darksideti's photostream

Ok, so I have a myspace page, I have a Flickr page, I have a kick ass camera (Ok, maybe in my opinion), I have photoshop CS3, I have a clander with stuff on it and I have more photography toys then you can shake a stick at......so that means I must be legit right?

Well, probably not, so here is what I'm really about:

My story (well, the one regaurding photography) starts about 17 years ago. 17 years ago I got my very first camera, it was a little 35mm Canon P&S, it cost me $120, $120 which I saved my lawn mowing money for a whole summer to compile. Starting the day I picked up my camera, I could not put it down, I took pictures of EVERYTHING. About the time I turned 16, I got my hands on my first SLR, aat this time I was also taking Photography classes, now I was moving from just taking photos of what was around me, to taking photos that expressed, invoked or captured emotion, something that eluded me in drawing. I started looking at photography in the sense of an "Artform" rather then just a method of documentation. I continued with this till about the age of 20.

At the age of 20, I went on a 10 year detour. For 10yrs I switched back to P&S photography and stopped taking pictures with the furvor and frequency that I once had. It's not that I lost the love of photography, I just let "Life" get in the way. I did find though that not have that artistic release was frustrating. I longed to explore photography again, but always found reasons not too, it always "cost too much, I never "had enough time", or I didn't feel "skilled enough". Pretty much BS excuses.

So that brings us to "today" and where I am now. earlier this year, something finally "snapped" in my brain, the BS excuses were played out, and I needed to do something artistic. My skills were pretty rusty, and I lacked practice, but I took the jump, I picked up the equipmat I needed to embark on a new artistic journey and set forth to once again create art in the form of photographed images.

But alas, this is not a cheap endeavor, so out of the need to create cash flow for my art, I created Darkside Photography. I figured this is a way to fund my art, and to meet new people. Also, over the years I have become a collector of tattoo art, on my own skin. Through my experiences getting tattooed, and meeting other tattooed people and tattoo artists, I have come to love the art of tattoo and the many stories behind the ink. I have also come to love the culture and people of the tattoo comunity. This is why have have choosen to focus on tattoo portraits, doing so lets me express my love of both art forms, and lets me tell peoples stories through the images of their prized tattoo art.

Continued.....

Kudos to you if you read Part one, you must have alot of patience to read my rambling!

So....where was I....ah yes. I was saying that I am focusing on tattoo portraits, because it blends to of my artistic interests. But don't assume that I will ONLY take pictures of tattooed people. One of my other favorite subjects is children. Having kids of my own has really made me appreciate the innocence of children, when you take a picture of a child, there is no BS they just are who they are, and that is refreshing. Taking portraits of small children is much more time consuming, and takes alot of patience, but it is rewarding. I also enjoy genereal portrait work, I tend to lean tward a more natural style, verses a studio style. I like to practice in my studio, but there is something about capturing images in a more natural enviroment that is very apealing to me.

Now, there are a few things, that I prefer to not work on. I really don't like doing wedding photography. I think the reason is I feel I have less artistic control, since it is really about the Bride and Groom, not the photographer who has a crazy idea of a great shot that involves climbing on a roof, or some other crazy crap. Also, the market is saturated with great wedding photographers, so I will just stay away. But if it's wedding work you need, let me know, and I can recommed some great photographers. I will bend the rules a little and do engagement photography though. The other thing I try to stay away from is family reunion and large family portraits (more then 10 people), this is just a personal preference, I would prefer to capture the indavidual, rather then just a bunch of faces.

So that is a basic run down of what my photography is all about, hopefully I haven scared you away! So drop me a line, say hi, you don't have to buy anything to talk to me. I am always looking for cool people to share ideas with, to colaberate with, to learn from, to take pictures of, or share a cold beer and a good laugh with.

Be see'n ya in the lense.

Ti