Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Puder.
Hi Justin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I really got into photography back in 2017 because of cars. I was young and a lot of my friends were car photographers. I felt bad always asking them to take pictures of my car for social media. At the time I worked for Best Buy through high school so I did some research on a good starting camera and used my discount to score me a Sony A6300 with a lens. Once I had my first camera I started to go out every chance I had to take photos of my car and random items around the house, I instantly fell in love. After about a month or so, I started to research how to use a camera in manual mode to control all the settings myself. This is where I really started to “learn” photography as I would spend hours watching Youtube videos and then going out to test what I learned. Around 3 months or so went by and I got the hang of shooting in manual, but this is where the story takes a different path. I was shooting my car one evening and I got pretty bored from taking photos of the same thing over and over again. Luckily, there was a beautiful sunset that day so I started to take photos of the sky and I was hooked. I specifically remember looking at landscape photos that evening telling myself this is what I need to take photos of, this is what I love. After a year or so, I started to get really intrigued with Astrophotography photos, I challenged myself to capture a photo of the Milky Way. Little did I know that this challenge would not get completed for another year. On clear nights I would drive out west trying to get the Milky Way, but I failed time and time again. This only made me want it more. One night I decided that I was going to drive roughly an hour and a half west of Houston, where the skies were darker. That was the night that I finally captured my first Milky Way. Over the next couple of years I spent hundreds of hours taking photos in and around the city of Houston, any time I traveled I had my camera. 2021 was probably the best year for my photography as I decided to quit my job and travel the country for 2 months taking photos. I visited 26 national parks, took thousands of photos, in my opinion, was the best that I have done. Fast forward to 2022, I now have my own website (justinpuder.com) where I sell my photos on aluminum and canvas. I picked up a drone so I am now starting a whole new chapter of photography and even some videography. I am excited to see where the future takes me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road has not been smooth, but that is what makes it worth it. I would say the biggest struggle in the beginning was the cost of the equipment since I was in high school when I started and was not making a lot of money. Another large struggle was social media. When you go on Instagram for example, you constantly see amazing images with tons of likes. So when I started to take better photos I was excited however they would not get much exposure as I wanted. Keeping the motivation was tough because I feel that social media can be overwhelming and kinda depressing at times. The last major struggle that I can think of is since I like landscape photography is traveling. Traveling is expensive and time-consuming so it is tough to get out when you have a full-time job and the responsibilities of life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the IT Manager at the University of ST. Thomas, I love technology and computers. I am pretty sure I am known to be the “hardware” expert. Like I said, I love researching new parts for computers and building custom computers. It is a lot of fun. I think I am most proud that I taught myself IT. I was working in the automotive industry before and I was not happy. I decided to research some IT certifications and get them. After about 3 months I got my first and then another about a year after. I think what sets me apart from others is I like to get stuff done even if it is not an enjoyable task, I also love motivating my team.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson that I have learned is to never give up, and if you want something bad enough go out and fight for it.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.justinpuder.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinpuder/?next=%2F
