Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mike Price. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mike, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

For my career side of things, I’m in the replenishment/supply chain side of things for a vendor to a major retailer. My degree was in Marketing Management with a lot of courses in business management, business math, etc. Today, the biggest thing I wish I had learned earlier was how to use of Excel and Power Point. I have become very proficient in both but it wasn’t really taught or pushed back in the early 1990s when I was in college. I have since delved in and learned from various people, courses provided by work, and online forums. Biggest advice, especially on Excel, is to Google whatever you think of doing in Excel and someone has figured it out and has a step by step how-to out there. I look up info weekly. If your company doesn’t offer any kind of self-help courses, ask. Most bosses will be glad to get you the resources to improve your skills. One of the biggest pieces out of using Excel, is being able to put the data together and tell a concise story with a few bullet points and meaningful graphs or charts.

For my photography, I was self-taught. Hardest part initially was learning through making mistakes. Again, I went to a lot of online forums and YouTube videos on how to take certain shots, how to edit, etc. I have always been a hands-on learn as I go type vs just sitting in a class. I wish I had met up with some better photographers in the beginning and asked to go shoot with them and ask questions on how or why they have the settings they are using as well as how they post-process an image. I still have a lot to learn. I have also tried to help others when they ask those questions of me.

Mike, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

On the photography side of things, I initially got into photography after my daughter, Emma, was born nearly 18 years ago. At first, it was to just capture those family moments. Then I got into nature and landscape photography and then into some weather photography (lightning). As I shared some photography with friends and groups, I was told I had a good eye for scenes so I kept shooting and sharing. I finally found several photographers to hang out with and shoot with that helped me grow and improve. A big hurdle for me the first few years was post processing. I didn’t have very good skills or software. I finally invested in Lightroom and spent time learning how to edit a photo from some very good photographers and software people. Again, I spent a lot of time on YouTube channels with folks that shot scenes I liked and how to shoot them.

One thing I really take pride in is trying my best to help others. Whether that is with basic settings or how and where I got a shot or if its how I edit and tweak a photo. I try not to do much to a photo as far a saturation goes but there are other tweaks to dial in when you shoot in RAW.

One of the coolest things I have been able to provide clients was a local bank wanting to put some very large wrap photos over their drive-thru windows. They wanted scenes local to the area where the bank is located and I have provided several so far. Another client also wanted landscape scenery from around Arkansas and I was able to help them with some large prints around their office with more to come from them.

With both of these requests, I had some stuff on hand and gladly went out and shot some other things. I am always open to shooting some new or different scenery upon request.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The resources I wish I knew about earlier in my photographic journey were the local photography groups. People who understand the settings, the locations, the scenes, and how they process a photo once they take it. I was probably a good 6-8 years into shooting before I came across a solid, great group of photographers here in Arkansas that had these “Spring Gatherings” and “Fall Gatherings”. I finally got into my first one around the Fall of 2013. We met up at probably my favorite outdoor area in all of Arkansas, the Steel Creek Campground along the Buffalo National River. It was a small gathering of about 6-10 people. Some of us stayed 2 nights, others just 1 night or came for the day on a Saturday. We met, grilled meals over the fire, talked cameras, favorite landscapes and when we were actually shooting scenes and subjects, everyone shared how they were setting up their shots. It was a very organic setting and I learned a ton from some of the absolute best nature photographers in the state. 10 years later and I am still friends with most of those folks from the first few gatherings and still discuss photography with them. If you are into photography and can find a local group to join, I highly recommend it.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I don’t really know a great deal about NFTs. At first it seems like an interesting option to get your art out there but also seems kind of an opportunity for scams. I have had several people tell me I should offer some prints in NFT formats but haven’t researched it enough to go about it yet. Seems like NFTs have also lost some of their initial excitement and luster the past few months, along the same lines as cryptocurrency.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mikepricephotography
• Facebook: Mike Price Photography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-a-price-b4749051/
• Twitter: @mikepricephotog