editorials, Advertising, Family, and some landscapes. You can easily notice this diversity in interests while looking through my portfolio.