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All about Ryan Sinn
I've spent my life being curious about everything...
Between sharing my photography and trying to expand my knowledge of the world around me, I enjoy reading all manner of books.
I also enjoy traveling and exploring remote areas of the mid-western landscape, specifically within the borders of Minnesota. The great state I have called my home for all 27 years of my life.
It is such a great pleasure to be able to spend my time doing something so fulfilling as enriching lives by stirring old memories or creating new ones through the camera lens.
Photography is interesting. Often being classified as the "easiest" of the fine arts yet still arguably as emotionally powerful as painting sculpting, perhaps even more so due to it's vivid tendencies.
There is something undefinable about the way a simple photograph can evoke a plethora of emotions from the viewer.
Eyes are said to be the window to the soul and a single photograph has the ability to prop that window open permanently allowing great grand children, decades later, to see into their ancestors' eyes and make a connection that is completely different than that of written or spoken family lore.
The more time I spend photographing the world around me, the more I find each moment in time is very unique. I stopped trying to "make" a photograph... I now spend my time capturing the moment as it presents itself. There is no judgment, the moment just is what it is.
I have no formal training in photography. I have never shot with a "professional" film / 35mm camera. I haven't even been in a dark room.
I bought my first camera in 1998 and it was an Olympus 1.2MP digital camera for $850!! Before that, I had a cheap kodak instamatic camera that was a few generations old. I think my last photograph with that was from the mid-80s.
After buying my first digital camera, I found myself taking a lot of pictures. I also found myself being continually frustrated with the results 99.99% of the time. Even though I liked the prints at first, what I was seeing on paper wasn't what I saw and experienced when I took the photograph. They just didn't grow on me.
I spent a lot of time trying to grasp what I could not define, but I knew was missing from my photography.
In December of 2004, I bought my first "pro" camera, the Nikon D70. I had been shooting with an Olympus Stylus 300 (great camera -- I still have it... over 25000 photos taken with it!)
It was about that time I joined a Snowmobile Racing Team as Pit Crew and Photographer. I traveled around the Mid-West even having the opportunity to photograph races at the first ever Snowcross race INSIDE Lambou field. It was incredible. Those four months of shooting 1200+ photos a day two days a week from 6 am until 5pm really forced me to be decisive in what I photograph.
From there I traveled into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with some friends and my photographic inspiration, my aunt, Roxanne Sinn. I began to think more before I shot -- understanding that what I shoot and what are see are two different things, even when the lens is set to 70mm (the standard focal length for the human eye.)
This was a very trying time... Julia, a friend who has some art training and experience, took me under her wing and showed me things like "The Rule of Thirds." She pointed out what she felt were the weak points in my photographs.
I began to look at things differently... As shapes, positive and negative spaces and light intensities. I also found other artist's photos that everyone found pleasing and spent hours analyzing why *I* liked the work. I also spent just around a year during this time sharing and discussing photography with other pro-amateur photographer.
All of this time I kept thinking how could *I* quantify what the artist did to keep my attention. As I began to understand common themes in photographs ... I started shooting more.
In the Fall of 2005 I was sending around photos to friends just for fun and to receive candid feedback from friends and family. Faith, who is a friend of mine, asked if I would shoot her wedding. I told her I'd never shot a wedding before and she said she trusted my eye after seeing some of my nature work.
She hired a professional photographer she knew as my assistant and to pose the formal shots since I had no idea what I was doing. The photos turned out great and I really enjoyed shooting it. Soon after those photographs drew attention and I booked my second wedding in the Winter of 2006.
I figured after two weddings, I could do more and I'd better get a website started. So here you are, reading my thoughts on the website brainstorm of January 2006.
In 2006 I started advertising and photographed over 14 weddings and booked over 20. Customers have been happy with my relaxed style and no pressure attitude. My motto is turning into something along the lines of "It's your day. I'll do whatever you'd like." I'm not sure what makes me patient and easy going... it could be my small town upbringing.
So here we are... Winter 2006... and the saga continues...
