About
Hello
I am Todd Murphy, known by most as Murph.
Photography has always been an interest of mine. I got my first 35mm SLR camera when I was around 18 or 19. I dove in head first and learned as much as I could about every aspect. Black and white, macro, landscape, you name it I tried it. I dabbled in 4x5 field cameras. Film photography was/is a great way to learn as you have a limited number of frames per roll, so you need to make each one count. That foundation and those lessons are still in my head when shooting digital today.
During college and immediately after college, my photography time was limited. I didn’t completely put the camera down but life, time with friends, starting a career and other interests took a higher priority for a while.
I met and married the most beautiful woman in the world*(see note below).
Our 3 amazing children soon followed. As expected, the camera came back out with a vengeance. Chronicling our family was a great way to get back behind the camera. I hadn’t done much with portrait photography in the past so I had a new aspect to learn and explore. My wife (the aforementioned most beautiful woman in the world) caught the scrapbooking bug so our two hobbies were a great fit. It also helped when I wanted new equipment “so I could take better shots for the scrapbook”.
(*) I have been accused of bias on this, but whatever. I mean, just look at her.
Switching to digital was challenging at first because I was so comfortable with my existing equipment. Digital adds so much additional functionality but one must learn all the new buttons, dials, gizmos etc. My degree is in Computer Science, so of course I had to nerd out and test everything. The biggest difference between film and digital is the ability to process your own images. No more waiting two weeks for a photo lab to interpret your image into a print. Again, with a computer science background I dove deep into this as well. The tools and technology change frequently and I enjoy learning it all. I am always (hopefully) improving my technique and hope my results improve as well.
The kids started sports, so naturally I added sports photography to my bag of tricks. In landscape work, you envision the shot, place your tripod, camera and all the other fun toys and tweak every last setting and take A shot. Sports? Just the opposite. Make a best guess at your settings and constantly have that camera moving. The older the kids, the faster the action. The younger the kids, the more unpredictability. I’ve had coaches print my photos to help illustrate form for player development. I’ve received wonderful comments from parents. I have experienced the highest honor one can receive from a teenager: sharing your photo on their social media. All in all, It has been one of the most personally rewarding ways to share my photos.
The photo is my nephew who is an outstanding hockey player. So naturally to mess with him, I use of picture of him playing baseball.
One other thing...
I’ve had one other major influence on my journey as a photographer. I’ve had a decades long friendship with Davin Brandt. I’m proud to call him my closest friend. We both rekindled our interest in photography as digital SLRs were just becoming popular. We’ve supported, inspired, and challenged each other for many years. I bring the technology and he brings the creative. It’s been so eye opening to see two very different perspectives on the same subject. In my South Dakota gallery there isn’t a shot that he wasn’t more than 20 feet away shooting something as well. He has since become a full time photographer. His work is amazing, please check him out at https://www.davinbrandt.com/.