Carrie A. Hannigan

Photography is not only my way to express myself artistically, but it is how I get out and explore the world...whether it is the park near my house, local car or air shows, gardens, or other countries. Every outing is an exciting adventure as I hunt down subjects and try to see them from a different perspective. My journey started in my childhood, though they were all snapshots with my mom's Minolta, my polaroid instant camera, and many point-and-shoot cameras. As an adult, though, I could finally afford the Canon Rebel that I had wanted as a teenager (...mostly because Andre Agassi made it look so cool in his commercials) and that is when my photography started to shift from snapshots to intentional composition. 

There are two qualities of my portfolio that I want to be upfront about. First, I do not have one "type" of subject. I can appreciate specializing in a subject, such as flowers, trees, landscape, etc., but that is not how my creative process works. I need variety, which I suspect is also why I am a technical writer...different topics, perspectives, and approaches keep me interested. Up-close flower photography is what I am most comfortable with, but I like the challenge of taking those strengths to other situations, such as classic cars and rusty trains. 

Second, I use Photoshop and other photo editing software on almost all my photos. The technical side of me loves using these tools to give my photos a bit of boost (or tone down). I embrace the challenge of figuring out the tools and how to compel them to do what I want. I realize that many photographers have an "in camera" approach, where they do not want to spend time at their computers adjusting their photos. I love the perfect, out-of-camera photo, but I also like figuring out how to make the other hundreds of photos worthy as well.