We were lucky to catch up with Ken McGrath recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ken, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I started learning photography it was before there were that many resources available to get information. Fortunately, my parents were involved in photography back in the 1970’s and had a very strong knowledge of the fundamentals. I bought my first Nikon camera back in 2008 before I knew what I wanted to photograph. It was a Nikon D60 and served as my entrance into the world of digital photography. I found some online courses that jumpstarted my understanding of a number of different genres of photography including landscape photography, portraiture, wildlife photography (especially birds), and action photography. I learned a great deal from some of the most accomplished photographers in the business such as Joe McNally, Moose Peterson, Jerry Ghionis, Dave Black, to name a few. The type of photography that I gravitated towards was Landscape. I just loved being in a location and trying to capture its essence as it was at that moment.

Ken, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, it’s been a long road to get where I wanted to go. I’m actually still in the process of achieving the end goal of having my own gallery. I had been working as a music teacher for a long time but I always had a love for photography. I knew that I wanted to create images that could be printed large enough to virtually bring the viewer in to the photograph and experience the scene almost as though they were there. However, I found that the challenges of creating such work required a significant amount of research and effort to find just the right combination of things like the paper type and special acrylics for mounting the print. I knew what I wanted to create but it took a while to find all of the right components. Learning the mechanics of how to capture an image and then how to edit it was also a major challenge and one that I will most likely never stop growing from. It’s been a lot of work but I never grow tired of seeing people react to images I’ve captured. My images are all true to life and don’t include any shenanigans. I strive to produce works that will last generations in homes or wherever they end up being displayed.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

That’s an easy one, Bringing joy to others. No matter what genre of art it is, the goal is the same. In my case, I like that no matter what else is going on, people can look at a picture and be instantly rewarded with joy, serenity, awe or a longing to visit the location.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The first time I experienced looking at the work of Ansel Adams I was filled with a sense of awe and I desperately wanted to visit every location in each of his images. He’s definitely not the only artist that has had this effect on me but ever since I saw his work, I wanted to create images that would have that same effect on others. As I mentioned before, my goal is to have my own gallery and fill it with images that take the viewer on a journey to places they may not have even known existed.

Contact Info:

• Website: Kenmcgrathphotography.com
• Instagram: Ken_mcgrath_photo