Photos from the start
My photography journey began as a small ember and grew to something far greater as time went on. I have always been interested in photography, but I’m not sure anyone isn’t. The idea of seeing a moment in time, through someone else’s eyes has always fascinated me. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, I guess than photography can be the vision of certain souls.
I bought my first real camera 5 years ago, right before the birth of my son. The Nikon D5300. Let’s start the photography game with infant photography! Maybe that is why I put the camera down for a few years. I have some amazing photos that in photography terms are simply not amazing, but for me, the chronicling of my son’s first years and thereafter are absolutely priceless.
A lot can change in a couple of years. When things change though, for “good” or “bad” a lot can fill in the spaces that were left behind. Without what most would call a tragedy, or an unfortunate event happening, I don’t think I would have found photography in the way that I did.
My marriage ended in May of 2019, and although I was extremely low for a while I found a spark that helped ignite this hobby of photography into something more. I was sitting at a gathering in October and a friend was looking through my instagram which was essentially a golfing blog that dealt with the mindset aspects of the game. She, a photographer, herself was going through all these photos. Picking out the ones that she liked. Then she was sharing some of her photos. As we talked about photography I realized I had no clue what she was talking about, but at the same time she saw something in my work.
I went home and dusted off the old D5300 and my interest was reborn at that moment. I went back through my catalog in Lightroom and picked out some photos from the occasional times I actually brought my camera on trips. I had about 5 good photos from my entire trip to Colorado..hand to face. And a handful of photos from a quick trip to Nantucket, and Rockport Massachusetts.
I dove into instagram, and started following some photography sites. Trying to get inspiration. I came across Dylan Furst’s work and was blown away. His blue tones and dark and moody vibes struck me. Maybe it was my mindset at the time. Maybe it just hit me. I started my journey with the old “googly moogly” on “moody edit tutorials” and searches like that.
Mantis Photography was born. Why Mantis? 1) They used to call me the praying mantis in high school sports 2) I wanted to retain a sliver of anonymity.
From there I said ONE YEAR. Give this a go for one year with no pressure. Find out what you love. Is it portraits, is it landscape, wildlife, street, whatever. Shoot a lot and see what sticks. To be really honest, the question has often come up in my own self reflection. Is and was photography a complete distraction from what was going on in my life? Is it a real passion, or is it me synthesizing attention and peace? Not to get too deep, but if you know me...that is bound to happen.
Those were all the questions I set out to answer in this year's time.
So what has photography given me?
CREATIVITY
A new way to look at the world. I’m going to sound all dramatic, but in all seriousness photography changes how you see the world. It changes how you drive, how you look at the clouds, and what you appreciate. It changes your appreciation for animals and nature. It tunes you into the environment. The flow of life. It challenges your interpretation of all those things. How you display them. How you see light. How you capture the emotions. Your mood 100% can be seen in your edits.
PEACE
Photography gave me what one might call an active meditation. I’ve found it before in music, sports, hiking and yoga. But photography gave me that sense of peace, calm, and clear mind that I was desperately looking for. Find that one thing you can focus on for an extended period of time, to give your mind a rest from the constant chatter about what is usually in the past or in the future. Our brains are very rarely in the present. That is where meditation lies, in the present, and an active meditation although you are doing something, you are doing something with your focus in the current moment. And that is special.
CONNECTION
This is the one thing I do not think I expected when I started. I have met so many amazing people from all over the world. People that share the same passions, and drives. People that have encouraged and helped me along the way. People that have come together to form a business. People that are just very very very nice. The connections I have made are an unintended consequence to all of this and is probably what makes me smile the most. Photography has opened my eyes and heart to the world.
TRAVEL
For a long time I got very comfortable. I did not want to push myself to travel. Too much money, or I did not want to fly, or I did not have enough time. I used to travel a lot as a child, and have seen some amazing things. The idea of capturing these visions and putting my own creative take on them has invigorated my desire to travel again. Then COVID happened and that was shut down. But, I was able to explore my corner of the globe, and have discovered some amazing things. Silver lining is, the travel aspect of all of this is still in the future and something to really look forward to.
LEARNING
I have always enjoyed the art of learning. Finding something you are interested in and diving deep into it. I had a blueprint of how things can go if you really put in time. Guitar when I was 19. Building a guitar at 27. Golf at 28. Photography at 38. All of those hobbies I have monetized to some extent. When you start to get paid for something that you love and are passionate about, to me that is a huge checkpoint. It isn’t everything and not super important but, that is the moment where you can say, wow, I have really done a good job.
I am very grateful for my journey. If I can impart any words of wisdom, to even the one person that is reading this, (thanks mom) it is this. Life is life. We label things good or bad. We have a story we think we know and what should be. Life is all that happens despite the plans. We have the opportunity to pivot, to grow, to find out who we are every single day. We can sit and wallow or we can move with grace. Grace upon grace. We can find gold in the ash. We can find purpose in the chaos. There will always be tough times. There will always be heartbreak and loss. In those moments of sadness are where we find our true selves.
So hello, My name is Aaron. This is Mantis Photography, and that is a piece of my story.
Photo Credit @bretblakely