Adam Murphy | Fine Art Photographer

adam c. murphy

the artist

My interest in photography began in 1999, on my honeymoon in St. Lucia with my wife, Tanya. While scuba diving for the first time ever, we splurged, and spent $450.00 on a Konica-Minolta underwater camera that used Advantix film. Thirty feet down, in crystal clear water, I shot everything I saw, for 36 exposures each dive.

We waited anxiously for the prints, and were excited to show our friends and family what we had seen. Sadly, every shot was a uniform blue with a blue fish somewhere in the middle... The colors we experienced live, were nowhere to be found in my photos.

Since then, we have had some amazing opportunities to dive around the world - Mexico, Hawaii, Roatan, the Galapagos Islands, the Maldives, the Great Barrier Reef, Turks and Caicos. As our diving skills improved, so did my underwater camera gear, and thankfully, my photography skills. I now look like an octopus underwater, with video lights and strobes everywhere, and a digital camera with multiple lenses.

I've shot tens of thousands of underwater photos, done certifications in Underwater Photography, and spent time learning from master underwater photographer, Stephen Frink. I may still get blue in my pictures, but now it's deliberate!

During that time though, I rarely shot above water. Much of my gear was configured for underwater shooting, and my ability to get the shot I wanted on land was limited. The differences between shooting in water and air are significant, and it was not an intuitive jump. Finally, I started taking more shots and more classes, including National Geographic photography courses in Washington DC and New Orleans.

Through working with other photographers, I slowly learned to understand the science and the art of photography, and come to discover that I love them both. The most important piece of advice I've received was, "Take the shot you want to shoot." In other words, understand the lighting, the timing, the technical aspects, as well as the subject and the artistic story the photo tells. I respect Photoshop and what artists can do with it, but I aim to take the photo I want.

Printing photos though, was the final piece that led to making my photos available to the public. It added a whole new level of technicality and artistic design. My mother turned me on to printing on the Dibond brushed aluminum medium, and I now shoot with that in mind. The Dibond reflects light to such an extent, that the photos look nearly three dimensional. Lights in the photos appear to turn on. People have even asked if I have pieces backlit, because the effect is so unique. I hope you enjoy them.

If you have any questions, please contact me at: adam@adamcmurphy.com or 414-688-4714

Adam Murphy Photographer
"I may still get blue in my pictures,
BUT NOW IT'S
DELIBERATE!"
"I may still get blue in my pictures,
BUT NOW IT'S
DELIBERATE!"