First Post!

Well, I've finally done it. For ALL two of you reading this, hey mom and dad, This is officially my first blog post. I'm not quite sure what to write about, as I don't have any "Lighting 101" instructional videos like David Hobby, and I don't have a catch phrase like the guys at Lightenupandshoot.com, BUT each of them had a first blog post too right? And it probably wasn't all that great. So, the pressure is off.

A little about me. My name is Michael Knowlton and i am currently 20 years old. I am in school trying to obtain my B.B.A. in who knows what field. But the thing you all out there in the interwebz care about is photography. Atleast I hope. I began taking pictures probably when I was about 14. My first love would have to be automobiles. They allowed me to express my creative juices, and introduced me to some pretty cool people, all while bonding with my dad. When ever we would take on a new project, I would take pictures in order to document the process. Then, when we finished the project, I'd snap a few pictures off to show of the finished product. Whether it was to show off on the internet, or just put in a book to look back on one day. Then I started worrying more about the pictures, than the car in the pictures. I played around with aperature and shutter priority modes for awhile and then took the lunge and played with the settings on full manual. Keep in mind this was just on a Kodak point-and-shoot. I played with that camera for awhile, but when I graduated High School I treated myself to a brand new Nikon D40 as a graduation gift to myself. Thats when things began to really take off.

Fast forward about a year and thats when I began to get my second wind. I bought my first prime lens. The nifty 50, as they call it. And that really sparked my interest once again. After that I stumbled upon lightenupandshoot.com and started getting interested in using strobes off my hot-shoe. Although, I've never once strapped a strobe ONTO the hot-shoe. I've never wanted to. Fast-forward even more, and today I have a small arsenal of lights, stands, triggers, and modifiers.

Thats where I am today. I never thought of photography as something I could do to make a little money, but that quickly changed when I started to bridge the gap between the image I saw in my head, and the image I was able to create. Mostly thanks to being able to control light.

At this point in my.....career. (I never thought I'd say that) my main goal is practice practice practice. Whether it be with friends, or walking down the streets of Atlanta pulling people off the sidewalks to take pictures. I'd like to practice in order to do two things. Expand my portfolio, and practice. Whether it be client-photographer relations, or simply lighting techniques. I feel doing these two things will help me to be able to produce quality photographs consistently. Ones I would be proud to give a client.

As for now. I will leave you with a couple of my favorite photos I've taken.

Be sure to check back often as I plan to update this quite alot!!

Thanks for reading!!!

Thats all for now!

My Flickr Photostream