Mike Cavanaugh - The artist behind the lens and “Limbs of Wisdom” his Spring Arts Collective Gallery exhibition

My photographic journey began in earnest over a decade ago when I took a three week trip to Japan.  Having been a traveler ever since I was a baby I had finally reached a point photographically as an adult where I was fed up with how my photographs of places like the Grand Canyon, Belize, Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, Mexico, and every other place I’d ever traveled too were not as good as the photographs I was seeing in travel magazine.  Even more so since I was photographing the same rocks I was seeing in the magazines.  So before leaving Los Angeles for Japan I bought myself a professional 35mm Canon EOS3 with a Tamron 28-200mm lens.  From that moment on I noticed a remarkable improvement in quality from the point and shoot 35mm camera’s I had been using. 
Sometime in 2004, after spending a few years using my Canon EOS3 35mm and still not completely satisfied with my image results, a light bulb went off inside my head and I decided it was time for me to start learning more about photography.  And luckily I didn’t have to go far. 
My photography education began with a color photography class at an adult annex of Santa Monica College.  After that one class I realized how much I not only love, but at times, am addicted to photography.  From a single college annex class I enrolled into the photography program and progressed through all the evening photo classes available (BW, color printing, commercial, portrait, flash, and photoshop).   And though my enrollment at SMC does not continue today my education within the photographic world does and I’m always seeking some new piece of information to aid me in becoming better and more creative. 
Today I’m a freelance photographer with over 190 publishing credits.  My subject matter is solely based upon my many interest and for this reason I do not concentrate or limit myself to any one area of photography.  My subject matter includes music, landscapes, travel, people, sports, still movie productions, and nudes.
My clients include All Access Magazine, Music Connection, Strutter Magazine, San Gabriel Press, Pasadena Star News, Whittier Daily News, the state of Alaska’s official tourist website (www.travelalaska.com), Arizona Office of Tourism, Faith and Form Magazine, Sfarzo guitar strings, Peerless Guitars, Mills Acoustic, and the feature film “Sin-Jin Smyth”. 
In addition to my growing client list my images have been exhibited in three Los Angeles gallery’s (”View of the Sound” - Kopeikin Gallery on Wilshire; “Fiddle” - LaFoto in Santa Monica; “What’s Her Name” - Santa Monica College photo gallery).  And in 2007 two of my images (”Malibu Pier at Midnight” and “Great White Shark feeding”) achieved finalist awards and were published in the 2007 Photographer’s Forum Magazine Annual.
Today my camera medium is as varied as my subject matter as I often choose to use a particular camera based on how I want the final print to look.  My primary camera is my digital Canon 20D.  However I also use:  35mm - Canon EOS3 and Canon AE1; medium format (6×6) - Hasselblad 500 c/m; large format - Shin Hao large format; and Polaroid Land 330. 
Current projects include: “Catholic symbols” - a photo project involving the 21 California missions; “Lines” - nature’s paintings; “Inspiration” - project encompassing both my landscape and catholic symbols photography; a currently unnamed artistic environmental nude project; and a currently unnamed long range Polaroid project.  

And in addition to my photography I am also writing a book entitled “A Childless Man’s Adventures in Parenting”.  Release date undetermined at this time.  To Veiw and read more visit his website at: www.mikecavanaughphotography.smugmug.com be sure to see his exhibition at: Spring Arts Collective Gallery, Spring Arts Tower - Mezzanine, 453 South Spring Street, (btwn 4th & 5th), Los Angeles, CA - 90013 on July 10th!!