About me
A few words about me and my work and how you can contact me. Please contact me if you have any questions or are interested in purchasing rights to any of the photos on my site. I love talking with people about photography.
began my serious photographic career when my dad bought me a Mamiya Sekor 500 TL for Christmas as a freshman in high school. I’m sure he did it partly so I wouldn’t always be borrowing his Agfa Speedex. At the time I was a serious competitive model airplane flyer and began shooting photos of models and model contests and was selling them to several national magazines within two years. I have been a part time professional photographer ever since. While in college I became an avid outdoor sports enthusiast participating in rock climbing, mountaineering, skiing, backpacking and kayaking to name a few. This gave me the opportunity to visit and photograph many truly spectacular natural environments all across North America.
I am completely self taught as a photographer although I was strongly influenced by the work of Ansel Adams, David Muench, and Galen Rowell. My style is some combination of what I learned from their books and work plus my early experience as a graphic artist while in college and my personal artistic vision.
For many years I shot with 35mm SLRs and a 4×5 view camera concentrating on wilderness and garden photography. Since I bought my first DSLR in 2006 my choice of subject mater has expanded to include a wide range of natural and man made objects both outdoors and in the studio. All of my work maintains the same love of strong graphic elements and saturated colors.
Photography has always been a part time career for me. I earned a BS and an MS in mechanical engineering and since grad school I worked as an engineer or engineering manager for a number of companies in the Seattle area. I sold prints at galleries and art fairs in the Puget Sound region for more than fifteen years and won awards in several local shows and exhibits. My work has been featured in many magazines, books, catalogs and websites. I also taught photography classes and have judged several art and photography shows over the years. In 2013 my wife and I retired and moved back to New Mexico where she grew up and where we met in grad school at the University of New Mexico. We now live in Placitas where I continue to pursue my passion for photography both in the studio and in the field.
Mike in Bellevue, Washington
Mike in 1994 at White Sands, New Mexico
ADDRESS
Placitas, New Mexico, USA
PHONE
505-771-2364
EMAILS
stoyfineart@gmail.com