The easiest trap to fall into as a photographer is complacency in one’s book.  This can happen for a number of reasons, but they are all excuses that will one day eventually come back to haunt an outdated, stale collection of work.  For this shoot Amos Morgan Photography pushed pause on the TiVo, made a couple calls and set out to create art.

For this occasion I contacted my friend Kat who I photographed for a fitness shoot a couple years ago.  She is working on some more lifestyle fashion work which was a perfect fit for what I wanted for this project.  And completing the shoot was another friend, Barbara, who did an amazing job pulling wardrobe and styling the concepts.

We had a great time wondering the neighborhood streets finding interesting back drops and random props to serve as inspiration.  I truly love the specific expectations of a commercial shoot and have never complained about input from an art director or client (well, almost never).  And this shoot was a nice reminder that it is equally rewarding to grab the camera and a rough game plan and go out and take some pictures just for the hell of it.  So everybody, keep shooting, even if you’ll never show anyone except your parents during a visit on some holiday.  And please remind me from time to time to do the same!

The dust has settled and only half the prints and framed pieces remain!  The show was a huge success and I want to especially thank everyone who came out on the opening night crowding the gallery and keeping all the dull moments outside.  I was also so honored to have family and friends visiting for my sisters wedding from Boston, LA and Hawaii that made it to the show a few days later.

Here’s a photo my dad took of me while he was visiting.

A recent trip to Long Beach on the coast of southwest Washington proved once again that time off can help enrich the sometimes barren landscape of the creative mind.  At last that’s the takeaway so that I can convince myself to take a vacation again soon.  Amidst the kite flying-beach-combing-bbq-ing I watched the sky open up at night and had to take a stroll in the dark.  Night photography has been a passion of mine since my first photo class in high school and with the introduction of digital technology and the ongoing advancement of light sensitivity it’s literally a whole new world through the lens.  Here’s a couple of my favorites:

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Beach Grass at Night

Night Self Portrait

Note: the self portrait title comes from my shadow in the center of the frame that wasn’t visible until I saw it later on the computer screen.