Small collection of my favorite work from 2017

I have been shooting now for about 3 years I am by no means or stretch of the imagination a professional, but I have seen so many improvements in my photos over the last few years in this list I am showcasing some of my favorite photos from last year. I will be posting recent work soon for comparison and some videos as well!

I always try to tell a story with my photos or give a feeling of being immersed in the photo. adding DOF and a cool perspective is one of my favorite "but overused" tricks but I have come to find that a photo doesn't always have to tell a story or capture an emotion. Sometimes you just like the spot or subject and shoot it and it turns out to be an amazing capture. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all! This was taken over Lake Michigan chilling on the dune above the pier.

I remember when I first started in photography I would just go out and shoot everything and come home with hundreds if not thousands of random shots with only a handful of good pictures.

Over time I learned to pace myself, really take my time and find great images worth capturing. Here is another example of the low perspective I love so much lol this is actually one of my favorite photos from that year. Love the colors and depth it has!

This was a self portrait I took / made in Photoshop
I got into simple manipulation in Photoshop. I was a fun shoot I plan on doing a lot more work with other projects using some of the things I have learned over the last year.
For those straight out of camera people I say to you if you don't post process then you DID NOT take time to perfect your image. Editing your photos is NOT cheating the best world renowned photographers use some sort of post processing whether it be Photoshop/Lightroom or some other software.
I myself shoot exclusively in RAW and like using Photoshop only for manipulation and lightroom for most of my edits.

Half of capturing an amazing shot is being in the right place at the right time. I got this shot while hiking out near my summer campsite. The fog came rolling in out of nowhere and it just looked so amazing. The picture actually does not do it justice it was breathtaking in person and much more dense.

The historic native blockhouse. This area is beautiful, it's perched at the highest point on the dunes overlooking Lake Michigan. It has been a spot I've visited since I was just a youngster. Sometimes on a cloudy day it can be hard to get a decent shot that captures the look you are aiming for so you need to get a bit creative with post processing! Desaturate the photo and pick and interesting object to add color.

This one was taken on the Montague pier on lake Michigan and White Lake. I loved how the light was reflecting off the railings it just looked really interesting! I put the main focus on the railing and blurred the foreground a bit.

This one was actually a more recent photo from last week I just wanted to add it because well why not lol I like the gritty feeling of this photo and how the cracks are formed so perfect. Balck and white really has a way of capturing the feel of dirty gritty photos.

Took this one when it was rainy and crappy outside. I seen a simpler one on pintrest and loved the idea but not the perspective so I recreated it the way I thought was cool. I love the way it turned out just how I envisioned it! I'm more of a landscape photographer so doing little side projects really helps sharpen your skills and it is good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while and explore new things.

This one here was taken on the Lake Michigan shoreline as well. The clouds just lined up almost perfectly outlining the tree! It was a very cool shot and very unplanned lol I was just walking by and my buddy I was with was like dang look at the clouds outlining the tree! I only had a few seconds to react but I managed to capture it decently. I wish I could have been ready for it a little sooner and set the shot up better but hey it is what it is and I still love the shot!

I took this one in Kalamazoo MI at the train crossing downtown. this is a pretty old shot of mine but I think it still deserves to be part of the list of that year just to see how far i have come lol I wish there would have been more graffiti !! lol

This was a bit of a fine art type of photo. I took a fishtank filled it with water and put the horse skull in and dropped black tattoo ink in the water. There was some red to but I ended up making it B&W so you cant tell it just seemed to morbid that way lol.

This photo was taken last week too. Just added it because I CAN! lmao

This one was taken last week as well. Just a barbed wire fence near the sidewalk that caught my eye so I took a quick snapshot.

I hope you enjoyed checking out my photography I will be posting hiking /camping photos + videos soon so keep an eye out for that!