Out of Chicago and Scott Bourne almost made me Cry...
I had an amazing weekend in Chicago. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend nerding it out with 400 other photographers learning the tricks of the trade from some of the most influential photographers. Out of Chicago is a photography conference held yearly that brings photographers of all different genres into to speak to us about anything from their work flows, to new ideas, or how to reach that next level in photography. I myself was very excited to see some photographers there that are very influential to me and the work I put out. Such photographers as Valerie Jardin, Matt Kloskowski, Ralph Velasco, Nick Ulivieri, Jimmy Mcintyre, and Jim Harmer. For those that are close to me, know that Jim Harmer is one of the most influential photographers in my life. I follow his weekly podcasts and his site, improve photography, I check often for any tips and tutorials, I love his approach to his target audience and his willingness to help. So you can bet the first night during the photo crawl I was going to Jim Harmers spot and was going to chat it up, little did I know when I got a chance to talk to him I lost my train of thought and couldn’t remember anything I was thinking of on my 10 minute walk over to find him, luckily I got a chance to talk more on a photo walk later. During the conference I learned of some new photographers such as Romeo Durscher, Blake Rudis, Rick Sammon, and Frederick Van Johnson.
I am not sure about the other attendees, but throughout the weekend it became much more of a conference to me. I talked to a few people, and probably should’ve talked to more, to market myself and share ideas with other photographers, but the whole weekend became more of a reflection to me. I wasn’t really expecting that at all. Then to top it off, Scott Bourne made an incredible speech at the end of the conference that almost brought me to tears, but I knew the lights were going to turn back on shortly so I kept those drops of reflection in my viewfinders.
Even before I listened to Scott Bourne’s presentation about passion in photography I had been thinking about it that whole weekend while jumping from class to class. Then his presentation just kind of summed it up for me. On the train home, I was watching this awesome sunset and thinking to myself, what am I passionate about? 4 things almost instantly popped into my head. They are family/friends, my girl, bettering my community and the people I interact with in this world, and lastly photography.
I would chat all day about any of those 4 things, but since this is a photography blog I am going to focus on photography. Photography started just kind of as something fun to do. I enjoyed taking pictures, I had no idea about shutter speed, ISO, long exposures, I just simply pointed my Fujifilm Finepix 2 megapixel camera and took the shot. I started to get comments from others stating I had a photographic eye. I then started looking things up online, started to discover all the tutorials online, which I then quickly became obsessed. I found photographers that I wanted to be like. I had a photographer Steve Moore who helped me like crazy. I asked him over and over questions about low light, long exposures, and camera specifics. I am not sure how annoyed he got, but I don’t think he minded. I upgraded my camera, started finding others near me with a passion in photography. I had some really bad photos and then some really good photos. I have gotten a lot of criticism and a lot of praise. I found other photographers that were always there to answer questions, like Steve Skinner and Justin Beckman when it came to long exposures and developing film.
After college I had a lot more time to commit to photography. I went out in the city and took pictures all the time, I could not stop thinking about it, I would be at work and look up things about photography, I would go on vacation and find spots that I had to go to, I became a weather nut, because I needed to know the chance of a good sunrise or sunset. I started to get some work with other businesses, and started to get a small following. My favorite became collaborating with other photographers in my area, like Ivan Herrada, John Schultz, Justin Beckman, Brit Higgins, Tim Holte, and Dustin Dresen, sometimes I failed to get a good picture because I would just want to talk shop the whole time. It is very rewarding to know that someone enjoys your work that you put it out there. I am still growing as a photographer and still have my troubles. I look at the work from the speakers at the OOC conference and clearly see how far away I am from being a great photographer. I may never get there, but I know I am enjoying the journey working to get to that level. I have become passionate about landscape, cityscape, and film street photography and I plan to stick with those crafts with hopes people continue to enjoy it, but most importantly I will continue to do photography for myself, because that is all that matters.
I am very grateful for the OOC conference and will continue to be a regular member and hope to meet more and more photographers that attend. If anyone is living or in the Madison or Milwaukee areas and would like to shoot I always enjoy sharing my passion.
Connect with me through Instagram: @Jakerost
Here are some pictures from the weekend during OOC: