The Journey.... MH PhotoDesigns from the Beginning
In the days ahead I will take you on a little journey on how MH PhotoDesigns was born. Somewhat of a history lesson you might say. Hope you enjoy!
Where did it all begin? Well I guess it began back in 1986 when I received my first, very own "film" camera. It was an 8th grade graduation gift if I remember correctly. I'm getting old, I know. Don't judge! ;) I probably didn't even know that I had the itch back then it was just something that I remember enjoying filling up a 24 or 36 exposure roll of film. Taking it in and waiting a week to get it processed and then getting duplicates of all the good and not so good images I took. I think we all can remember those days.
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Life went on, years went by. And then in the year 2000 we were to go on an Alaskan vacation. There was barely talk of such a thing as a digital camera. We were still in the dark age of film for the most part. I remember doing research on cameras and at the time decided on getting a Kodak DC280 digital camera. What would be better than unlimited photos on our trip to see all of what Alaska had to show us in all the glory of a 2 megapixel beast of a camera? Ok, it wasn't a very big camera and the file sizes you could literally fit thousands of images on a tiny little CF card, but in its day it was revolutionary!
It was just a mere 15 years ago, yet it seems like yesterday. So much has changed in the field of photography and that has allowed us to expand our horizons and be the creative artists we are today.
Pictured is my Kodak DC280.
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So a few more years go by... Then one day a spark ignites once again. The year was 2003. Did you see the newest Canon Digital Rebel? I thought, WOW, 6.3 megapixels! Now we're getting somewhere. I jumped on the opportunity to get one of these and it produced even better images than before and for once I had a DSLR. Interchangeable lenses... hmmm, now we have some more options!
Time went on and I was hooked once again. For 2 years I continued to capture images but at the time about all you could do was store the images on a hard drive and show family and friends images on your computer if they came over to visit. Printing wasn't really an option any longer do to the fact that I now took a few more than 24 to 36 images like in the days of film. With images now numbering in the thousands I continued to hone my craft.
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The year is now 2005. Canon has had out a legendary camera for a while now. The Canon 10D was the market leader of the time. I was doing some more research about the camera and whether or not it would be a viable upgrade. But wait!... there was a new camera body about to release. The newest member of the Canon family. A Canon 20D boosting a whooping 8.2 megapixels. What could a photographer possibly do with that much image size?
Well for nearly 5 years that camera proved to be a performer. I learned a lot about photography while shooting with this camera. I didn't have a lot at the time. A camera body, kit 18-55 lens and a 55-200 telephoto for those far and away shots. Or at least what I thought was far and away.
The journey continued....
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A number of years has passed by once again. It's now the year 2010. Photography and taking pictures was about all it was. Nothing really exciting or revolutionary... or was there?
It was a time of birth for high speed internet. Facebook had come to the public domain for the first time. A new era was about to begin! We now were able to send large amounts of data across the internet. As the camera files got larger and larger it was a revolutionary time in the industry, but this also meant that downloading and sending files across the internet would be possible with the addition of high speed internet service. Most importantly to us at the time was we were now able to share our images via Social Media networks and other Photo Sharing sites. For us a new era of photography had begun!
As far as camera technology, it was an industry leading time as the Canon 7D hit the market. For the first time an 18 megapixel, cropped frame sensor superstar had entered the market of digital photography. We began building our gear bag a little more once again. Adding new lenses such as the 70-300 DO IS, a revolutionary diffractive optics lens from Canon that reduced the weight and size of the lens to allow you to have a nice focal range and still be able to travel around easily with it.
We and I now say "we" began to enjoy photography in a whole new light. There were now two photographers as my wife Heidi joined the ranks as a photographer. It wasn't long and we had to add a second camera body to the mix. Being that the 7D was such a great camera, we decided to add a second one and over the next couple of years we continued to slowly add new lenses and gear to our camera bags. Boy... this hobby just got a little bit more expensive. :)
Many people in our industry claim that the gear doesn't make the photographer but I can say that having the "RIGHT" gear along with the drive, ambition and dedication to reaching new levels of perfecting our craft is what has led us to where we are now. What many people may not know or understand about the art of photography is that it is much more than just pressing a shutter button. For us it was more than just a hobby by this time, it had become the start of a life long passion to continue to pursue our dream of bringing images of what we see in the world of photography to YOU!
Stay tuned... more to come!
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As our gear bag has grown, so have we as artists. Every artist needs the tools of the trade to make his art come to life. We just wish all we had to buy were new paint brushes. ;)
There were many exciting times since 2010. We had begun what is now officially known as MH PhotoDesigns. We built a brand and reputation for producing high quality images. And the best part, we were now able to share our work with people from all over the world. This thing called social media had blown up and had taken over the world! It was the catalyst to get our business off the ground and running.
So it is now the year 2013. We've expanded to many types of photography from Sports and Portraits to Landscapes, Nature and Wildlife.
BUT... yes there is always a BUT, I've always had a special place for the wildlife images we've been able to capture over the years. So in 2014 we decided to expand on what we felt was a strong suit for our photography. Taking photos of "Nature", and especially "Wildlife" and "Birds in Flight", meant adding some new equipment to get some of those one-of-a-kind images. So in the Spring of 2014 we bit the bullet and pushed the order button on a new Canon EF 600 II L IS behemoth of a lens. Many probably don't even know what this is, but for us it was a huge investment decision and one that we felt would allow us to get to that next level in our wildlife images. This lens, coupled with a Canon 1Dx Pro Series camera body, makes for what most in our industry would consider the ultimate setup for wildlife photography. What we can say is that we are WOW'D each and every day at what we are now able to create. For people who hunt, you'll know what we mean when you get that adrenal rush from getting "the shot". If the thrill dies, then so does the passion for what you do. We work to continue to build on that passion every single day. Rain or shine, wind, snow or below zero temps, we are out working to become even better at our craft.
So there you have it folks, the history of MH PhotoDesigns. We hope to make 2015 a memorable year and hope to take you all on a journey you'll never forget.
Life is short... so go make some images to remember the journey along the way!
We look forward to sharing images with you all in 2015
Comments
Marcia Coller(non-registered)
Very interesting on how you got started. Really enjoyed the information about your different cameras. I already know you will have a fantastic 2015. The best of the best to the both of you
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