Me in a nutshell.
My love of art as a kid sitting in my closet reading Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and any other comic I could get my hands on. I love of photography came from the film “No Small Affair” with Demi Moore and Jon Cryer. I was fascinated with developing photos in the darkroom. The way a blank piece of paper could be dropped into a liquid and an image slowly appears.
My first contact sheet.
I graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in photography. After college, I worked as an assistant art director at Noble and Associates, a food and building product advertising agency. At Noble, I learned what it takes to create excellent food and product photography, just on the other side of the camera.
In 2010 I moved to Northwest Arkansas to work as a Creative Director/Senior Photographer at The Elkins Agency. Here I was able to put everything I’ve learned from both sides of the camera to be a complete photographer.
Behold the Mighty Pixel.
In 2020 I decided to make my photography skills available to everyone. I opened the Lofty Pixel photography studio with the philosophy that big ideas don’t have come from large studios. They can come from small studios collaborating with others to make the picture complete.
My little studio is located in the beauty of the Ozarks in Northwest Arkansas, home to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Tyson Foods, and others. Currently, the studio is my garage, but my eye is set on a larger space. I have learned this year location isn’t that big of a factor since I can stream the whole shoot on Zoom from my studio to wherever you call your office.
What’s in a name?
Around 2005, I lived in a loft in downtown Springfield, MO. I called it the Lofty Pixel because I threw a LAN party a few times a year (a bunch of friends and a bunch of Xbox consoles). In 2009, when the recession hit, I found myself unemployed, and I needed a name for my freelance work. I decided to use the Lofty Pixel name even though I didn’t live in a loft anymore. I love the idea that a pixel, combined with other pixels, can create amazing things from photos to websites to logos.