San Diego Photographer

My name is Ryan and I have been around cameras my whole life; my father is an aspiring enthusiast, my sister is a professional photographer in Los Angeles and I got my first film camera when I was in high school. By the time I was 17, I knew my way around a dark room pretty well. I ended up selling my Pentax when I went off to college, but my interest in photography lived on inside me. I finally decided to pick up a professional Canon DSLR last year and am incredibly happy with my decision.

But when I’m not at work or behind the lens, I’m always out and about finding new things to get into. In the picture to the left, I was at the top of a peak in Telluride, Colorado. My buddy was a lift-op for the season so I joined him for a week of snowboarding in the Rockies... and fun it was, Telluride got 18" of snow within 48 hours of me getting there. The mountains in Telluride are of epic proportions and at 12,000+ feet of elevation, they truly deserve your respect. This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:

"The only way to define your limits is by going beyond them."

- Arthur Clarke

About the Site | Waking Life Photography

What's in a name? Famous words whispered by Juliet when pondering her love for Romeo. You may be wondering why I choose to call my website Waking Life Photography... sounds a little funny, why not Photos by Ryan? Well there is a deeper meaning to it; the term Waking Life actually refers to a philosophical concept…you know those moments when you wake up in the morning, it's 8:30 and you hit the snooze button only to fall back asleep into a long intricate dream that seems to last for hours? But when you’re awoken by your alarm clock again, it's 8:32.

What feels like days and weeks in the dream world only takes seconds and minutes in the real world; the term Waking Life was coined to describe this phenomenon. A photo only takes an instant to capture, but the memories they create last a lifetime.