I bought my first camera when I was 20 years old, not long before an inaugural trip abroad a couple years later. Photography seemed like a good alternative to art — something else I enjoy, but not as a career – as well as a compliment to a long-held goal of traveling. It was with that in mind that I began selling my photos through microstock agencies in 2010, first as supplemental income and later as my primary income after learning some 3D rendering and combining my photos with 3D elements to cover a wider range of subjects. Nowadays I've refocused on purely photography, primarily travel photography with an emphasis on places, nature, and events.
About my photography
I feel like I should mention some profound goal for my photography here, but it's rare that my photos carry an overt message. I just produce beautiful imagery to the highest quality that I can. Since I'm living abroad, my subject matter is usually dominated by travel, places, and culture. I don't often feature photos of myself, because I don't want my work or blog to be about me any more than necessary.
I grew up watching things like National Geographic and Marty Stouffer's Wild America as a kid, which conceivably contributed some influence to my interest in photography, as well as in the subjects those programs covered. I enjoy shooting wild places and animals (through a lens), even if I'm not very good at the latter – animals don't hold still for long.
As mankind becomes increasingly disconnected from nature, I hope that some of my nature photography can occasionally bring attention to beautiful places in this world, the threats they face, and the need to protect them. I may use this blog to mention important world issues from time to time.
With the exception of my stock images, I usually try to process my photos faithful to how I remember the scene. I rarely apply post-processing filters, and I generally limit things such as saturation, contrast, and clarity to no more than 10 to 20%. However, I do spend significant time on edits relating to technical quality. Many of my low light photos are composed of multiple exposures combined into a single image to eliminate noise. It's not unusual for me to spend up to 10 hours a day shooting, and then three times longer editing.
For commercial use, my photos can be licensed through Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStock, and several other agencies. If you don't already have a subscription with one of them, then it would be cheaper to license from me directly. Just get in touch for details.
If you're curious about my camera gear, I am currently using a Nikon D7100 body and four lenses: Tokina 11-16mm, Nikon 35mm, Nikon 70-300mm, and Tamron 90mm. More information is available on my ultralight packing list page.