Surreal McCoy (Alvin Brown)'s photostream  

I’m a Vancouver based photographer with a wide variety of interests and a passion for photography. Living in a place that is known for natural beauty, my first photographic genre (and still my greatest interest) is natural landscape, but I'm interested in portraits and fine art also.

My main theme is landscapes, because I enjoy them and I am also lucky to live in a very scenic part of the world, the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. You have to use the opportunities that you are given! I like many different types of photography, and I like to experiment with different things.

My photos which have appeared on Explore:

bighugelabs.com/flickr/scout.php?username=Surreal+Mccoy+(...


If you have any questions or just want to discuss photography just e-mail me, I love to converse with people from all over the world (or even next door!). Generally speaking, cameras and other gear are not what excites me. I would much rather talk about ideas or locations.

I'm not a professional, and don't really aspire to be one, because I'm having too much fun! Once you start shooting for money then it becomes more serious, and I feel it becomes less creative. People who depend on photgraphy to pay the bills usually don't take too many chances, because they would rather go with what they know is popular or commercially successful. My photography career is more haphazard, going in different directions and sometimes into dead ends, but I'm trying to stay away from the formula photos that would be creative death. I'd rather make a glorious failure than a boring success.

Inspiration: For landscape photographers it all starts with Ansel Adams, the man who did so much to define the genre and give it legitimacy as an art form. I’m also an admirer of Michael Kenna, Jim Brandenburg, Steve McCurry, Joe Cornish and Galen Rowell. Some of the people I’ve seen on the internet that have inspired and influenced me are Adam Burton, Lucie Debelkova, Michael Anderson, Mark Wetters, and Marc Adamus.

I've been published both in print and online numerous times, and if you are interested in using one of my photos for publication just contact me by e-mail.

Alvin Brown
abc_brown@yahoo.com