There was really no other name to start this baby out with. "Matt's photo blog, chapter one."
This isn't an autobiography or a memoir, just a set of notes to remember how I got off the ground. I don't have my degree in fine arts, and my networking skills with other photographers still leaves much to be desired. However, through some bizarre metamorphosis, I've become a photographer. And so the journey begins.
Since I've begun this crazy supplemental side-project, I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of families and get to know a lot of people. Because of my organic approach to photo sessions, I've had the time to chit-chat with my clients and get to know them a little bit. I've even had the opportunity to do a photo session or two with some old friends, some of whom I never would have imagined would become lifelong friends. I've had opportunities to be pushed outside of my comfort zone, to be given feedback I may not have wanted to hear, and see what kind of work I'm capable of. I'm enjoying learning new things with each and every person I get to work with, and quite often, it's the ones who don't speak (i.e. newborns) who teach me the most.
I've spent the better part of my evening finalizing the new design of this website, including this new blog, which will be a catch-all for any stray thoughts I haven't been able to sort through using a camera lens. I've officially become greedy in my need to control my work, both through the use of the U.S. Copyright Office and this website, and have felt an increasingly strong need to keep most of my work away from Facebook, especially most of the work I do for the families who hire me. My struggle as an artist and a musician for most of my life has been the struggle in knowing what the value of my work is, as well as knowing that it's special, if even to me. If my paranoia level (which is high, mind you) is an accurate barometer for my thoughts and feelings of the NSA, I'd rather keep this stuff right here where I can see it. Granted, it's a little corner of the internet where not many people tread, but hell, "it's cheap, it's clean, and it's all mine."
Since this is my first blog, I feel the need to once again thank my better half for giving me the push I needed to find this true passion and calling in photography, and I'd like to thank friends like Brian Moore who are there to talk to about this kind of stuff without the aficionado snobbery. Thanks to Summer Montoya, family who gives me awesome photography advice when I need it, and thanks to the awesome developers of the Hipstamatic (don't let the name fool you) app for iPhone, which I've used to capture a lot of my favorite and best work.
I'm just happy that I get to do this with the life I have. So much more than a hobby for me. Gratitude abounds.
Respectfully,
Matt
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