I guess I should have explained some of the photography side of things. You can view my gallery (though I don't know why I have to link it, since you obviously got here from there) at:
http://www.studio4115.com.
People always ask what the significance of 4115 is. It's nothing really deep or anything, or at least i don't believe it to be. Quite simply it's the numeral equivalent to the letters they represent. So:
4 is D
1 is A
15 is O
So, "dao", or tao as some people know it as. "The Way". People who know me know that I'm not really religious but if I have to label my belief set anything it'd be Eastern Thought (Buddhism/Taoism/Shinto). This is from exposure through martial arts and my own life journeys, and this is what fits me the best, and is what is most similar to what I naturally believe. So, while trying to search for a name that someone else hasn't managed to use (which is getting increasingly harder every year, as more people make websites), I found everything related to dao/tao or taoism/daoism was already taken....So I tried the numerical version and wouldn't you know it? It took.
So why name a photography business/website after Eastern ideologies? Well photography is more than just taking pictures to me. I use it in many ways, none that simple and straightforward. Photography is a journey for me. A journey into a lot of things. A journey into trying to become the best I can be at it. A journey into rediscovering the beauty of nature and the beauty inside of people, and bringing it out. A journey into art...Just, well, a journey. And as some people know Taoism isn't about the end result, it's about the journey there. It's the journey that forges who you are, and shapes your soul and your being. I could go into it more, but that's the "simple" explanation.
Photography, like I said, isn't just taking a picture and slapping a title/frame on it, and saying "here you go, this is the picture I took". When taking pictures of nature, I want the viewer to see the beauty I saw, that inspired me to take the picture in the first place. When I take a picture of something dull and mundane, I hope to have the viewer see the art I saw behind it. When I take a picture of a person (be it adult or child) I want whoever sees it, to see the inherent beauty within them, and to see the life in their eyes.
That's why I love photography. Sure at it's simplest it's snapping a picture of something already there, nothing new or exciting right? The challenge, which is what can take a lifetime to master, is taking that same scene, and making it something new. It's making someone looking at a photo of something they've seen countless times before and noticing something in it they've never seen or felt before.
So ya, as you can see I can go on forever. I've been told I'm too wordy for my own good. So until next time..peace out!
