I've been photographing the same things for 23 years: animals, landscapes, and candid moments. It started with Polaroids and disposables, then my mom bought me my own digital Fujifilm when she got tired of paying to develop my film, and put ribbons on the wall at the county fair by the time I was ten. The subjects never changed. The eye just kept getting sharper.
That eye has been noticed. My Komodo dragon photograph was featured by a Disney annual passholder community. My shot of John the lion won the Cincinnati Zoo members' cover contest — chosen by an editor, on merit. When institutions find your work on their own, that means more than any ad ever could.
Everyone sees the same castle, the same lion, the same flower. My job is to find the angle nobody else stood at — the mountain from across the lake, the parade performer at the exact half-second she looks down the lens, the pollen on a sweat bee's legs. Same world. New perspective.
Photographs are how I hold onto the people and moments I can't see any other way. That's why I take this seriously — for my own walls, and for yours.
— Michael · Prints Charming Photos · Burlington, KY