Welcome to my blog, 365 PLUS: The Photography of Kevin Byers. I created this blog in hopes that I could make strides toward the career path that I want to embark upon; a career in Photojournalism and Nature/Wildlife Photography. I suppose I should start with an image, because that's the reason this blog exists after all...so I give you this photo:
This is my father. He's a little skittish when it comes to the internet even though, just like I, he is a tech geek...so he doesn't get a name. I was born quite early in my father's life, but that didn't hinder him from being the best father he could possibly be, or that I could possibly ever ask for. From an early age my father sparked my interest in photography. He(?) bought my first camera: a
Kodak Kid's Camera which used 13x17mm film cartridges (as opposed to canisters) and produced odd shaped photos. I used this camera every chance I had. I don't know if he bought it on our first trip to Disney World (somewhere between the age of three and four) or if we brought it with us, but I do know that I had it. and STILL have the photos I took from that trip (which was early-mid 1990). I took endless photos of my
cousin, his mother, my mother, stepfather and my other aunts and uncles, most of which survived the location and home changes over the years (the photos survived...as did most of my aunts and uncles thankfully).
As years went on I was more and more interested in photography...not so much the technical aspect or even the artistic aspect, but capturing the actions of people and animals. As I grew older I graduated in to 35mm point and shoot, taking pictures of my friends skateboarding, rollerblading, biking, and wanting so badly to build a website to chronicle our adventures (about a block from home). The website never happened, because at the age of thirteen...well...who's going to follow through with a website?
In high school my grandmother gave me my first digital camera; an
HP Photosmart 735 point and shoot. I loved that camera, and carried it everywhere I went. Despite turning on in your pocket, and running risk of burning out the lens motor this camera was
AWESOME! (It wasn't) the digital zoom produced the most crisp images I'd ever seen from such a crazy distance (it didn't) and the large files were clear enough that you could print movie posters direct from the camera and would never know they came from a point and shoot! (they weren't, it couldn't, and you obviously did). Despite all of the quirks, errors, and poor performance of this and any other P&S of that time period; I loved that camera. Like I said: It came everywhere with me. It came to punk shows, and concerts (I wanted
so badly to start a website about local music...but with any sixteen year old...you know the story...). It came to amusement parks, and the beach...everywhere, and took all the pictures, all the time. Now, ask me where those pictures went. because I have no earthly idea...at all.
That was the problem with digital photos and a sixteen year old.
That camera carried me for the next few years until one day it just stopped reading SD cards, and then all together stopped working. I moved on from photography until I got to college where I enrolled in the Graphic Design program at my community college. I took all of my core classes, and some of my design courses but had to choose two science electives and two art electives, so I decided to take a Painting and Photography Class. The photography class focused on Black and White, Manual Focus, and Darkroom as well as technique. I remember reading the course description and was in desperate need of a 35mm DSLR. My long time neighbor (and best friend's father) offered up his old
Yashica FR2 that had been sitting in the closet for years. It had been dropped and had a light leak, which caused my entire first roll to be ruined. My father (knight in shining armor) got in touch with my Uncle who had an old
Canon AE-1 from the late 70s in a closet. I was hooked. I carried that camera around with me everywhere i went for class or ski adventures. Film was expensive, and expensive to develop, so I didn't take many photos (I'm changing my terminology here...) and still have about a dozen rolls undeveloped in a bag in my parents basement. After I joined a band, could no longer keep my grades up, and ran out of money for school, I stopped taking pictures all together. Just a few here and there on a cell phone.
My life was dedicated to playing the drums.
I brought that old HP P&S on our first tour, and took a few pictures, and on our second tour and first 'stint' (five days out to New Orleans from Boston, and back) I brought along
Kodak EasyShare Compact that my now mother-in-law let me 'borrow' (only to let me keep after she picked up a Nikon DSLR). You could barely call the pictures taken that tour 'photos' as they were a mere chronicle of our travels, and barely that. After those trips, I kind of abandoned photography all-together and went back to school to finish my design degree. During this run through school I was working at a drum shop in Nashua, NH and snowboarding almost constantly.
I took my father's
Canon Rebel to Wachusett Mountain to take some (useless) photos for a project. This was the day the idea for "The Project" was born. I was going to make a movie: A chronicle of all of the unsung ski mountains in New England. The Ice Coast at is best. I researched cameras left and right, tending to focus on Canon (I loved that AE-1) and settled on the
Rebel t4i. It was new, it had all the features I needed, and it was
awesome (literally). I purchased this beautiful piece of machinery in November of 2012. About a month after I had purchased the camera my girlfriend (now wife), her family (now in-laws) and I went to Mexico, and it was the perfect opportunity to test out my photo and video capabilities. The video was real easy to get the hang of with the t4i. Smooth, simple, very user friendly, but moving form an old SLR that I hadn't used in years to a
brand new (less than 3 months in production) DLSR was a challenge.
After getting a basic knowledge of the working of my camera, I started shooting in RAW, and post processing. I realized the camera, and my computer provided me with the tools to create potentially awesome photos that were east to develop, and looked phenomenal when printed properly. As 2013 passed, and the camera was in my hand everywhere I went, from family parties to weddings, and most importantly; hikes, camping trips and my honeymoon I realized how much I enjoyed taking photos. Messing with my camera settings to get different styles of photos, and different lighting and color tones was glorious. When the documentary series
"North America" was aired on The Discovery Channel, I was enamored. Overwhelmed even. I thought "Being a wildlife photographer... that would be awesome..." It wasn't until I sat and watched
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and saw Sean Penn hunting the "Ghost Cat" (snow leopard) with his tripod and telephoto in the Himalayas that I decided "that's what I want to do..." and here I am.
Yes.... a fictional movie, neigh - work of art, inspired me to follow a path that just seems to fit.
So that's the story of 365 PLUS. I hope you enjoy what you discover here, follow, and offer constructive criticism.
-Kevin M. Byers
