Ok, so you’re probably reading this to find out what brought me to photography, and what makes me a “photographer.” Well, for those who know my family and my backstory, they can tell you that it’s in my genes: My dad was a photographer in his home country of Montserrat (West Indies). He was pretty much the de facto photographer of our church growing up, and he would also take photos of every place we traveled. I wanted to take photos of my own, but since we weren’t allowed to touch his camera (We couldn’t pick it up anyway. It was like Thor’s hammer….you’re either worthy or you’re not), he would get me a disposable camera or he would tell me to use my mom’s Kodak 110 (remember those?).
Now fast-forward some years into adulthood, and I found myself owning a business that had me on the road A LOT! I took pictures of the places I’d travel with my cellphone, but then came the idea of purchasing a drone, which changed everything. After buying the drone, I tried to learn about aerial photography (Yeah, I did that backwards). I read anything and everything I could get my hands on, and while photography is a skill that you improve upon every single day regardless of experience level, I thought I was pretty good starting out, so I entered a photo contest and won! One of my mentors suggested I try out photography with a regular camera and I was happy that I did. You can’t always fly a drone, but you can always take out a camera and snap a shot. I bought my first real camera: A Nikon D7100 with a Sigma 18-35 lens.
While I was traveling and taking photos, I would text and email the photos I’d take to friends and relatives who lived in those cities. I even posted some on Facebook. My best friend told me I should post these images on Instagram, but I wasn’t so sure that was for me. Anyway, I started the account and posted some photos. It was fun starting out; I’d post a picture, and then count how many “likes” or comments the photo would get. Then something happened that changed my photography path: British Airways reached out to me and basically said, “Uh, yeah, that photo you posted of Nashville, TN….we want it.” I thought it was a joke at first because I couldn’t believe that they would need a photo of Nashville, TN. My next thought was, “Ok, you want it, you got it.” I could tell you of many stories where I would be contacted by different companies like Federal Express, Marriott Properties, and different tv networks like Fox 5 Atlanta, Fox 5 NY, WABC (New York), and WSB (Atlanta) that would contact me to purchase one of my photos or for permission to use one, but I think the biggest thing that changed my photography path was when I was contacted by the Atlanta Conventions and Visitors Bureau. They thought my images were a great representation of the city, and they had a list of shots they wanted to purchase and use in ad campaigns to promote tourism in Atlanta.
I enjoy shooting all types of photography, but the two genres that are probably my bread and butter would be cityscapes and architectural photography. I love waking up early in the morning to shoot a sunrise just over a city’s skyline, or shooting the golden hour sun glow off an architect’s creation. I hope my talent in this craft shines through each photo in my galleries. Please enjoy, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.