I have always been a big fan of certain other photographer’s work. As I enter another type of photography, it becomes even more important to me. So now, I am entering portrait and aviation photography, so I am more intensely following a few photographers as I learn the skills of those fields.

In aviation photography, I am intensely following the work of Moose Peterson, and Phil Makanna. Phil Makanna is one of the old masters and Moose is reasonably new to the field but already has a great deal of expertise. I hope to  train with Moose at his Air to Air workshop. In fact aviation photography was a field I was always interested in, but didn’t see any path to doing it prfessionally. After following Moose, I see a potential path. Admittedly, it’s a long shot, but risks are always necessary to achieve anything great. Above, is a gallery of my recent shoot at Tillamook Air Museum; see if you can see the influence of these photographers in my images.

In portrait photography, the photographer that I most feel the fandom thing is Joel Grimes.  Maybe, I’m a bit strange, but in portraits the two styles that I like are either the ultra-modern look of Joel Grimes’s current work or the real retro, as in the ’40s or ’50s look. As I start building my portrait portfolio, you’ll definitely see that in my work.

One thing that always seems a bit odd to me, is buying things from other photographers when you are one yourself. But, I do. I recently received Phil Makanna’s 2012 Ghosts calendar and am looking into one of his most recent books. I also hope to attend one of Moose’s workshops.

Personally, I feel that if you do this photography thing seriously, you probably love it. Thus, it’s totally natural that you’ll be following other photographers.