As my photography began to take off back in 2008, I needed a way to share my photos with the general public. Unfortunately, sharing photos via email became more and more untenable as demand grew. Once I started getting complains about my emails crashing inboxes, I had to do something. It became clear that I needed a website to showcase my photography. Shortly thereafter, the Matt Gove Photo website was born.
From Hobbyist to Semi-Pro to Professional
After launching the Matt Gove Photo site, I quickly made the transition from hobbyist to semi-pro photographer. At the time, I was working hard to establish my professional career in data science and GIS. I dreamt of becoming a professional photographer for years. But it seemed like I always lacked either the time or the money to make that next step. So the photography remained a side income for much of the 2010’s.
That all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Because I’m a travel photographer, one of my greatest passions was all of a sudden taken away from me when the world locked down. And with it went one of my only creative outlets.
Unfortunately, I needed to be creative to help balance out the technical grind of GIS and data science. So after 12-plus years, I finally took that next step and went fully professional with my photography. And I didn’t stop there. I used the downtime during the lockdown to learn video storytelling. And it really has propelled me to that next level.
The Matt Gove Photo Site Today
Between November, 2019 and April, 2021, the Matt Gove Photo site was completely redesigned and rebranded. The redesign focused on aligning the look and feel of the website with our mission and values, as well as emphasizing the visual media on the site. The purpose of the rebrand was to establish myself on that next level as a professional photographer.
The design of the Matt Gove Photo website has elicited the most ooh’s and aah’s from visitors, and is something I take immense pride in. However, most people don’t realize that I also coded the entire website from scratch. Once again, you need both the creative and technical skills to reach its maximum potential. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it.