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Episode 03 - Get to Know Your Hosts: Q&A with Michael and Jeffrey

Updated: Jun 29

Learn about our photography journeys, challenges, ah-ha moments, and lots more!



Welcome to the world of "Shutter Nonsense," a fresh and absurdly delightful photography podcast. If you're a fan of candid conversations, insightful debates, and are even slightly inclined towards photography, then you're in for a treat.


Join the fun! All Patreon members, whether free or paid, can participate in our community chats for each episode. Don't miss out!




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Episode Summary


Behind the Lens: Exploring Our Photography Journeys


Welcome to another episode of "Shutter Nonsense," where hosts Michael Rung and Jeffrey Tadlock dive into the art of photography, sharing our personal journeys and the experiences that have shaped our creative paths. In this episode summary post, we'll recap some of the candid moments from our latest episode and offer you the chance to learn more about what drives our passion for photography.


Introduction


In this episode, we embarked on a unique journey to unravel our personal stories, exploring the challenges, successes, and aha moments that have punctuated our paths in photography. We invite you to join the conversation on our Patreon group, "Shutter Nonsense," where everyone, whether a paid member or not, can participate in the post-episode discussions.


Finding Passion in Photography


Both Michael and Jeffrey discussed how their technical backgrounds blended seamlessly with their creative pursuits in photography. Jeffrey shared that photography allowed him to merge his technical aptitude with creativity, filling a vital part of his life. Michael reflected on how his confidence in his work grew over time and the importance of finding authenticity within his art.


Overcoming Challenges and Learning From Mistakes


One of the core themes of our discussion was overcoming early mistakes and growing through experience. Michael candidly spoke about overshooting due to lack of confidence, while Jeffrey recounted his journey of underestimating the importance of a tripod. Both hosts agreed that learning to embrace patience and authenticity was crucial in cultivating their craft.


Embracing Nature as Therapy


The conversation shifted to the therapeutic aspects of photography, highlighting how nature often acts as a powerful healer. Jeffrey and Michael agreed that the act of capturing images enhances the therapeutic experience, helping them connect more deeply with the world around them.


Creative Blocks and Aha Moments


Creative blocks are an inevitable part of any artistic journey. Jeffrey shared his struggles with feeling uninspired, while Michael spoke about how slowing down and embracing the technical aspects of photography led to major breakthroughs in his creative journey. Both hosts stressed the importance of continuous learning and personal growth within the field.


Building a Photography Path and Defining Success


Balancing life with photography is a challenge that both hosts continue to navigate. Whether it's through careful time management or allowing passion to drive creative output, both Michael and Jeffrey recognize the importance of staying true to their artistic visions while meeting life's demands. Michael emphasized the need to shoot for oneself, while Jeffrey spoke about the importance of embracing personal passions over external expectations.


Conclusion


Our episode concluded with a reflective discussion on what it means to define success in photography. For Michael, success is linked to creative fulfillment and striking the right balance between art and financial sustainability. Jeffrey emphasized the importance of following one's passions and finding joy in their photographic journeys.


Join the Discussion!


We hope our experiences resonate with you and encourage you to explore your individual photography paths. Join us on our Patreon group to continue the conversation and share your own stories. Whether you're an experienced photographer or just starting out, we invite you to be part of our community and discuss what inspires you in the world of photography.


Thank you for joining us in this episode, and we look forward to connecting with you soon. Until next time, take care and happy shooting!



Full Transcript


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[00:01:14] Well, welcome to episode three of Shutter Nonsense, with myself, Michael Rung and my cohort Jeffrey Tadlock. In this week's episode, we're gonna be, uh, hot. See, I did it again. This is two episodes in a round. Now I've talked over you saying, hello.

[00:01:25] Jeffrey: You'll get it.

[00:01:27] Michael: We, we gotta work on this. We gotta work on this. I.

[00:01:29] Jeffrey: channels.

[00:01:30] Michael: Right. I'm not used to having somebody actually interacting with me.

[00:01:33] So this week's episode, we thought we're a few episodes in, and, uh, for those of you that don't know us very well, or even if you do know us somewhat, we thought it'd be a good opportunity to share a little bit more about ourselves, how we got into photography, our photography journey, so on and so forth.

[00:01:48] Uh, try to keep it again, lighthearted and shuttered on since themed or based. Uh, we'll kind of take two dives here. We're gonna do a first kind of quick round, lightning round, q and a session between the two [00:02:00] of us. And then depending on how far we are time-wise from there, uh, we've got some more in depth questions where we can get into a little bit deeper conversation.

[00:02:06] So that's the plan. We'll see how this goes. So, , you're on the spot to give a quick answer. What was your first camera, sir?

[00:02:13] Jeffrey: Uh, Kodak Instamatic, that shot the one 10 film.

[00:02:16] so is there a photo that you made that hooked you what, like hooked you to the realm of photography?

[00:02:21] Michael: I've shared, I think in. One of the earlier episodes I talked about, trip to Ireland, kind of kicking off my interest in photography, and that's when I bought my first camera i'll say it's the first time I've come back a trip looking at photos that I took with my phone and thought, wow, these are actually kind of good.

[00:02:34] So I would say kind of in that, it was just generally photos from my trip to Ireland back in 2015. How about you?

[00:02:41] Jeffrey: I would say if we skip all the documentary type photos and, and sort of skipped, I would also say it was an iPhone photo that sort of made me think, you know, this could be fun to get back into again. Uh, so sort of an iPhone photo from a, a sailboat marina that I, that was what?

[00:02:56] At Sunset. That was interesting. That's sort of what reinvigorated me and sort of brought me back to [00:03:00] the whole photography realm.

[00:03:01] Michael: Cool. Well, I know we're wanting to keep this short, but I'll just throw, mine was a Windows phone, so by that very nature it had to have been better than yours.

[00:03:08] Jeffrey: I forgot Windows phone guy.

[00:03:10] Michael: I always got a throw it out there.

[00:03:11] Jeffrey: it from memory.

[00:03:14] who were your early influences?

[00:03:16] Michael: Uh, I would say first, starting out embarrassingly, I don't have specific names, but some of the travel photographers and travel influences, they're out there. Once I started going for more of the nature stuff, uh, Michael Shane Bloom, Sean Parker. And then when I kind of moved away from Astro, definitely Simon Baxter was huge.

[00:03:37] Nigel Danson and some of those other folks over in the uk, which kind of led to my discovering my love of tree photography. What about yourself besides me? You can't say me.

[00:03:46] Jeffrey: I, oh, you know, of course I was top of my list. I, if I have to cross that off, um, I think Nick Page was an interesting one to follow,

[00:03:53] Michael: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:55] Jeffrey: when I was first getting back into it. Nick page's stuff was, uh, always interesting. And then I would agree with [00:04:00] Nigel Danson part of that, just 'cause I him on YouTube, of course, and I was starting

[00:04:04] Michael: Mm-hmm.

[00:04:04] Jeffrey: it.

[00:04:04] But, uh, Nigel Danson, I think would make my list as well, 

[00:04:07] Michael: cool. All right. Number four, what was your first dedicated nature photography trip.

[00:04:11] Jeffrey: for me, uh, it, it was probably some of my West Virginia trips. A lot of the previous travel had been, I had a camera with me, did some landscape photos, but as far as a trip actually planned for landscape photography, and that was predominantly what I was gonna do. It's probably been one of my early trips to West Virginia to go photograph the waterfalls and overlooks out there.

[00:04:28] Michael: Guess it's not too surprising. Mine. I can't call Texas. Local, although I guess actually Texas kind of was my first dedicated trip. I did a, uh, trip to the Dallas Photography Club on Facebook. We did an astrophotography outing at Fort Griffin, which is a dark sky location in central Texas. I didn't really plan that one.

[00:04:50] The first one I specifically planned, uh, you could also kind of say it was in Texas at Fossil Rim Wildlife, uh, what do they [00:05:00] call it? Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Center or something like that. but as far as my first true nature photography trip, it would be a workshop I attended, uh, later that year in 2018 to Grand Teton National Park, which was awesome.

[00:05:13] Jeffrey: nice. Yeah, that's a great trip.

[00:05:14] Michael: we, we.

[00:05:15] Jeffrey: then versus now?

[00:05:16] Michael: Yeah, so we touched on this in the last episode a little bit in terms of the lenses and starting out with all, F two eight glass and everything like that. Uh, my first camera was a T five I, I upgraded from there to a Canon a DD Uh, I actually did that before that astrophotography outing, and then I finally upgraded the full frame with the first Canon EOS r mirrorless camera in 2019.

[00:05:38] Now I'm rocking the Canon R Fives, um, glass again, we've touched on it, but I started off with just kit lenses right off the bat, standing in Best Buy, had no idea what was what. So I just, Hey, there's Canon lenses. I'll take those. They come with the camera in a bundle. Great. Uh, over time I started upgrading those to my Tamron setup, which again, uh, with the exception of the 100 [00:06:00] 400 is all F two eight big, heavy, bulky lenses.

[00:06:04] And again, moving on from that, um, now shooting, I. Finally, I got my kit to all RF glass to be, uh, directly compatible with the Canon mirrorless system. And aside from the Canon 100 500, I am rocking F four Glass only. What's your kit looking like these days versus where you started out?

[00:06:23] Jeffrey: So if we start from my comeback to photography, I, I started in, in that realm with a Nikon D 3,100. So crop sensor, uh, you know, kit lenses, things like that. And over time I've worked up to now my standard carries a Nikon Z seven two full frame camera, uh, with like you mentioned F four glass for the most part, um, And then I also carry either a Z six two or a Z five two depend that one changes, uh, as my second camera with me. But yeah, essentially made that whole journey from crop sensor camera to a full frame camera.

[00:06:54] Michael: All right, so let's go to the next one. World Wari, early growing pains or early mistakes that you [00:07:00] suffered from.

[00:07:00] Jeffrey: I think if you go to early mistakes, I used to overshoot everything because I didn't understand everything very well, so I would take a ton of safety shots. So I would go out and work multiple compositions and take dozens of photos just because I wasn't confident in my skills to get a proper exposure.

[00:07:18] So I was exposure bracketing nearly everything that really wasn't truly necessary for the scene type situations. 

[00:07:24] Michael: Yeah, can definitely relate to that. Yeah, I would say two main ones is the first and the biggest probably was thinking I was hot shit way before I really even knew what I was fully doing. And, uh, thinking my photography was great and you know, now I look back on it and cringe. And then the second one, I.

[00:07:47] Very similar to yours. I, I would, I went through a phase, especially in 2018, where I didn't think I needed a tripod. I was above using a tripod and, you know, high eyes, so people were too afraid of it. So I did a whole lot of s spraying and praying. A [00:08:00] whole lot of handheld exposure, bracketing, uh, which you can imagine how that, uh, may have gone poorly at times.

[00:08:06] Jeffrey: Yep. Yeah, I think we've all been there. So do you have a signature style? And if you do, can you describe it in one or two sentences?

[00:08:13] Michael: Um, I would say. S church style is representational and for the most part, quiet. And that's, I think the best I can come with right now is a quick answer. What about you?

[00:08:30] Jeffrey: Yeah. I, I, I think that's a pretty good summary of, of, of your work for me, I don't feel like I have a style really yet. I still feel like that's an area I struggle and I, I'm still not what I would say consistent with what I put out. I'm not sure if I post a photo, people are like, oh yeah, that's a Jeffrey Tadlock photo.

[00:08:48] So I'm still trying to find that, uh, because I really don't feel like I have a style per se. So I think

[00:08:54] Michael: Uh, well, sure. And mine is too. My mine today from a year, a year and a [00:09:00] half ago is, is a little bit different.

[00:09:01] Okay. Next question. How do you go about balancing life and photography? And I think this one's especially applicable to you 'cause you're still working full time outside of photography. So how do you manage that? You got a family, you got kids, uh, what's your, what's your effort there to, to balance things out?

[00:09:16] Jeffrey: I mean, it can be difficult. A lot of it's, just trying to time block things, fit it into certain periods of time, and if it fits in that period of time it gets done. If not, then that time goes towards the family or day job or anything like that, um, heavy use of lists, uh, and things like that.

[00:09:31] And then, uh. Trying to be present when I'm not out photographing at home, just to make things like that a little easier. But it's certainly a lot to juggle and a lot to balance. 

[00:09:41] Michael: I think being present, like you said, was a, a biggie When I was still working the full-time job and trying to do the photography, I'd find myself out at dinner with my girlfriend now fiance, and you know, thinking about the sunset that was going on outside the window as opposed to necessarily being present As far as myself, I'd say obviously I'm in a different position now that I've been full-time [00:10:00] for what, two and a half, three years.

[00:10:02] Um, oddly it's kind of flipped in terms of, because I have the flexibility in my work life. Um. It's good and bad. Sometimes I let the personal life overtake a little bit. Um, now obviously that's been good with, as I've alluded to in the past, Heather was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year, so circumstances like that, my mom's illness and, and, uh, relatively quick passing last year as well.

[00:10:27] You know, it was great to have that flexibility, but sometimes it's been too easy to say, oh, I have flexibility, so there's not a crisis going on, but I'm going to do whatever instead of, you know, getting here in the office and recording a video or, or working on admin type stuff.

[00:10:46] Jeffrey: what was the first time you got paid for a photo?

[00:10:49] Michael: Embarrassingly, I believe my first print sale ever was of a Milky Way core shot that I took on a crop sensor. It was my Canon a DD, [00:11:00] uh, it was a track shot. It was actually at that Grand Tetons workshop. One of the instructors had a, uh, a tracker. So at least it was decent quality. Uh, but I'm sure if I went back and looked at it now, it was, uh, not something I'm necessarily proud of to have sold for money, but the person that received it was thrilled with it.

[00:11:18] If you happen to watch or listen to this, um, I hope you still love it, but if you want something else, let me know. I'll be happy to hook you up. 

[00:11:25] Jeffrey: Awesome. It, it sounds very similar to mine. Mine was not a, uh, astro shot at all, but it was certainly one of those where I look back and think I a little guilty, uh, having received money for it. But it was a photo of, uh, one of our local metro parks in the springtime gets this wonderful blanket of yellow flowers across it.

[00:11:43] And I, so I have a typical somewhat cliched trail winding through these yellow flowers off into the distance. Uh, that is done pretty well locally 'cause people recognize it as the local metro park. And that was one of my first landscape photos that I sold. And yeah, I look back at it and go, it's oversaturated.

[00:11:58] It probably needs a [00:12:00] re-edit And like, I can't believe this is, uh, you know what sold. 

[00:12:04] Michael: All right. So I believe the next one is mine. Uh, a quick yes or no, have you suffered from creative block or burnout?

[00:12:10] Jeffrey: Definitely. Um, I think any creative experiences that block or that burnout, that, that can come over time. Uh, so yeah, that is certainly a yes. I've suffered from that over the course of my photography journey.

[00:12:22] Was It more of a block or burnout? 

[00:12:23] Block block, more of a block. Uh, just you, you don't feel creative. Like a lot of times it's, yes, I want to get out there, but when you get out there, it's just not clicking.

[00:12:33] You're just not feeling creative. You're not finding the shots and you know, you know how it is. Sometimes you go out and they come easily. It's like everything looks great and there's a ton of

[00:12:41] shots 

[00:12:41] Yep.

[00:12:41] overwhelmed with a number of shots. And other times you go out could even be a very similar place and you're just not, not feeling it.

[00:12:47] So I would say more block than burnout.

[00:12:50] Michael: Gotcha. And that was, that was far more than a yes or no answer, but I'll, I'll allow it.

[00:12:54] Jeffrey: Sorry, I'm not following the rules very well. [00:13:00] You

[00:13:00] Michael: Uh, that's all right. It's shutter nonsense. It doesn't, there are no rules.

[00:13:04] Jeffrey: Exactly.

[00:13:06] Michael: So I would say I've, I've had a bit of both so I'll just say yes and, uh, I'll actually

[00:13:12] Jeffrey: Awesome.

[00:13:12] Michael: of follow the rules as I now ramble on talking about following the rules.

[00:13:16] So fire, hit me with the next one.

[00:13:18] Jeffrey: Do you use nature as therapy and if yes, would it work as well without a camera?

[00:13:24] Michael: Yes. And I am skeptical that it would, uh, mainly because the camera gives me something to really, truly occupy my mind. You know, I have to focus on what I'm doing from a technical aspect to how I'm framing. So certainly I love being out in nature and I take time for myself when I'm out in nature on a trip or even just at the local park.

[00:13:44] But I think the act of photography enhances the therapy aspect of it far more than what it would be if I was just on my own. 

[00:13:51] Jeffrey: I would say yes as well. Uh, nature is therapy and I agree that it would not be quite the same without the camera. [00:14:00] Though I'm probably a little more because I think the camera makes me notice things that I might not otherwise, uh, notice. So I feel like that camera's a tool for that

[00:14:09] Michael: That's a great point too. All right, moving on. What was your biggest aha moment?

[00:14:13] Jeffrey: learning to use the histogram, that's what really cleaned up me getting a technical foundation. I think it's what sort of was the glue that pulled it all together and started to make sense of the technical side of the world.

[00:14:23] Michael: That's a good one. All right. I'll go back further in my journey. When I first started out, probably like a lot of folks, I really was just. Struggling to figure out the exposure triangle and how it all played against each other. Exposure versus ISO versus Aperture. And have to give a shout out to.

[00:14:40] It's a UK based YouTube channel. Mike Brown, B-R-O-W-N-E. He's got a great series of tutorials on Exposure Triangle sharpness, how focal length can affect sharpness in terms of camera movement and things like that. But it was his Exposure triangle series, uh, in particular that, that was truly my aha moment [00:15:00] when watching that.

[00:15:01] Finally, everything just clicked for me in terms of how to manage my exposure and I'd really say that was, up until that point, I, I wasn't using the camera as much 'cause I was just frustrated and confused and after that point, I feel like that's really where I started moving along in the path of photography at a much quicker pace in terms of my growth.

[00:15:22] Jeffrey: Awesome, So when did you realize you were good at this?

[00:15:25] Michael: Oof. Um, I would say I first had inklings of it in probably 2018, but 2019, especially towards the end of 2019, I was starting to feel far more confident of my own work. Imposter syndrome is still something that always rears its ugly head from time to time. But I would say specifically that latter part of 2019, it's when I started slowing down more and being more mindful and more conscious of getting it right in camera versus that spray and [00:16:00] pray approach I took kind of prior to that point.

[00:16:02] Jeffrey: So, man, I, I, I saw this question and I'm like, I still don't know if I feel like I'm good at it. Um, and I think it's that, like you said, it's that imposter syndrome. I mean, obviously, you know, I get likes and, you know, comments on photos and things like that, but I don't know, I feel like it's always a journey and always something I'm working to get better at.

[00:16:20] And I know you do as well. But, uh,

[00:16:22] Michael: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:22] Jeffrey: yeah, I, I, I think I suffer a lot from that imposter syndrome and I don't put myself in the super high category of, of, of photographers, I guess.

[00:16:30] Michael: I will say just working with you in the Smoky Mountains and seeing, you know, the back of your camera here and there, you had, you had some nice looking stuff. I'm anxious to see what you came away with, so I, I think you do have some imposters

[00:16:41] Jeffrey: of

[00:16:42] Michael: Trump that still plant.

[00:16:43] Jeffrey: of it's imposter syndrome. I just have a really hard time saying, oh yeah, I'm good at this. Uh, 'cause I know how much

[00:16:48] Michael: Yeah.

[00:16:48] Jeffrey: have to think and work through a lot of stuff. And again, I know that's not

[00:16:51] Michael: Well, and then there's that.

[00:16:52] Jeffrey: so.

[00:16:53] Michael: Yeah. And there's that fine line between ego and humility or, uh, you [00:17:00] know, too big of an ego and, and you know, being too humble too, which I think is something that a lot of photographers fall into as well. But that's a whole other conversation. so kind of tying into that, what keeps you going today from a photography standpoint?

[00:17:13] Jeffrey: enj Yeah, from a photography standpoint, I just enjoy the process. I enjoy the journey. You know, like I mentioned the last question, I feel like I'm always learning, always pushing myself. And even when one part starts to make more sense, like the technical side of the world, the creative side of the world is still elusive.

[00:17:27] It, can I do this better? What can I learn about composition? And, you know, I, to me, having a craft or a hobby that, uh, helps facilitate that constant learning, that constant improvement, even though those leaps get much smaller, as you get, you know, better at it because you understand it more, you start to lose

[00:17:44] Michael: Sure.

[00:17:44] Jeffrey: significant leaps.

[00:17:45] I do think there's always those incremental leaps all the time. 

[00:17:48] Michael: I would say very similar here. It's the opportunity to always be learning and improving and growing. And you know, on top of that, just I, you know, I grew up enjoying the [00:18:00] outdoors and, you know, we had a fairly good sized woodland in the neighborhood and that, that I'd go out and explore with friends and whatnot.

[00:18:06] And then I kind of lost that. So I've really enjoyed kind of reconnecting with nature as well as getting an even deeper appreciation for nature through photography. Um, there's always that desire to not just go out and see new places, but revisit places I've been to, like Southern Utah as an example, and getting to know it better and better and, and learning to see it.

[00:18:26] Differently and more deeply from a photography standpoint and just from a, again, being present standpoint. So, I mean, it's just, I, there's very little about photography that I don't love, So it's just, you know, not to be cliche, but it, it's, I found my passion and, and I hope I can keep following it for the rest of my life.

[00:18:47] Jeffrey: Yeah. No, that's awesome. With all of this experience, what advice would you give to your younger self?

[00:18:52] Michael: Slow the hell down. Give yourself the opportunity to learn. Give yourself the [00:19:00] opportunity to. Realize where you truly are, on that, curve of learning and ability and, and skill and just, yeah, slow down. It wasn't until I really slowed down that I feel like my work really took a big leap forward.

[00:19:17] What about you? What would you,

[00:19:18] Jeffrey: that's a,

[00:19:19] Michael: what would you grab younger Jeffrey by the shoulders and say.

[00:19:22] Jeffrey: it, yeah. So since I can't steal, steal yours, I think that's a great one. I would say follow your passion because I think it plays into a lot of those pieces and parts. And photography has lots of different genres and lots of different approaches and things to do that.

[00:19:36] And if you go look on the internet and say, I need to do this because that's what people like, the external people like, I don't think you'll find as much success and as much fun and as much creativity than if you embrace your passion and follow the genre photography you like, even if it might not be the end thing on the internet right now.

[00:19:53] So, uh, I would tell my younger self to just embrace the passion. Don't try to make yourself, uh, [00:20:00] fit someone else's mold, and you'll probably find more success and at the very least, more enjoyment and pleasure in the long run with that.

[00:20:06] Michael: That's a, that's a great one, especially with social media and you know, the feeling that you almost have to chase trends sometimes to, to reach people or a new audience or whatever. I could tell myself the same exact thing 'cause I certainly chase some trends early on in the Instagram days, 

[00:20:20] all right. So I think that wraps up our quote unquote lightning round we did. All right. On keeping that a lightning round, I think with some creative, I, I think with some creative editing and we can, uh, we can splice that together and make it a little more lightning feeling but, um, so with that, let's jump into spurring some, some deeper conversation.

[00:20:38] I think maybe we just keep this to. Hey, two or three questions each that we can ask each other, and if we want to answer the question ourselves too, we can. Otherwise, um, yeah, this kind of just be a q and a back and forth between us. So, um, I took the first one in the lightning round, so I'll let you peruse the list of 15 here that, uh, I came up with totally on my own and not by having chat [00:21:00] GPT help.

[00:21:01] And, uh, I'll let you hit me with the question you want to ask.

[00:21:04] Jeffrey: Let's do, let's take this one. If you could only shoot one type of nature subject for a year, what would it be?

[00:21:11] Michael: You gave me an easy one, man. What, what do you think I'm gonna say?

[00:21:15] Jeffrey: Yeah, I probably should have gone with a better one. I am going to guess trees,

[00:21:22] Michael: Ding, ding, dingly, ding. I would be considering, that's primarily what I shoot. Um, yeah, I'll, I'll go with trees. Um, just something about those darn trees I.

[00:21:34] Jeffrey: It's only trees.

[00:21:36] Michael: You know, if you go and look at my galleries on my website, like I don't have that many Grand Vista. I do. I mean, I, the, in the scope of things, I've got a decent number, but when you look at it, it's like a percent of my total portfolio. I don't have that many grand vistas. A lot of trees though. So give me trees or gimme death and I, I gotta toss this one back at you, whether you want to answer or not.

[00:21:58] What would, what would your [00:22:00] choice be? Hocking Hills Waterfall.

[00:22:02] Jeffrey: Oh, I, yeah, I was gonna say, I guess we, I guess this was not the greatest question 'cause we both knew each other's answers. Yes. If I could only shoot one thing, I will go with the cliche waterfalls. As I tell people, I don't care what people say, I like to shoot waterfalls 'cause I enjoy the whole, whole process.

[00:22:17] I will say they wouldn't always be big grand scene waterfalls. I would work on those smaller scene and those 100, 400 water patterns and textures as well. But yeah, waterfalls would be my, if I was gonna seek out and only photograph one nature type subject, it would be waterfalls. Uh, even at this stage of my photography, uh, journey, I still love waterfalls.

[00:22:38] Michael: And that's why we love the Smoky Mountains. 'cause he had waterfalls surrounded by trees. I mean,

[00:22:43] Jeffrey: Exactly.

[00:22:43] Michael: get any better for the two of us.

[00:22:45] Jeffrey: nope, fit us very well.

[00:22:46] Michael: All right, let me see. What do I want to ask Jeffrey? I, I'm gonna kind of be selfish and ask you this because I have, um, more recency on this one myself that I, I wouldn't mind talking about. But [00:23:00] do you have a photo you're most emotionally attached to and why? It could be because of the experience or something going on in your life, or a story you made around it, you know, anything like that.

[00:23:09] Jeffrey: Yeah. So for me it's probably the experience is probably more tied to the experience and, you know, people talk about it. Is it a good photo? Because the experience you had getting there, doing it pro what happened makes it good. And there's that always that bias. But I have a photo from West Virginia at a place called Bear Rocks Preserve, which is, it's a, a vista, it's a sunrise photo.

[00:23:30] I mean, it's a, it's a fairly typical sunrise photo, but the experience of that particular morning was just great. It's one of those scenes you have to drive up a big forest road, you know, start driving at like 4 45 in the morning. And then on this particular morning we did all that and we get up there and it's raining, it's foggy, it's blowing.

[00:23:47] It's like, it does not look like this is a great morning to be out doing a sunrise vista photography, uh, standpoint. But we get out there, get set up on this rock. In the rain, in the wind, and we just got this perfect moment [00:24:00] for about 10 minutes where the, the rain stopped, the fog lifted a little bit, got a little break in the horizon, uh, off in the distance, and just got this really great looking sunrise from that particular spot. I think it's a pretty decent image, but I know I am biased towards it because of the experience that's behind it. And I still go to that spot hoping for a better image, but it, for me, that's one of the, one of my top images in my head. And it's as much, not just a pretty picture, but the experience that was behind getting it in the luck of that because 10 minutes later it was back to being windy, blowy, heavy cloud, hanging over with no, you know, it, it just, perfect timing of everything.

[00:24:37] So for me, that's, that's the one. And it's based more on experience than anything. How about you?

[00:24:42] Michael: Well, I certainly have my share of photos where the experience of making the photo was. In some way memorable, like you said, you know, the conditions or happenstance or, or what have you? Um, for me, the one, the one I, I have in mind, and, and [00:25:00] like I said, I'm being a little selfish here, but, um, eh, it's an important topic and we just went through Mother's Day, so I'm gonna talk about it.

[00:25:06] So in Colorado last year, my, my last morning I was, um, I think you pronounce it, Cimarron Range area. Um, Coloradans, if I'm mispronouncing that, uh, don't, don't come after me. But anyways, my last morning I went out, um, I wasn't entirely sure it was gonna be my last morning, but I was leaning that way, coming home basically a day early.

[00:25:28] I'd been in the field for nine days, including my drive, uh, from Texas to Colorado and all over the place. So feeling pretty, pretty worn out by that point. But, um, the last few days were, were quite invigorating, but still I. Yeah, you just get physically exhausted sleeping in the back of your truck and, you know, all that jazz.

[00:25:47] And I went out that morning and I had a, a spot in mind that I wanted to photograph where there's kind of a meadow and it wasn't the best tree in the world, but it was a tree in the foreground and the meadow, and [00:26:00] then a line of trees in the background and then distant jagged peaks. And I wanted to try to get, um, morning light on the peaks in the background while the foreground was still in shadow and maybe get some dappled light on the, uh, the closer mountainsides didn't quite work out the way I had hoped.

[00:26:15] I did get the light on the distant peak, uh, just briefly, so I was able to get that photo. But I hung out for quite a while waiting to see what the light would do. It was quite overcast and it was drizzling off and on. So I had my cameras, I liked to do. I had my camera set up on the hillside off to my left, on the other side of the, uh, the Forest Service road.

[00:26:33] Pulled out my little tray on the back of the fore runner and sat there and made myself a mug of tea and was gnashing on my, uh, my typical. Road trip or photography trip, breakfast of powdered donuts. And I was listening to music in my AirPods and just sitting there enjoying the moment and the scenes and hoping for maybe, you know, the light to hit right.

[00:26:56] And then I noticed butterflies flittering about, and [00:27:00] you know, the world was waking up, birds started, you know, flying around the meadow and, and you know, flitting from tree to tree near me and everything. And you know, my mom, both my parents, my mom especially, um, loved the birds in her backyard. And she had feeders and bird houses and bird bath.

[00:27:18] And, you know, one of her favorite things was to stand at the kitchen window and, and watch the birds. And, you know, she'd always talk about having to make sure she had the food out for the birds. Otherwise they would let her know that they were hungry. So I'm sitting there watching the birds and thinking about mom.

[00:27:32] And then a butterfly, not butterfly, uh, a hummingbird. Out of nowhere flew up and I swear it was like this close to my face, a foot away. And it hovered there for a second and it was just like, it was looking at me in the eyes and I just lost it. And, um, I really hadn't completely broken down like that since she had passed at the end of March.

[00:27:57] This was, uh, towards the end of [00:28:00] July. And, um, it was like everything just hit me and I finally was able to just kind of let it go. And I had my moment, I'm sitting there in the back of my truck thinking, you know, just like ugly crying, sobbing, whatever you wanna call it, thinking if anybody drives by, they're gonna, you know, wonder what in the world's going on.

[00:28:20] Um, but collected myself and, and decided, you know, good, good way to end the trip. So. Got things packed up back at camp and headed home. But I ended up titling that photo of the distant peak, catching that little bit of sunlight and that, that brief moment I had, um, with the heavens I wept since it had been drizzling off and on and, and you know, the moment, the experience of what I went through.

[00:28:44] So, um, yeah, that photo, that moment's been on my mind a lot lately, uh, with Mother's Day just passing and the whole bit. So, um, some might call that a sad story, but I think it's a, it was a pretty, it was a sad [00:29:00] slash bittersweet, but also a beautiful moment. And that photo, I wouldn't even say it's, it's a nice photo.

[00:29:05] It's not, it's not my top 10 of photos, but that experience and that moment and the emotion tied to it, um, I can't think of anything that, that has that, uh, hook inside of me. Like any of the other photos I've taken.

[00:29:21] Jeffrey: emotion can be a, can be a strong hook into photos and uh, certainly can see why it would be in that moment.

[00:29:29] Michael: Yeah. Yep. So on that, uh, cheery note, uh, what, what you got from me? It's, I think it's your turn, right?

[00:29:35] Jeffrey: Uh,

[00:29:36] Michael: asked that last one.

[00:29:37] Jeffrey: turn. Let's, you're good. So have you ever had a total gear failure in the field and what happened either positive or

[00:29:46] Michael: Um,

[00:29:47] Jeffrey: that?

[00:29:50] Michael: yeah, thankfully, I'm gonna knock on fake wood over here. Um, I haven't really had, I haven't [00:30:00] had like a disastrous failure once I went with some friends to shoot the Dallas skyline at sunset, and I didn't bring any spare batteries. This kind of goes back to our, our last episode about what's in your bag.

[00:30:13] Um. I had zero spare batteries. The, the battery on my camera basically died after like three shots. I wanna say, uh, fortunately a friend had had an extra battery I was able to borrow. But the only real, like failure of equipment I've had was I was attending a workshop. This was also in 2018. It was that fall.

[00:30:33] I was doing a workshop out of Aspen with, uh, a photographer, and we went to the, you know, tourist trap of, uh, maroon bells, beautiful location. But, you know, as if you know maroon bells, you know, it's absolutely swamped with photographers lined up along the shoreline. And we got their, uh, preda with the intent to shoot stars over the, the distant mountain range or mountain peaks.

[00:30:56] And my, I, at the time, my camera didn't [00:31:00] have a built-in intervalometer. So I was using a wired, um, remote to, to take multiple shots automatically over time. And this was on my Canon a DD, so still crop, but you know, whatever. And the cord on the intervalometer went bad. I could not get it to fire consistently, manually.

[00:31:22] And I don't think it was working at all from a, from the true intervalometer like countdown and, and automate the, uh, the photo taking process. So I planned to do star trails over the mountain peaks. Um, I. And I got so flustered and angry and frustrated with that stupid remote that I spent, instead of just recognizing like, Hey, the thing's toast give up and, you know, find a different, different approach.

[00:31:47] Like I could have just taken a single long exposure on bolt bold mode, uh, with the camera and, and gotten star trails that way or something. But instead, I messed around with that stupid wired remote and trying to like, well, what if I push the wire this way or that way, or jiggle it if I can get it [00:32:00] working?

[00:32:00] And by the time I gave up on it, like, you know, the opportunity was passed. So that'd really be the, like, the one true failure. But it, you know, it wasn't, it was disappointing, but it wasn't like, oh, I just missed the opportunity of a lifetime or anything.

[00:32:15] Jeffrey: Right, right.

[00:32:16] Michael: uh, any, any such instances for you?

[00:32:20] Jeffrey: So I've been pretty lucky on the camera side, and part of that's 'cause I carried multiple camera bodies out into the field. But on one of my Smoky Mountain trips last year,

[00:32:29] Michael: I.

[00:32:29] Jeffrey: damaged a ball head on one of my tripods to the point it would not clamp onto the camera because it had fallen hit, hit the ground and bent the knob so it couldn't screw in close enough. The worst part was I, as you know, lots of stream photography where you tend to wanna do some longer exposure shots with necessitate a, a tripod. And I didn't discover this until we'd hiked up, uh, it was in the Tremont area until we'd hiked up in, into this area and I went to set up my tripod and I'm like, why is it not clamping on my [00:33:00] camera?

[00:33:00] And I fiddle with it a bit and I realized, I think the tripod fell, bent, the, the screw mechanism. And that's it. Um. And, and to your point earlier, the thing, it's, you know, I think when you reach that moment, I mean, here I am wanting to do long exposure photography at a stream, and I don't have a tripod with me, uh, on this hike to, to do that. It's, you can get hung up and frustrated by that moment and like, ruin the rest of the day or trip or, or whatever. Or you can sort of. Okay, how do I adapt? What do I do? Well, supposedly I have InBody image stabilization, let's put it to a test or, you know, things like that. So that was probably one of my biggest gear failures that did sort of impact things.

[00:33:41] I got lucky. I was with someone else, I was with Caleb McKinney on that trip, and we sort of shared his tripod for a bit. So I would get my, I would figure out what I wanted my composition to be while he was using his tripod, and then I'd borrow it for like five minutes to get this one shot I wanted.

[00:33:55] And he was kind

[00:33:55] Michael: Right.

[00:33:56] Jeffrey: me his tripod while we were up there doing it to also help work around that a [00:34:00] little bit. Uh, but again, I think it's, I to your point, I think it's the, you know, sometimes things break and what can you do to, to work around it and try not to get hung up on the fact that it's, uh, you've broken a, a piece of equipment.

[00:34:12] So that's mine. And

[00:34:14] Michael: Right.

[00:34:14] Jeffrey: Pretty terrible. Normally I carry a spare tripod and I do still carry one, but it was my video tripod, which I'd not accounted for. I'd really scaled it way back. 'cause I just was using, you know, I think similar to you, an action camera on it, or a pocket three. So you

[00:34:29] Michael: Mm-hmm.

[00:34:29] Jeffrey: go pretty lightweight with tripod that just doesn't do well with a full frame camera on it.

[00:34:33] So while I had a spare tripod to use for the rest of the trip, it was far from a stable tripod. Uh, so you just, you had to make a couple adjustments to how you used it to get those solid shots. But that was my experience, uh, with it. And, uh, it, it was frustrating, but just, you just gotta move on, make the best of it you can.

[00:34:51] And, uh, still walked away with some

[00:34:52] Michael: Right.

[00:34:53] Jeffrey: from that trip.

[00:34:54] Michael: What is it? Is it the Kenny Logins song? Do I have that right? The, you know, you gotta know when to [00:35:00] hold and know when to fold them. That was,

[00:35:01] Jeffrey: yep.

[00:35:02] Michael: that was definitely my problem with the remote. And same thing, you know, with the tripod, like you can, you can spend all your time trying to fix something that's not fixable or just, you know, find a different way.

[00:35:11] Um, and I would say good callback to our last episode with What's in your Bag. It's not something I carry in my bag, but as I've upgraded my tripods and my tripod heads over the years, I carry my old tripod heads in my truck at all times. Just in case something, you know, again, worst case scenario happens, um, you know, the, the.

[00:35:31] A tendency may be to think, oh, I can sell off all my old kit and, and you know, I don't need it anymore. But, you know, there are those circumstances where I've got two spare heads in my truck. When I upgraded my tripod last year, I still keep my older, smaller, uh, Ben Row tripod, which is still a great tripod, just it's not as tall as I would like.

[00:35:51] Um, so that's always in the truck too. And, and yeah, I wouldn't have it if I hiked out like you did, uh, to a location, but at the end of the day, it's not that far away to, [00:36:00] to get back and, and, you know, get yourself set. So not in the camera bag, but maybe things to keep in your car. Maybe we need to think about that.

[00:36:07] Jeffrey: For

[00:36:08] Michael: It's a,

[00:36:08] Jeffrey: For

[00:36:09] Michael: as an emergency preparedness episode. So, all right. So I think from a time standpoint, let's each do one more question. So let me pretend there's a drum roll here and see if I can find a question that I wanna throw at you to wrap this up. How about, Was there ever a time you considered giving up photography? And if so, what stopped you?

[00:36:35] Jeffrey: Oh, um. Uh, I, I would say, wow, that's a tough one. I'm not a hundred percent sure if I've had a I, I guess I'd have to go further back 'cause there was a time I gave up photography. You know, I used to be real into photography back in my college era, shortly after college. And then used a camera a lot, I mean, backpacked with one all over. And then during that particular phase, I [00:37:00] did put the camera away just because trying to balance everything out just wasn't working. And, you know, I, I put the camera away. Um. And, and it was when time freed up that I came back to it. Like when I felt like, okay, things are under control and I have time to slot in a different hobby.

[00:37:15] So I would guess, you know, if we take the full scope in and not my just return to photography, yes. There was a time that I felt like I needed to pause the photography, put it away. would attribute it mainly to, you know, priorities in life. It was that whole, starting a family phase, getting a, a career at the time started

[00:37:33] Michael: Right.

[00:37:34] Jeffrey: really time for it.

[00:37:35] Kept my cameras still have the camera I used to shoot with from back then and we dabbled with, you know, little digital cameras for photography or documenting, you know, going out and doing fun things. But it was far from photography being the focus. Um, but then it was, I. I, I attribute myself a more of a technical person than a creative person, but I feel like even a technical person needs that creativity.

[00:37:57] And I think that's where the photography came back in. For [00:38:00] me, it was, I was so much technical all the time that photography was the great way to blend my technical aptitude towards getting some creativity to fill that part of my life as well. Because I think people need to

[00:38:12] Michael: be creative 

[00:38:13] Jeffrey: in whatever form or fashion, whether it be cooking, photography, crafting, woodworking, anything like that.

[00:38:19] And I think that's where photography fit in for me, and that's ultimately what brought me back to photography is that desire to fill that creative element.

[00:38:26] Michael: Yeah, makes sense. Felt the same way. Work was so technical and rigid at times. I, I wasn't seeking out anything creative, but certainly. I found that suddenly I had this hobby that has grown from there that, uh, let me tap into a creative side that I didn't really realize I had or that I needed.

[00:38:47] Jeffrey: Have you ever been close to quitting or putting the camera up for a while?

[00:38:50] Michael: I wouldn't say like officially I was thinking about quitting or anything, but like I said, especially before I found that Mike Brown Exposure Triangle [00:39:00] series and you know, how to, how to get sharp photos and all the, you know, everything I learned through his YouTube playlist. I would say it was more of just a, I was drifting away from it because I hadn't, I hadn't found like my deep, deep passion for it yet.

[00:39:15] It was truly something I was just kind of doing. It was like, eh, you know, this is kind of fun, kind of cool if, you know, I do more travel for work or whatever, um, you know, I've got the camera, but it was certainly, I didn't understand the camera, I didn't understand the technical aspect of it. So I might have been able to visualize what I wanted, but I didn't understand why my foreground was blurry and background was sharp, or background was blurry and the, you know, just all that stuff and not having any clue, not being able to grasp.

[00:39:47] How to counter that or how to embrace it or you know, whatever. So it was more of a natural drifting away. And again, I'd, I'd have to give Mr. Brown credit for, um, helping make that technical side of it click. [00:40:00] And uh, you know, that kind of, like I said, started me moving much quicker along the path. And once you get over that technical frustration or lack of knowledge, and, and you know, I think we, we saw this in the workshop of when you've got the technical stuff or even the equipment, the hardware stuff is an obstacle to be overcome still.

[00:40:24] You're hindering your ability to fully embrace the creative part of your brain 'cause you're so caught up in the technical piece or, you know, my tripod is frustrating or, you know, whatever the case may be. So, uh, you gotta get that, that technical just muscle memory kind of stuff. Um. Kinda locked down before, I think anybody is really gonna truly find that they're the depths of their creativity,

[00:40:48] Jeffrey: yep. I couldn't agree more. I think it's the technicals able to be learned, but you need to take the time to learn it because it's, like you said, it's what frees you up to be creative. If you're fighting that technical [00:41:00] hurdle

[00:41:00] Michael: right?

[00:41:01] Jeffrey: it, it just, you may have this great creative vision, but you can't execute on it.

[00:41:05] So I think that's a great, great point.

[00:41:07] Michael: Yep. All right, so you get the last question, sir. And I'm a little nervous 'cause some of these, I'm not sure I'll answer, so I'm apprehensive which one you're gonna pick.

[00:41:16] Jeffrey: is, it? do you define success in your photography today?

[00:41:22] Michael: That one's not too bad. I guess There were, there were a couple others on there. I was like, oh man, please don't ask that. How do I define success in my photography today? I, you know, honestly, well. Right or wrong, love it or hate it. It's, it's a two sided answer. The one side is purely from a creative aspect, and now that I'm full-time, unfortunately for better or for worse, I've also got a business aspect and a financial aspect tied to it for better or for worse.

[00:41:54] Again. Um, I think fortunately from a creative [00:42:00] standpoint, I don't think my definition of success has changed so much. It's still, I'm very adamant or just as adamant as I ever have been at the, at the peak of that scale of, am I shooting for myself or am I shooting for somebody else, or what I think will sell as a print or, you know, whatever.

[00:42:22] Is that in my mind at times? Sure. Has that maybe driven, uh, some of my. Shift back towards embracing some of the wider, you know, grand Vista views or just wider, uh, angle photography to show off more of a place? If I'm being honest, probably, although I've, I've said before that, you know, that was also driven by getting back to the roots of my photography, which is to share my experiences and where I was going.

[00:42:48] And if all I'm taking photos of is small snippets of an area, I'm not showing the place versus just showing the soul of the place. Um, so I think, again, from a creativity [00:43:00] standpoint, I, I think my measurement of success is the same. Am I happy? Am I happy with what I'm shooting? Am I happy with how I'm approaching in the field?

[00:43:07] Am I getting the mindfulness and, and the therapeutic aspect of it when I'm out shooting, am I enjoying what I'm doing behind the scenes, whether it's video or editing or whatever. Printing, absolutely love printing. So none of that has changed, but there's obviously the business aspect of it and, and the pressure of, um.

[00:43:26] You know, trying to build this into something that I can rely upon it financially to give us the lifestyle we want, give us the income we need to cover the basics without relying, you know, on, on Heather's, uh, freelance work as a crafted designer. Um, so there's always that kind of push and pull. And I think, you know, most pros feel that in terms of, shooting for the passion versus also having to find that, that there's no right balance, but the right balance for yourself in [00:44:00] terms of how are you gonna generate, uh, a living off of it.

[00:44:04] Um, whether that's through workshops or prints or whatever. And, and there's always, you know, last year is my best year ever for print sales. Um, full transparency. I have not sold a single print yet this year, so I went into 2025 thinking, oh, well now I've built prints as a, a fairly solid pillar for whatever reason that that pillar has toppled, uh, uh, this year.

[00:44:25] Jeffrey: top

[00:44:26] Michael: Um, now, this year, you know, I've done the workshop with you and, you know, that offsets the loss of prints, but it's, you know, how do you get all those plates spin at the same time and keep 'em going? So

[00:44:36] it's, uh, yeah, I mean, there's, there's the creative success versus the, the financial and the business success. And, and I would say on the, the business side of things, it's still very much a work in progress. And, um, I, I wouldn't say I'm successful. I'm, I am feeling more confident. I'm on the right path and I'm in on the right trajectory, [00:45:00] but I'm also fully cognizant of the fact that, I don't know, I don't know what the next six months, year, two, three years is gonna bring.

[00:45:08] Um. So I try to focus on doing what I enjoy. 'cause I think especially when you're into things like YouTube or you know, writing for your blog or, you know, recording an infield video, like if you're doing it not because you're excited and passionate about it, but you're doing it just for the sake of doing it because you think there's gonna be financial reward.

[00:45:30] I think maybe short term you're missing out on financial gain, but I think longer term people very quickly will pick up on the lack of authenticity and, and what you're doing and the motivations behind doing it. So yeah, I think I'm on a slower burn in that regard, but hopefully it's one that'll pay off from a success standpoint, uh, longer term.

[00:45:56] That was a long answer, but I think that's a complicated answer.

[00:45:58] Jeffrey: No, it's good. [00:46:00] It is. It, yeah. It's a complicated subject. I think, you know, what is success for anything can be very

[00:46:04] Michael: difficult to,

[00:46:06] Right,

[00:46:06] Jeffrey: sum up or summarize.

[00:46:08] Michael: right. All right, well, I think we've done a fair bit of talking. I, I think our time is pretty good. One thing we didn't do though, at the beginning, uh, you know, we said part of this is to, casually share what, what we're up to. So, um, I would say, since we last spoke, anything, anything new going on in your world from a photography standpoint?

[00:46:26] Jeffrey: It's been pretty mellow for the most part. I did a one-on-one workshop, uh, earlier this week, uh, which was good, uh, up in northern Ohio, and then put out a YouTube video. I got the new Nikon Z five two. I've been playing with it and did a little first impressions

[00:46:42] Michael: Well, that's right. How are you liking that so far?

[00:46:44] Jeffrey: Yeah, it's nice so far.

[00:46:46] I was, I was curious. That would be with the leap in processor, so it gets you the, the fa better auto focus and faster camera and the whole bit, even though Nikon markets as an entry level camera. Um, but it's been nice so far. Uh, favorable first [00:47:00] impressions. I need to get more time with it in the field to see where it really goes.

[00:47:02] And it's not replacing my Z seven two, uh, in the field.

[00:47:06] Michael: Yeah.

[00:47:06] Jeffrey: be my second secondary body, but it's, it's going good. but that's mainly what I've been up to, uh, a workshop and then, uh, getting that YouTube video put together and released. And I'll be pushing the West Virginia workshop a little more here.

[00:47:19] As soon as I get a chance to regroup, make sure I get some good text around that, that workshop that's coming up in October.

[00:47:26] Michael: Yeah. Cool. Yeah, this has been a pretty, uh, bellow week for me to, like, I've been working a lot, but I don't have results to show, like I got the, the, the box sets for my next, uh, folio collection ordered. That's a huge hurdle I've made my image selection. So

[00:47:44] Jeffrey: Right.

[00:47:44] Michael: last spoke, that's probably like the biggest, biggest thing.

[00:47:47] Um, I've gotta start doing my proofing prints and, and make sure I've got the, uh, the prints proofed. I was hoping I'd have the boxes by now, but I just ordered them I think on Sunday or Monday, so they're still in production. Uh, so that's a huge relief. [00:48:00] Kind of like have that, uh, analysis paralysis off of my shoulders.

[00:48:04] Finally, um,

[00:48:05] Jeffrey: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:06] Michael: I knocked out a, a fair number of edits on the Smoky Mountain files. Actually, I'm working through those pretty quickly. But, uh, the last couple days I decided to jump back. I'd been working on earlier this year before Heather's surgery. I had been working on, um, a bunch of archive fold, a bunch of archive photos, not folders, um, from my local park and from past trips to Colorado.

[00:48:29] So I was going back and revisiting those and, and had quite a. A chunk of them that were ready to go more or less, and I had to kind of drop 'em as, uh, other priorities of life, uh, shift to my focus and then get ready for the workshop with you and Smokey Mountains and et cetera, et cetera. So I jumped back to those.

[00:48:45] Um, I'm in the final stage of, uh, the local park archive photos and the spans back to 2017. So really the last eight years of, uh, I've got some, some new work that I've pulled outta the archives [00:49:00] or just newer files. And right now I'm sitting at 80 pretty strong candidates for my portfolio, which is a lot.

[00:49:09] Um, might try to whittle that down to like 70 to 75, but that's kind of getting to that point that I don't know that I have any more babies I'm willing to kill. So, uh, so yeah, that's, that's probably my, my, my biggie there is I'm hoping to have those ready to go and, um, I. I don't think I'm gonna do an ebook on these since it's a little bit different, um, as far as, you know, the span of work and time and everything.

[00:49:33] But I'll get 'em up on a, uh,

[00:49:34] Jeffrey: Right.

[00:49:35] Michael: a gallery on my site and get 'em out to the world that way. So, yeah, just lots and lots and lots and lots of editing. I

[00:49:40] Jeffrey: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:49:41] Michael: to the point that my eyes were bleeding green from Smoky Mountains.

[00:49:45] Jeffrey: Oh, that those are

[00:49:46] Michael: That green is killer.

[00:49:48] Jeffrey: green. Yes, it is. It's difficult.

[00:49:49] Michael: It's, uh, I think green is probably the hardest edit, 

[00:49:52] Jeffrey: Oh,

[00:49:52] Michael: I,

[00:49:53] Jeffrey: It gets a cast in there that's just so hard to find just right. Is there?

[00:49:57] Michael: yeah.

[00:49:57] Jeffrey: I

[00:49:58] Michael: Well, and I think your eyes go wonky quicker [00:50:00] with it too, like.

[00:50:00] Jeffrey: Yeah.

[00:50:01] Michael: You know, any, any image that's got strong colors, your eyes acclimate and you gotta step away and kind of let your, your, your brain reset a bit. But yeah, green just, I feel like I can only work on a handful of a time before I gotta, like, get up and walk around at least a little bit and, and reset my color palette of my, whether it's my optic nerve or

[00:50:21] Jeffrey: for

[00:50:22] Michael: the rods and cones or whatever it is.

[00:50:23] Yeah. Which is great for a tree photographer that I say green is really hard to, uh, to edit. But, um, yeah,

[00:50:29] Jeffrey: Yep.

[00:50:30] Michael: there's green, there's Texas Green and then there's, there's Smoky Mountains green, so yeah.

[00:50:34] Jeffrey: Yes, it is a different green,

[00:50:36] Michael: All right, I think we're at a good stopping point. So, uh, again, for our listeners, if you've made it this far, um, join us over on Patreon to, uh, to join the discussion. If you've got questions you wanna toss in your own answers to some of the questions we asked on this episode or anything like that, uh, again, we want this to be a two-way street, a, a, a community.

[00:50:55] So, uh, you know, it's an opportunity to build that connection. And, uh, you know, [00:51:00] the intent of this episode was to let you know a little bit more about ourselves and our journeys and photography. And, uh, you can certainly share the same with us over on Patreon. You don't have to be a paid member. You can be a free member.

[00:51:11] Um, so just hop in there and, um, we'd love to chat with you and, and learn more about you as well. So, otherwise, uh, yeah, I think, uh, we'll wrap it up here. Jeffrey, I know you've got a lot on your plate, uh, with work, so I don't wanna keep you on here any longer. And, um, have you, have you figured out a sign off yet or are you just gonna let me run with it?

[00:51:30] Jeffrey: Uh, I I have a great week

[00:51:32] Michael: I am putting you on the spot.

[00:51:33] Jeffrey: off.

[00:51:34] Michael: All right, so I'll wrap it up with my usual. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening, and until next time, take care. 

[00:51:42] ​ 





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Follow your Shutter Nonsense Hosts


Michael Rung

Michael is a nature and landscape photographer based in Texas, with a deep appreciation for quiet forests and the unique character of trees. His photography often explores the subtle beauty in overlooked scenes, capturing atmosphere and emotion through careful composition and light. Michael brings thoughtful insight, honest reflections, and a grounded perspective to every episode of Shutter Nonsense.




Jeffrey Tadlock

Jeffrey is a landscape photographer from Ohio who finds inspiration in waterfalls, scenic overlooks, and the ever-changing light of the natural world. He enjoys sharing stories from the field and helping others improve their skills through practical, experience-based tips. With a passion for teaching and a love of the outdoors, Jeffrey brings clarity and encouragement to fellow photographers at all levels.


 
 
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