Hello cmurph here! Age... well I will only say that I have entered the 30 something category. I live in a small town outside Raleigh, NC and attended NC State where I was handed a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife science… so…er…um.. I guess I am a wildlife biologist which isn’t really true. Current occupation would most likely be photographer.

Training in photography what is that? Nope no training here... just had a camera stuck to my face for a good bit of time now. My background in photography has been trial by fire. Mostly I have been just throwing it out there to see what sticks or peels off and falls to the ground.

Photography has been a passion for me for as long as I can remember. I can still remember my first shot. My 4th grade elementary teacher setup a dark room in one of the janitor’s closets…kind a creepy now that I think about it. I took my brothers Olympus OM10 out and snapped a shot of my pet floppy eared bunny cocoa. My teacher helped my process the black and white negative and when I saw the image fading in to the paper through the stinky liquid I was hooked. It was a magical process and to see something like that before my eyes and it is something I shall never forget. My mother was an oil paint artist so if genetics are involved in this I owe her a big thank you. I really began shooting seriously with in the last 2 years.

I shoot with a Nikon D300 and have a 10.5mm, 50mm 1.4 and the beloved 70-200mm. I had a 24-120mm that I sold along with my D80 to upgrade and I wouldn’t mind getting another prime possibly the 85mm but I am fairly content with what I have been blessed with.

My favorite places to shot are surreal locations and always with natural light. I am finding that my heart loves to shot creative concept shots. I am not the best with post process software so I have found that it’s easier for me to shot the real deal. I like to shoot shots that make people say wow something that makes the viewer do a double take. I love the high impact shot and its something that drives me. However, the horse show is what pays the bills so this is what I do.

I don’t know that I would say I have a “biggest photographic influence” as I find something in every shot that I like. I spend a lot of time looking at others work but my inspiration comes from music, art and a very different view of the world we shoot. It’s a bit strange but I really don’t know a lot about other photographers.

I have been Smug with my photographs for just over a year now and I have to say this is just the best thing ever. The flexibility and options are endless and the design is so easy to use. The SmugMug team is incredible to work with. I needed some shots for a display at one of the horse shows and I order a set 3 days before the show and then a day before the show I realized that I had a 7 day delay on my own shots that I had put into place..duh… I call and spoke to the team and they rushed my shots out overnight with out blinking an eye. The customer service is beyond anything I have ever seen.

SmugMug and its dgrin community quite literality saved my photography. If it where not for this group you would not have seen the first shot in this series. So it has kept this artist shooting and I am deeply humbled to be a part of this.

Follow you heart it will never mislead you. Believe in you self and take a chance you just never know what will show up on your screen. Now stop reading this and shoot some pictures I want to see them already...