The Rebel with a camera bio that no one asked for but now find they needed
Travis began shooting pictures in 1994 with a Pentax 35mm film camera that killed batteries and would constantly die when he needed it most. It was a hobby for a number of years so the battery issue wasn’t a big problem. Later he studied photojournalism in college and was shooting pictures of sports and news for the Southern Oregon University newspaper. Later, he turned his studies into a career as a photojournalist at a small newspaper in Southern Oregon in 2002. After many challenging and intriguing assignments and an Associated Press award for photojournalism, Travis got bored with the news game.
Becoming a pro photographer was a crazy dream.
In 2003 he opened his own studio shooting high school seniors, weddings, engagements, bridals and families. He soon found that he really was terrible at photographing babies, and pets and focused on what he excelled at and understood: High school senior portraits, bridal portraits, engagement portraits, family portraits and editorial assignments. His skill lies in shooting what he knows and he knows people.
In the late 80s, Gary Larson of the comic strip The Far Side took a sabbatical from drawing his cartoons for 14 months. He was not very forthcoming about why he was taking this break but everyone speculated it was because he needed some time to rejuvenate after drawing funny cartoons for so many years. Like Gary, Travis needed some time to recharge after so many years of shooting pictures. He shot weddings with his wife, Christina, in Austin until 2018 and took a sabbatical from photography to recharge his creative juices. Thanks to Covid, that sabbatical lasted until 2022 when Travis began shooting pictures again.
During his time away from photography a lot has changed and happened in Travis’ life:
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Travis creates the worlds most epic Christmas Cards to pacify his need for a creative outlet.
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Travis wrote and recorded music and produced music videos in an alternative pop style which you can enjoy here: Moon Dance Liquor
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Travis wrote and produced two audio dramas both seemingly to be attempts at wedding photography catharsis: The Lost Attic
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Travis learned how to fix his refrigerator and other people’s refrigerators.
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Travis studied and enjoyed a considerable amount of art at museums in the US, England and France.
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His oldest kid graduated from college and moved out to work for the Bay Area tech company, Square.
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His youngest kid finished college at 19 and is currently looking for a cool tech job like his bother has.
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He bought yet another minivan.
- He built a shop behind his home during the pandemic because he had some time on his hands and kids who couldn’t go to school who turned out to be pretty good free labor.
Starting at the beginning of 2022 he reopened and began taking limited senior portraits, bridal portraits, engagements and some editorial work. Travis describes himself as an eclectic eccentric and loves creating something new. Message Travis and you’ll create something amazing!
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Text: 512-981-6169
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Rebel With a Camera
Austin, Texas USA