When I first got into photography, videography, and creating visual content, it was very one dimensional. I would look at something, take a photo, and be done. That is it, I wouldn't think about much, do much or feel much. I was a "person with a camera taking a photo of something cool" and that was that. As I take photos now, I feel something. Its like the most inspirational person you could think of has set their hand upon my shoulder. Or that thrilling feeling you get on your favorite roller coaster. I feel something. You may be reading this thinking I am completely full of it but its something I can't even explain. It is so powerful and inspirational I wish somehow I could instill the very same feeling into everyone on the entire planet. Maybe I feel the way I do because "follow your dreams" has never been something I have felt is a real thing until now. Or maybe its because I got a text from Emily, the girl in the pictures below, that she has never been so happy to look at herself like she does in the photos I captured of her. I don't want to be known as the "kid that takes photos". I want to be the kid that everyone knows shows emotion, beauty, love, good vibes, absolutely everything through this art form that involves a lens and a shutter. I want to be someone that you can text and go meet for coffee, a beer, or whatever for one of the best life talks you could ever have. Photography isn't just photography anymore. It is not about the money, the banger shots, or any of that. It is about the way it makes me feel about life, other people, but most importantly myself.
Love you all,
Chef
By the way these are some awesome senior pictures taken for Emily who is graduating from Reed High School in just a few months.
