So let me start off by saying I owe whatever success I have received from taking pictures to my daughter Melody. So back when my wife was pregnant we got a basic DSLR camera (Nikon D5000) and some kit lenses. When Melody was born, I pulled that camera out of the closet, dusted it off and started taking pictures of her. I guess you can say this is when the photography "bug" bit me for the first tim
e. I found myself staying up till the early hours of the morning watching YouTube videos/tutorials on how to take better pictures. Now let me talk about Facebook. See a lot of you may know me from doing local hip-hop shows at pretty much any and all the venues in Santa Cruz that actually allows hip-hop to be performed. I would have to credit my years (and years) of passion for hip-hop and performances for many if not all the local friends I have on Facebook. Since 99% of the shows I did were in town, I made sure to target locals, that way I could invite them to shows and hopefully get them to listen to a song or watch a video. I guess I never realized how helpful those supporters would be later down the line. So back to photography! Oh, I promise that last paragraph will have relevance soon, bear with me. So when Melody was born I was taking hundreds of pictures of her and posting my favorite ones on Facebook. This is when I realized Facebook would be 10 times better for my photography then it would ever be for my music. Put it this way, I'd post a new song = 20 likes, post a baby pic = 200 likes (and I'm a damn good emcee!) But I get it, not everyone loves hip-hop, but most people love a picture of a cute baby. After a handful of posted pics of Melody I started getting private messages from people asking me to take pictures of their children. I enthusiastically agreed and started doing free shoots at local beaches and meadows. At this point I thought it was just random chance that people were asking me to do this and the requests to take pictures would slowly come to a halt, but every time I posted a picture of the shoot I did the day before, I would get another person (or two) asking for a shoot. Now keep in mind that I work a full-time job and as much as my wife thought it was nice of me to take free pictures of people's children, my family was seeing less of me due to taking pictures and editing. Well being the clever person I am, I had a solution. What do women love almost as much (if not more) then their husbands? So I started charging people $20 for a shoot. Then I started charging $50 for a shoot and so on. Although I was afraid that as soon as I started charging people that their requests for photo shoots would slow down, to my disbelief I'm happy to say they didn't. Even though I charge, I make sure that my prices aren't through the roof and that people who would normally go to Sears to get their pictures done could get a nice picture of their family on a beautiful beach with the sunset behind them. Oh, nothing against Sears or any other photographer for that matter. I believe that every photographer has a place in this market. Well it wasn't long before I was asked to shoot a wedding. Just the thought of that terrified me. I had gained a decent amount of confidence through my research and little experience, so that wasn't the issue. I just didn't feel I had the right equipment to properly tell the story of such an important day in a couple's lives. So I saved up every dollar that I had from doing photo shoots, and after a little convincing of my wife (which surprisingly wasn't much) we went out and purchased one of the best cameras that Nikon has to offer (D810). We also got a couple of great lenses. Let me just tell you, this camera is amazing. Since the purchase of this camera I have been booked for four weddings and countless portrait shoots. The family and I are very excited to see where this venture takes us. So far it's been a great ride. Seeing peoples faces light up when I give them their finished product has got to be one of the best feelings there is. Spending all day with the bride and the groom on the most special day of their life is also an unreal experience. You end up building a very unique relationship. Seeing a mother get teary-eyed after looking at a picture I took of her newborn baby is one of the most gratifying/rewarding feelings there is. In closing I will say this, I don't consider myself to be a photographer (yet). I'm just a guy who has a really nice camera. The photographers who have spent countless hours shooting and researching are "photographers." The artists who take the kind of pictures that you swear can only be seen in a dream are "photographers." I do have confidence that I will get there someday soon. What I'm trying to gain from photography is simple, freedom. I would like for photography to be my sole source of income someday. I would like to have a litter of babies without having to worry too much about money. I would love for my wife to quit her job so she can do what she really wants to do, be with our children all day. And as much as I love my 9-to-5 job, I want to spend time investing into my dream instead of someone else's. I have already pretty much stopped doing music (which is one of the things I hold very close to my heart) to make time for photography. I know it sounds cliché, but there literally isn't enough hours in the day for me to have a full-time job, be an attentive father/husband, invest in being a better photographer and write new songs and rehearse for shows. Something had to give. It would be a dream come true if I could do photography full-time. I know this may sound a bit idealistic but I was told, "You may not make it if you shoot for the stars, but you could end up on cloud nine and that's not a bad alternative." I want to thank some people! First and foremost I want to thank my wife for being a relentless supporter of me. I know I can get consumed with all of this, but the way you gracefully encourage me and keep me grounded has been more vital to the success of this venture than the camera itself. This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for you and your faith in me. I want to thank my children for inspiring me, and especially Mikey for being a subject to shoot and smiling when you really feel like frowning and throwing a javelin through my torso. I also want to thank Tim Cattera for answering tons of stupid rookie questions. I've noticed that a lot of photographers kind of have this "meh, I'm better than you" attitude but Tim has been nothing but welcoming and informative. Also thanks to Neil Simmons for advice. You have also been nothing short of awesome. Finally thanks to anybody who chose me to take their pictures. That means the world to me. Thanks for all the support!
