I'm quite lucky to know a lot of photographers and every photographer that I know or have met are quite talented. As many as I know, there are only a handful of photographers that have really inspired me to go that extra mile and work on building and growing my art and skill in photography. Here are two that I know:
Beautiful Pasadena
John Wood
I know John from Flickr. What makes John stand out from the other photographers that I know, other than his obvious talent for being able to see and capture things, is his amazing post work talent. His HDR images are AMAZING! I've seen my fair share of HDR photos and alot of them turn out really surreal in an unnatural looking sense. Take that however you will but for the record, I mean no disrespect to any HDR artists who happen to read this blog. Anyway, what I really love about his HDR work is that their stunning and striking but at the same time subtle? Subtle in the sense that I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself seeing a scene like his HDR images in a natural setting. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of HDR work because a lot of the HDR images I've seen, like I've said, come off as unnatural to me. Also, I've dabbled with HDR work and they all turn out crappy or unnatural. That being said, John's HDR work inspires me to try a little harder with my HDR photos.
I know John from Flickr. What makes John stand out from the other photographers that I know, other than his obvious talent for being able to see and capture things, is his amazing post work talent. His HDR images are AMAZING! I've seen my fair share of HDR photos and alot of them turn out really surreal in an unnatural looking sense. Take that however you will but for the record, I mean no disrespect to any HDR artists who happen to read this blog. Anyway, what I really love about his HDR work is that their stunning and striking but at the same time subtle? Subtle in the sense that I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself seeing a scene like his HDR images in a natural setting. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of HDR work because a lot of the HDR images I've seen, like I've said, come off as unnatural to me. Also, I've dabbled with HDR work and they all turn out crappy or unnatural. That being said, John's HDR work inspires me to try a little harder with my HDR photos.
Micargi Beach Cruiser
Alex Coupet
Alex is a dear friend of mine that I've known for over a decade. I'm fortunate to know him and shoot with them on a number of occasions. We started shooting Holgas and various toy cameras many years ago (apologies, I forget exactly when). There was a time when we would go out to various areas every weekend and shoot whatever we fancied. He has one of the best eyes I know. His photographic style is close to mine so it isn't a surprise when I say he's one of my favorite shooters around. He captures moments. It really is tough for me to point out which types of works from him that I find outstanding because I find 90% of his work to be that, but there's something about his Street work that REALLY captivates me. They're quite humbling to me in that they remind me of how beautiful life is.
There are others that I would have liked to include in this entry but I either didn't get permission from them to use and include their work, or they just don't have any readily available online as hard as that is to believe (seriously, get your stuff online! you know who you are...) but I'd also like to mention more notable and established photographers that have inspired me such as Ari Marcopoulos, Helmut Newton, and fairly recently, Terry Richardson.
Alex is a dear friend of mine that I've known for over a decade. I'm fortunate to know him and shoot with them on a number of occasions. We started shooting Holgas and various toy cameras many years ago (apologies, I forget exactly when). There was a time when we would go out to various areas every weekend and shoot whatever we fancied. He has one of the best eyes I know. His photographic style is close to mine so it isn't a surprise when I say he's one of my favorite shooters around. He captures moments. It really is tough for me to point out which types of works from him that I find outstanding because I find 90% of his work to be that, but there's something about his Street work that REALLY captivates me. They're quite humbling to me in that they remind me of how beautiful life is.
There are others that I would have liked to include in this entry but I either didn't get permission from them to use and include their work, or they just don't have any readily available online as hard as that is to believe (seriously, get your stuff online! you know who you are...) but I'd also like to mention more notable and established photographers that have inspired me such as Ari Marcopoulos, Helmut Newton, and fairly recently, Terry Richardson.