Back Stories
The First Flame
I did not start out with ambitions to become a photographer, in fact I almost disregarded it completely in my younger days opting for the video camera to film skateboarding tricks and our antics. It was my father who was carefully in the background capturing all those moments that our video camera either missed or lost focus on. When we filmed a rough, shaky or blurry shot with the video camera, he captured a crisp photo at the apex of the action. It wasn't until I got older and found myself more frequently looking at older pictures and videos, trying to fill that nostalgia, that I began to understand the importance capturing those memories and why he took photos in the first place.
My father has been a photographer professionally for over 34 years starting all the way back on a film camera, the Nikon EM. Without formal training, he sites his gained experience from trial and error; and having started out with film there were certainly many hurdles to learning the art. My father was also one of the earliest adopters of digital cameras as they first released to consumers. Fortunately, many of the foundations and principles would translate over from film to a digital medium with a lot less guess work. Rapidly conquering the new (at the time) SLR/DSLR and later to today's mirror-less cameras from entry level to flagship grade bodies, my father continues to enjoy shooting to this day. Among his favorite subjects are the vast landscape shots and the tricky yet rewarding action shots. While those are still his favorite for the vast array of character and compositional value, he never neglects anything in between such as portraits, macro and wedding photography.
Taking the Second Torch
Referring back to my mention of nostalgia, almost all the pictures I took before were done on a smartphone camera. While the camera phone served its purpose to get those memories adequately enough, I always wished they were shot better like the ones my father would take. Nothing against smartphone cameras, they are great for a quick snap but lack the control and depth of a digital camera body. It was this desire to take better photos that lead me to set my sights on photography, to capture that same level of quality and depth as my father had done before. Expressing my interesting to my father, I received a DSLR camera from him and set out to begin practicing. Having zero prior experience, I had no idea what I was doing and unsurprisingly could only produce objectively terrible photos. Over the course of several months I followed the guidance of my father who would teach, demonstrate and provide feedback from his veteran eye on what I shot. Fast forward another few months and I would finally reach the level where I became proficient with the camera settings and was able to shoot on full manual without help. I was finally achieving what I set out to do which was to take crisp photos with impact! Not even four months go by and I had already won second place in a photo contest! The only thing I had to figure out now was which type of photographer did I want to be? Trying a little of everything, I ended up finding my favorite subjects which are wildlife, pets and anime conventions. With this skill in my bag now I wanted to capture those moments as my father once did for me, to leave something that will last for years of enjoyment. When I'm not photographing animals you can usually find me the woods or forests hunkered down deep in foliage patiently waiting for that perfect picture of birds and other wildlife. Additionally, you can also find me attending conventions and photographing cosplayers and performers. All of this would not have been possible without the help and amassed knowledge passed down from my father who set me on the right track to enjoy and strive in this artistic medium. And as for the name I selected for myself and brand of Second Torch, it takes symbolic meaning to signify that I have taken the fire that was started by my father and lighting my own torch allegorically, taking my own path rooted from all his years learning, experiences and teaching.
