Graphictags

I never quite realized just how long I’ve had a camera in my hand. It started around 4th grade with a 110 Kodak camera and a field trip to Annapolis. Random pictures, blurry pictures, and people pictures. I was just messing around and I’m pretty sure I didn’t know what I was doing. Going through lots of old negatives at my house, I found shots I’d taken at Outdoor Education in 5th grade. Nature pictures are what I seemed to gravitate towards but who has real focus when you’re 10. Certainly not me! Flash forward to 10th grade and my AWESOME Pentax 35mm camera with a personalized camera strap that my mom and dad bought me (still have them). I couldn’t stop taking pictures and I loved driving around so definitely liked landscapes. I also really loved taking embarrassing photos of my friends! I had A LOT of those. My 1st part-time job was at a place called The Dark Room/Thunder Hill Cleaners…. What a combo?! Drop your cleaning and film off at the same time. That idea never seemed to catch on…how shocking. That place was great for me, FREE film developing!!!!! I went to Italy in 11th grade and too 14 rolls of 36 exposure film. That was a TON of $$$$$$$$ that I didn’t have to pay! I just kept taking pictures, trying different things, black and white, architecture, and macro. Trips to Ireland, Puerto Rico and El Salvador gave me beautiful landscape. My people pictures only got better when I had a model that never left my side, my son. Thank God digital came along! People told me my pictures were good. One very good friend convinced me to put a few framed photos into a silent auction. Nervous about people seeing my work, I did it anyway. Who would’ve thought there’d be a bidding war? After that I got my 1st professional job. My company’s new facility needed to have some artwork. My boss, at the time, mentioned my name as a good artist who might be persuaded to do the job at a reasonable rate. With the help of my mom and sister, we planned out the location and subject matter for the building. I only had to take 1 picture to finish the job; all 43 others were already in my portfolio (such a professional term). It is amazing to see your own artwork blown up to poster size. They were pretty damn good if I say so myself. Since then I have completed 2 other professional jobs….a small restaurant with doors as the theme and a doctor’s waiting room with bicycles as its theme.