About My Photography
I’d like to take a moment to tell you about me, Mike Tokarz. My whole life I’ve always been the guy trying to do something no one else has done. I try to transfer that mentality to my photography as well. Many of my shots are of subjects that are familiar and commonly photographed by others. My goal is to not only capture these subjects, but present them in a whole new light. To do this I carefully plan my compositions, wait for the perfect light, and often shoot at night when most other photographers have called it a day.
By presenting subjects in a new way, my photography aims to inspire viewers to think about what things are like outside of what they see every day.
About Me
Aside from being an avid photographer, I enjoy getting away from the city to go camping. In 2015 I spent 8 days hiking 45 miles in of the United State’s best kept secrets – Isle Royale National Park. With no electricity, running water, or contact to the outside world, I felt most in contact with myself than I have and was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the island. During this week I created my first short timelapse video, Isle Royale National Park, showing several parts of the island and the incredible views it offers.
In June 2016 my brother and I ventured out to spend 8 more days hiking in the Upper Peninsula. This time we hiked over 60 miles and gathered over 115bg of footage from the Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks, and other hidden gems throughout the state. Once the footage was processed I had enough to make a full length video celebrating the beauty found in Michigan’s wilderness. The Forest – a Tribute to Michigan’s Wilderness quickly spread with almost 30,000 views on Facebook and Youtube. To read about The Forest, check out my featured interview on MLive.
Back in February 2017, after two years of shooting and over 25,000 frames, I was finally able publish Rebirth – a Timelapse of Detroit. It quickly spread around Michigan, getting attention again from MLive and the Detroit Free Press. It’s been my biggest project to date and has laid groundwork for some incredible photographic opportunities. A few weeks later I noticed I was getting comments on the YouTube video in French. After some looking around, I found that Le Figaro, one of the largest news sites in France, had shared it. I had officially gone international, which was pretty cool.
In the future I look forward to doing lots of hiking all around the United States and Canada, publishing more timelapse videos from the Great Lakes area, highlighting all of Michigan’s lighthouses, and every hidden gem in between.
In The Bag
Camera: Fujifilm X-T3 & X-T2
Lenses: Fujifilm 16-55mm f/2.8
Fujifilm 50-140mm f/2.8
Rokinon 12mm f/2
Breakthrough Photography Filters
Feisol CT-3442 Tripod
Sirui k-40x Ball Head
Dynamic Perception Stage One Motorized Slider and Stage R pan/tilt unit
Connect
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