Who is Mick?
Why I do it
My photography is so much more than just the images you on this website. It's an expression and a journey of my connection with nature, and my love for visually stunning imagery.
My passion for photography has motivated me to travel and experience the world of nature. Each photograph comes from weeks of planing, days of travel, research, and despite all that I'm at the mercy of mother nature's weather patterns. Many times all the work leads to bad luck, bad weather, or many travel mistakes - but when it all comes together it's more than worth it.
I'm proud when it all comes together and am excited to share the best of the best with you. Like any profession, it's dedication, hard work, and passion that drives me. If you're looking for cheap images that "just look cool" to hang on your wall, my work may not be for you. If you want to support my photography and appreciate stunning high quality moments captured in time, then I hope you are blown away and excited when one of my prints arrives at your doorstep.
How I define my photography
When I'm on location, I spend a lot of time studying the area and taking in everything around me. This is the start of me defining in my mind "what makes this amazing surrounding feel so special to me?". I then compose many scenes with my camera - trying to portray the natural beauty around me. Sometimes I want to capture the light and the way it's bouncing off my surroundings. Sometimes the motion in the water or sometimes there's a unique quality in the landscape like amazing rock formations or interesting cracks in the sand. Whatever it is, I let nature guide my photography. I use high quality cameras, lenses, filters, and use my experience to expose an image just right.
This is just the start. When I get back to my studio, I spend a lot of time studying what is often hundreds of photos of one location to pick the perfect shot. Then what follows is an editing process that can take many hours adjusting light and colors to reproduce the emotion and visuals that I remembered on the day.
It's a subtle combination of photography and art. Taking the photos is photography. Editing them, is my visual story of the emotions I felt on the day.
How I got here
I'll skip the young years, but let's just summarize it as a journey of "creating" that included sketching, oil painting, mechanical drawing which all lead to an early career in Graphic Design. Up to this point I learned a lot about harmony, color theory, balance, space, composition and many other key components that are foundational to photography. As technology evolved, my career took me through a digital path where I've worked as a product designer on digital products from large world-wide corporate enterprise software to agency led content design.
This was all good, but it led to many years indoors in front of a screen. I yearned to spend less time in a char and I decided to head outdoors more with my camera and my thirst for travel grew. Over the past 5 years I've traveled across the US (with a huge portion on the west coast) and to various reached across the world. I found capturing the beauty of the landscape therapeutic, but above all it allowed me to create in the outdoors.
I've gained recognition and accolades in various media, and had my photography published many times. My goal right now is to try and reach as many people across the world with my photography and hopefully trigger emotions that remind us how special our planet is in it's natural form.
All I ask in return, is that you share my journey, and let me know if my work inspires you. If it touches you in a special way, the best thank you is by purchasing one of my prints. It funds my passion, and shows me that my work is touching peoples lives.