My name is Mike and I'm a self taught photographer living in Queens, NYC. I have been taking photos for over 15 years. It all started with a cheap film camera when I was just a kid. At first it wasn't technical, I had no idea what I was doing. I just wanted to capture a memory for my future self to reflect upon one day. I spent Sunday's at car shows with my Dad exposing roll after roll of film, taking terrible pictures of beautiful cars. As I grew older, I began taking more and more photos. I'd bring my camera to family events, on vacations or even just with me on the weekends. I remember once reviewing the developed film with my Dad and him saying "Mike, now next time look through the view finder and make sure you get the whole car in frame, don't cut off the back portion like you did here." Over the years the terrible pictures became better and better photos, as I developed my craft through trial and error.
Today my work focuses on capturing a memory in time, and accurately representing how it looked and felt at that particular moment. To me, photography is more than a good image with proper exposure, following all the "rules" of composition. In the same way a song can make you feel a certain way, or bring you right back to the first time you heard it, so can a photograph. It doesn't have to have the perfect lyric or most catchy guitar part, it has to make you feel something. In the age of the smart phone where everyone has access to a camera in their pocket, it's easy to forget the art of photography and how important it really can be. Photography can and is often overlooked these days, so it is my job as a photographer to show you how a great photo can retain an amazing memory or a loved one for the rest of their lives.
