Michael Loftis Bio
I was in college in the early 70s, studying music and French.
For an elective, I took a photography class. The instructor
not only taught us the mechanics of photography, he also taught
us how to see our surroundings in order to capture interesting
images.
Halfway toward a BA, life took a few turns and I ended up getting
my degree years later in computer programming. During my 20 year
computer career, I often traveled around the country for work.
I always brought my camera and would spend one day of each trip
wandering the area to find artistic images.
About five years ago, I went to a horse stable to photograph
close-ups of horses. The people there enjoyed my photos and
asked me back the next week to photograph a horse event. While
I was shooting that event, the handlers kept asking "when
will proofs be ready" and "can I buy photos from your
website". I was suddenly in the photo business.
A couple of weeks later, I went to photograph another horse
event, only to find the arena's calendar was wrong. A dog agility
club was practicing instead. That was when my photography career
took off. I was being invited to more and more dog agility trials.
Now, I photograph many of the agility, obedience, herding and
flyball events along the northern Gulf Coast.
For years, I have developed an artist's eye. And, from photographing
dog events, I have developed action photography skills. I now
combine these to create a different kind of portrait. Instead
of posed, studio portraits, I photograph people doing whatever
they are passionate about. I've done sessions with a yoga instructor,
a belly dancer, golfers and other athletes.
One day, it occurred to me that
I had no photographs of myself doing gymnastics or playing
music, and had only snapshots of me in a martial arts class.
I do, however, have lots of "smile at the camera"
portraits from school and some snapshots from family and friends.
What I did not have was really nice, professional photos of
me doing the things that have been important in my life. I
decided that this was a service that I needed to make available
to active people so they would not have the same regrets later
in their lives.
This style of portrait has also
brought me some interesting opportunities. Over the last year,
my life has circled back to music. I have been photographing
music performances on the Emerald Coast of Florida. I discovered
that my music background helps me take incredible photos of
musicians. It has actually inspired me to start playing music
again.
|