About Me

Growing up in Southern California, I was always outdoors. Whether going camping and fishing with my parents, hanging out at the beach, or later on backpacking trips with the Boy Scouts.  When I got a bit older I took my instamatic camera with me on all the trips, and tried to take photographs like the ones I had seen in outdoor or wildlife magazines.  Later in high school, I took classes in photography, and learned how to develop photos; this was all in black and white, to teach us lighting and composition.  By then I had enough money to buy my firs SLR, a Vivitar camera with 2 lenses.  I used this camera for years, see the picture of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. When I got a job with an airline, it gave me the ability to travel the world, and I was able to upgrade my camera to a Canon AE1 Program. I also started attending photography shows and seminars, which helped to learn the technical aspects and ways to compose photographs. One seminar I took was by a National Geographic photographer that covered his experiences and taught how to get great compositions with each shot. I was so enthusiastic after that seminar that I got up before sunrise for a week to get out and take photos!

Around this time I started following Formula 1 racing, and as I was able to travel and attend races in Europe, Canada and the US, I dreamt of becoming a sports photographer.  But I kept my career in IT, still travelling and developing my photography skills. I finally made the jump to digital when I bought a Nikon D3200 and a few extra lenses. Later I was able to add a Nikon D810 to my photo gear, but I still use the D3200 at times.  I’ve always been the technical type, and always want to know the details of settings and when to use what.

I retired from the corporate IT world in 2023, and I now have the time to focus (get it!) on my photography even more.  I live in Colorado, which gives me access to fantastic places for landscape and wildlife photo opportunities. Outside of the technical aspects, I enjoy sharing the photographs I have taken, and sharing my skills and experience with others.

So that’s how my photography journey evolved. If you have any questions, or are interested in any print or enlargement of one of the photos in the gallery, please contact me here.

Thank you for taking time to read it – kinda long I know…

 -Mike Armstrong