Maybe first tell us something about you, your name, where you’re from, what you’re doing for life, etc.
My name is Max Webb, @webbwonder, and I was born in Minneapolis, raised in St. Cloud and have since moved back to Minneapolis to attend the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota for Finance and Sustainability. I am currently in my third year and intend to graduate in May of 2019. I got into photography around my senior year of high school by taking pictures of beautiful sunsets on my iPhone. Just before my second year of college I finally decided to purchase a starter camera. I quickly fell in love with it and before my third year upgraded to the Sony A7R2 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. It was the best purchase I have ever made and have been working at improving my photography more and more ever since.
how would you best describe your photography style?
It is quite difficult for me to narrow down to one photography style. I would say in general I shoot landscape photography the most, and being in Minneapolis it is primarily urban landscapes. However, my all-time favorite style of photography is street photography. There’s something about capturing stunning perspectives of regular people’s day-to-day lives. I also love to shoot in nature and frequently head up to the North Shore/Duluth area to get a break from the city life. In the future, I hope to get more into portrait photography and maybe some videography.
How’d you get into photography? Are you formally taught or self-taught?
As I mentioned before, I first started shooting on my phone and the photos were primarily of sunsets. I have always loved watching the sun set. You never know when the sky is going to light up nor what colors will appear. I wanted to capture my favorite ones and that’s how I began focusing on the art of taking a photo. Eventually, I got sick of just shooting on my shitty phone camera and decided it was time to upgrade. One of my friends who I met at the UofM had already been shooting for a while and helped me get started. I learned a lot of the basics from him and he definitely was and continues to be an inspiration for the way I shoot. While he helped me a lot, most of my knowledge of photography and editing has been self-taught and I continue to learn more everyday.
Do you have a favorite image or experience? If so, can you tell us the backstory?
My favorite image I have taken is from Pier 57 in Seattle. I took this photo while on a trip to Washington with some close friends. It was soon after I had gotten my first camera and it was the first trip I had been on where my primary goal was to capture what I was seeing. It was raining and we had just spent our first day in Seattle after trekking through Olympic National Park for the three days before. I wanted to go see the Ferris wheel in the rain, and had to talk my friends into toughing out the weather. While walking along the pier we came to this spot and I immediately saw the composition I wanted. I took a few pictures and knew that the shots I had just taken were some of my best ever. After editing and posting one I was proven right. It was my most liked picture for a long time and everyone I would talk to who saw it had to give me a compliment on it. It was a rewarding experience that gave me a lot of confidence about my photography.
Tell me about a place you would love to travel to. On this trip, you only get to take one lens with you ~ which would it be and why?
Well… haha currently I only have only one lens and that is the previously mentioned Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master. I love this lens, and if I could I would marry it. It is incredibly sharp and has not failed me yet in any situation. So no matter where I go, I don’t think I could leave home without this lens. Narrowing down to the place I’d most like to travel is not as easy. I guess to name a few, I want to go to Norway, Iceland, Tokyo, and pretty much everywhere in Europe. I hope to travel often and never spend too much time in one place throughout my entire life.
Do you have any specific goals for your photography?
My biggest goal in photography is to be able to live off of shooting. They say what you do in your free time is what you should turn into your career, and for me that is photography. I don’t have to be rich just as long as I can see the world I will be happy.
