Why I photograph the way I do and I’m unapologetic about it.

Formal photos, what’s that? I don’t do them often, I’ll be honest. It’s not my style and I’m not really into stiff awkward photos anyways. Photographers that do, props. I’m an artist first and I think that plays a lot into the way  I see and shoot things. I’m not technical at all. Yes I know how to use my computer to edit my stuff and I know my camera, but come at me with technical photo terms for things and I will google that so fast it’s not even funny. I don’t know everything about photography, but one thing I pride myself on is knowing how to people. Aka embracing each individual I photograph and in some ways creating a bond with them, even though that sounds SUPER cliché. Photos are personal and sometimes intimate and that’s one of the many reasons I love what I do.

I know what I like in my images and I’ve somehow been fortunate enough to work with incredible people who trust me. I like emotions and feelings and occasional tears, mixed in with laughter. That’s why weddings are so great. That and the fact everyone looks amazing during weddings, but that’s besides the point.

The thing is I’m not sorry for shooting the way I do. The photos I take of your family or of you and your fiancé  will be exactly how you and your loved ones are. I’ll document your personalities and bring out the love you guys have for one another that you may not even have known existed. Because in the end that’s what matters to me. I shoot this way because I want to tell your story and I want people to feel the story from just one glance. I shoot this way because the realness matters to me. You matter to me.

So in the end, what I’m trying to say is keep things real. Own who you are, embrace what you love and be unapologetic for doing just that.

Sam, Cville’s very own bike man

One thing I’m sure of, photography has taught me to see. To look around. Even in the smallest of towns. Through seeing I found that there are so many interesting people to be photographed. So many people with stories to be told.

Many of you have seen him. He’s the guy riding around town on a bicycle with the impressive handle bars. Sometimes he’s in camo, sometimes simply a flannel and converse shoes, but always wearing a mustache. He’s actually twitter famous (@CvilleBikeMan), but that’s besides the point. I’ve been determined to photograph him for months and as fate would have it I got my chance this past weekend.  I rolled up to my studio downtown and he was walking out of one of the local eateries gearing up to take off on his famous bike. I introduced myself and thankfully he didn’t find it creepy when I told him to follow me to an alley to do these photos. We talked for a second. I told him to stop by the studio if he saw my door open and that I would give him some prints. Today, he did just that.

It turns out the Crawfordsville bike man has a name, Sam. He was knowledgeable, a bit of a rebel and not a person to conform to society and how it tells us to define ourselves. He said he has his driver’s license, but prefers to ride his bike for exercise. He talked politics, which I wasn’t all that surprised about. He has two bikes and is looking into a third, sometimes he uses the horn on them. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him to stop by again.

In the end, if you take anything from this post it should be this. Take a look around. See people. We actually are all very different from one another and there are so many stories to be told. Find the rebels in the crowd, those not afraid to be who they are or are deciding for themselves who they want to be. Be inspired by Sam.