Ray McMullen Fine Art Photography

When you are lying in a bed without the ability to get up and walk away, it makes you to really face the feelings of hearing the words “you have cancer”. You don’t truly know the seriousness of the situation until you hear the words “you are within hours of expiring” and that everyone is going to do everything possible to give you a fighting chance. I was told that the type of cancer I had, Multiple Myeloma, was not going to be a sprint to the finish, where they could just remove the affected area and work with the chemo drugs. But a marathon, and that I needed to pace myself for a long process of treatments and recovery, and even after all the treatments I would always have the cancer. We would have to control it for the rest of my life with drugs. On top of all the cancer and treatments, I was additionally told that the cancer had taken my kidneys. So not only was a now a cancer patient I was also a dialysis patient. The reality in my mind was, had I gone in as soon...

Early morning

To explore

Kidney Transplant

     In the beginning, I wanted to find my own photographic style. I looked at thousands of photos, books, magazines, and videos in an effort to do this. There were a few Photographers that really influenced my passion for photography— 1.      Joe McNally  ... Joe taught me the importance of using the right light.  2.     Trey Ratcliff  ... Trey introduced me to the wonderful world of HDR. 3.     Peter Lik  ... Peter taught me how important it is to see the big picture.      While studying these photographers and their work, I took a little inspiration from each in an effort to  develop  “my style”. Years have passed, and now I believe you never stop developing your style. For me it is a work in progress. However, during my search I did find a love for landscape photography that I carry to this day.

      Leaving the familiar and allowing yourself to  follow a dream  can be a very difficult thing to do. I was successful in my career, but it wasn't fulfilling and there was something missing. I found that missing piece in photography, and it quickly became my passion. I was torn between my photography and a job that would provide for my family. After a lot of soul searching, I decided to  follow a dream .      I left that job to pursue my passion. Now I spend my days looking for new places to discover and shoot. My pay check may be a bit smaller, but I am happy getting up every morning to follow my passion.      I'm just a guy with a camera trying to capture life one click at a time.  I want my photography to tell a story. Every photo has something different to say.  I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me. The lesson learned... Don't let anything stand in your w...