Photographers are all high brow, even myself. We are convinced our most famous work will be hanging in a gallery, perfectly lit, overshadowing the sainted Ansel Adams in the MOMA. People will brush past the Ansel Adams work, not giving it a second glance to exclaim: “OMG! IT”S A MIKE GATTY ORIGINAL! I SAW THIS […]
Eleven years. That’s how long long I’ve been shooting for one of my oldest, newest clients — a decade plus one. What is an “oldest, newest client”? Maryland Association of Realtors (MAR) was the first client I obtained under the new business — DC Event Photos. Not the old business, Gatty Communications, my mom’s business. […]
Working as a photographer, you are a fly on the wall to history. The problem is, sometimes they — those not on the wall — want to take a swatter and beat the living crap out of you. Photographer’s make for an easy target: in some ways, we’re a bother. Everybody moans and groans when […]
The Republicans have their economic theories. The Democrats some of their own. And, the President is responsible for overseeing the National Budget. There are hundreds of economic theories out there: ranging from Trickle Down Economics of the 1980’s to Economies of Scale of the 1990’s. All are wrong. Mine is right. I call my […]
I tip everyone. I tip excessively. Here’s why. In our work, servers, bellmen, valets, sky caps — even the workers at the hotel’s free breakfast — all make our jobs easier. Much easier. And, when I travel, I travel with equipment — in some cases more than 400 lbs of equipment — and lugging it […]
As some of my more loyal groupies might know, we shoot all the Indycar races, nationwide. That eats up about 1.5 MONTHS out of my schedule of solid travel, setup and shooting time. That doesn’t even account for weekends, if you look at just “work” days . So, it’s a major contract for us, takes […]
I eyed my schedule, nervously. Fargo, ND. April. Early April. Then Long Beach, CA, for the Indycar race. Fargo to Long Beach. Two days in between, one for travel, one for setup. And then, live. Should be OK. Did you know there is an international airport in Fargo, ND? This IS the same Fargo, by […]
Sigh. Summer is over, and with it, my special summer haircut, my MOHAWK. Now, I join the ranks of the normal, just another man with a shaved head, walking down the street: little, ole’ average me. Joe Normal. Totally mundane. Yeah, right. I’ll never be freaking normal. I know I’ll never blend. But what is […]
My mom has many great traits: she is a wonderful photographer, a loving mother, a hard worker, and Irish. Not that Irish is a trait, but it is in this sense: her idea of going to the doctor is talking to the pharmacist at Walgreens and chewing two Tylenol for whatever ails her. She spends […]
I have a theory. This theory goes with Mike’s Portrait Theory Number 1, detailed two blog postings ago. To refresh: the subject had one picture, at least 30 years ago, where they liked their smile. They have been trying to reproduce that smile ever since, in every photo (unsuccessfully) looking like a crazy person with […]