My history as a photographer

Welcome to my blog! I plan to use this space to put forth some of my thoughts throughout marching seasons, discuss equipment and techniques, and highlight other fantastic photographers (both on my team and from all over the activity) in their journeys and work in the marching arts.

I wanted to take this very first post to document my journey (so far!) as a marching arts photographer, and as a photographer in general. This will likely be longer than most of my future posts, but I (until now) have not had a space to host more longform content for stories like these! I hope that it can serve as inspiration to anybody looking to get into photography, and that it can spur discussion about other people’s photographic journeys!

I have always been involved in various aspects of production and music, so photography was never too far out of reach from what I often found myself doing. Whether it was performing in a musical and seeing the theatre photographer, marching in DCI and being enamored with the huge lenses on the sidelines, or audio engineering a concert and watching the live event photographers squeeze into the tiniest corners to get that perfect angle, I had always seen photography as closer to magic than something I could do — as something that just would “find me” if I was to ever do it. I have extensive experience especially in Production, Music Performance and Education, three things I found extremely valuable in what would become a career in photography. Working in production, so much of your time is devoted to troubleshooting, details, and boiling complex topics down to brass tacks so you (and hopefully others) can understand it. These came so handy when it came time to learn the technical aspects of my cameras and of photography in general - learning about the exposure triangle, the specific settings on my gear, and how various glass affects image quality. Working in Music also inspired so much of my photographical knowledge — my primary lessons professor in college, Brian Hecht, instilled in me from my very first lesson with him a DRIVE for perfection even when perfection is impossible in music (it is in photography as well). Now of course, it is easy to develop an unhealthy relationship with the pursuit of perfection, but I fortunately have learned to absorb and embrace the “grind” while keeping expectations in view.

Once I began doing some social media work at Kennesaw State University (My Alma Mater, go owls!), I started to develop a growing interest again in photography. We had a small budget surplus in the department I was working for, so I asked if the department could get a camera. They agreed, and after a small amount of research and approvals, a Canon 5D Mark IV and three sigma prime lenses were on their way to me!! In a cruel twist of fate, they were finally delivered after well over a year - on my very last day with that department. I had to put my photography hopes on hold for now.

Funny enough, about three months later (around June 2022) I saw a friend of mine posting that his camera was for sale. I took this as my chance to finally take another chance. $200 and a meetup later, I was now the proud owner of my very first camera — a Canon 70D with an EF-S 10-18mm and an EF-S 18-135mm. At the time, I had NO idea what these numbers meant —I couldn’t even figure out how to actually take a single picture! — but I knew that I was in for a very fun journey with my new equipment.

My very first photos were… not good. Most people’s aren’t. But, the important thing is that I was addicted to taking pictures! I had that first camera with me at ALL times. I remember grabbing a camera bag so that I could take it to work with me, as well as to stores, parks, and even between rooms in my house. Here are a few of my very early photos:

Looking back at these photos from a technical standpoint is humbling, but reflecting on them from a personal standpoint brings me a ton of joy as I think back to when I was still figuring out how to actually get my photos to come out as my brain and eyes wanted them to see.

After I finally was able to start mastering the mechanics of taking photos, I entered a wandering phase of my photography. This is where I feel like I was taking decent photos, but wasn’t realy sure what I actually wanted to take photos of. I think this is a WILDLY valuable part of any career where there are multiple branches/specialties one could go down. At the time, I knew I wanted to take photos (and maybe even be paid for it!) but I had no idea if I wanted it to be portraiture, landscape, event, concert, sports, street, or nature photography. Through experimenting a little with everything, I was able to let things find their way to me. I was also able to rent (December 2022) and later buy (February 2023) a Canon R5, which was also a big help in developing my craft. I found myself in particular loving taking quick shots of pets at the dog park, grabbing artistic pictures of places I would visit, and trying to document fun memories on vacations (shoutout to the Scarlet Lady cruise ship!). In addition to these, I got my first few “gigs” taking photos, mainly for events at some local colleges. Here are a few of those photos from the gigs and other adventures - this is also when I finally started using Lightroom Classic to edit my photos rather than just my iPhone:

Taking photos like those were definitely a creative outlet, and helped me continue to be passionate about photography. Around the time, I also started my instagram page @whatdevinsees, mainly as a way to just not bombard my friends on my main with my photography content. Having this outlet was a great start! Just a few months later (July 2023), while I was performing in the Wicked Broadway Tour leg in Atlanta, I get a call to come and help out at a local high school with their marching band (shoutout North Gwinnett HS!). I had been out of teaching for several years at that point, but picked it right back up and eventually became a director with NGHS. While I was teaching there, I decided to take out my camera every once in a while in between reps or for final runs and marching photography found me. It was exhilarating — not only was it a lovely combination of sports photography, theatrical photography, and portraiture, but it also let me use my experience as a performer, instructor, designer, and judge in the marching arts to really get in the head of the cast members as they are performing! Enjoy some of my early marching photos from that first season:

When I was finally getting into marching arts photography, I was still trying to really master the specialty, like any new specialty. Although I have always been adept at capturing the joy and emotion I and my subjects feel in performances, my first batches of photos were sometimes overproduced, or overedited:

I still like these images a lot today, but looking back on them really makes me reflect on how much my style and editing workflow has evolved. Compare those with some of my recent work, and you will notice that now, I really value a few concepts more than anything else:
— Transparency and Clear Edits. Especially when capturing a live performance, I try to let the performers original actions and the moment shine through.
— Powerful Emotions. I always strive to capture powerful emotions that are shared with the audience (and me) throughout a performance.
— Quick Turnaround. To be honest, it is important to me to be able to get the finished photos in the hands of the performers as quickly as I can while still being up to my expectations, because their hard work deserves that hard work from my part as well. Because of the volume I shoot at (sometimes up to 50-60 performances in one day and multiple terabytes of photos), this influences the other two factors as well. I have worked diligently to streamline my workflow and to train myself to cull and edit quickly and carefully.

Here are some of those more recent images for you to compare and contrast with the earlier ones:

When I finally figured out that I wanted to pursue Marching Arts photography more (Fall 2023), I started to tap into my connections throughout the Georgia Music Education community to get my camera in front of as many events as possible. Once I built I decent enough portfolio, I reached out to any show site host that would think to have me and I worked hard to ensure that I would be able to do those shows. I am still so grateful to Bartow County, New Manchester, and Commerce Schools for taking chances on me and letting me build my portfolio when I was still developing my skills.

When I was at the aforementioned Commerce High School shooting their competition (November 2023), I was approached by the Operations Director of our local circuit here in Georgia (GIPA). He was judging percussion at the competition and was noting how GIPA didn’t have a staff photographer anymore after COVID, and that the board might be interested in having me. This was a huge step in my career — I was finally going to have a place where I belonged and where I was being asked to provide my services and art for someone. For any artist, reaching the point where people are asking you for your art rather than the opposite is a seemingly impossible hurdle to clear at times — but, with the right amount of work ethic and luck, many artists will be able to reach that special moment.

Throughout the last three years, as I have gained more skills, connections, portfolio shots, and emotional memories than I ever thought was possible, I have always tried to maintain my core values on a shoot. Be early. Be present. Be a presence that brings as much joy to as many people as possible. Work hard. Enjoy the music. Be grateful. When I focus on all of those things, the long 14 hour days on a football field with not enough water and the late nights hunched over my computer editing all feel very worth it.

As I enter my third season as Media Coordinator with GIPA, and my first season as Media Coordinator with the Georgia Marching Band Collective, in addition to my many other wonderful opportunities throughout the marching arts, there’s only one thing that I know for the future: That I’ll continue working hard to get as many wonderful photographers and their images in front of the amazing performers, organizations, and community members that deserve them. Thanks for being here along for the ride on MarchingPhotography.com.