In 2016 I made the jump to real estate photography full time from a cushy marketing manager role at a real estate company in Los Angeles. I had been with this company for about 8 years and while it had it's ups and downs that go with a first job, it just wasn't heading in the direction I wished for. At the same time I had been taking courses in web design at Otis College thinking that with years of graphic design under my belt I was destined to a position seated behind a desk coding for others in need of pursuing their dream.
Financially my wife and I were doing fine. We both were happily married and living in the big city working jobs that gave us hope that would fulfill our ambitious nature, but ultimately flatlined when it came to any creative drive. At heart I loved designing, but polishing another photographers turd was not my idea of creativity. I wasn't in the field shooting property photos, rather just retouching them to their clients liking. While studying web design I signed up for a photography course as well which changed who I was forever.
As every new photographer learning Photoshop and Lightroom slamming those saturation, clarity and sharpening sliders felt so very necessary. Super green and lush landscapes, crisp mountain ridges and details that are tack sharp. Who needs to learn how to be a master photographer when you can Photoshop the crap out of your photos? I was shooting mid day too, "bring on the harsh shadows!" which I was secretly denying didn't exist. All these beginner mistakes constantly being repeated it wasn't until I signed up for a sunset to sunrise workshop in Malibu that I learned what in the world I was doing wrong. I learned about stacking images in astrophotography, taking long exposures for cloud movement at sunset and how to read tide charts so I can climb into caves on the beach. I also invested more of my free time into photography that my wife now refers to my camera as my "mistress"; she's not all that wrong considering my travels... I started with local trips. Angeles National Forest, Laguna Beach, Malibu and Mount Pinos. Eventually this turned into living out of my RAV4 as I traveled up and down the Eastern Sierras, Anza Borrego, Lake Cuyamaca, Julian, Mendocino County, Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, and then finally last week, Yosemite. I am sure the list goes on, but in the past year I have seen more in this beautiful state than I had in the 12 years prior all thanks to following my heart and pursuing my passion for photography.
Eventually my wife gave me the green light to pursue photography and give up my 9-5 so long as I promised her 2 things: 1) never pass up an opportunity, and 2) make this a career.
So far I have held my promise on number 1. In fact last week when I ended up at Yosemite it wasn't the planned destination; San Francisco was. After arriving at Mount Tamalpais and seeing that the fog would be too high to shoot it snug against the mountain ridges we decided at 10pm to head back south to Yosemite for sunrise. It was crazy but it is what my life is now. The trip ended up being 40 hours from when we left Los Angeles to when we returned; my friend and I slept a combined 4 hours.
As far as making this a career, I am getting close. I have had consistent photography gigs after I managed to tap into my real estate contacts and gaining their trust as a real estate photographer. But that's only part of what I enjoy doing. As much as I enjoy architecture, I LOVE camping out on location to shoot fog rolls, star trails and milky way landscapes as often as I can. Maybe it's just the lifestyle of my generation but living on the road does not bother me one bit. I just want to capture everything.
Here is a selection of some photos from the past month. I know I have been slacking to remain consistent on the boards, but I am trying! I love the community and I love the feedback on my work.
To see more of my photography you can find me on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenjmagner
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevenjmagnerphoto
Website: https://www.stevenjmagner.com