If you have the pleasure of meeting Hunter Day it will probably be around the outskirts of Missoula or in the dark of night. This Missoula man has the skills of light to aid in his amazing photography and a passion for the medium. We asked him to share his story with the rest of us. Missoula is a place where young and old can flourish in whatever field they desire. Real People, Real Missoula…

Hunter Day

Age: 23

School: University of Montana/ Business Marketing Degree

Where is your favorite place to hang out in Missoula?

I like to hike and explore new spots all around Missoula. When the weather is nice I go up to Pattee Canyon with my dog, or go fishing around Alberton. My favorite hangout would be my old work, The Iron Horse.

If price wasn’t a factor what Missoula neighborhood would you live in? 

If I had the money I would like to live in the University District, nostalgic.

Tell us about yourself:

I am the oldest of 3 kids. I was born and raised in Helena, MT. I went to a small school on baseball scholarship when I first went to college.  After one year I transferred to UM and finished my degree in 3 years. I was a waiter at the Iron Horse from the time I moved to Missoula until I graduated. Currently I am a sales manager for a medical device company called Mountain Medical, it was my first job out of college so I would say I’m pretty fortunate. When I’m not working I’m hanging with my 3 year old black lab, hiking, fishing, going to baseball games, really anything to keep me active.

What do you love about Missoula?

Missoula is the perfect mix of city and outdoors. It has a really lively downtown/ nightlife scene, but when that gets old I’m a quick 10-20 minute drive to some of the best hiking and fishing spots I’ve been to.

What made you get into the photography business?

This is kind of a long story… I had never been into any form of artistic expression ever…I went through a really tough breakup this last summer and was down and out for months and it didn’t really seem like I could find a way to get out of my depression. I had a session with my therapist and she recommended picking up a new hobby…painting, new language, just something to get my mind off what I was going through. So I bought my first camera and it forced me to get out of the house and look at things differently than I had before. It’s one of the best things that could have happened to me, Photography has given me a way to deal with my down days.

Explain how you learned about light photography and why you love it? 

Light Painting is a technique in photography where you open the shutter for extended exposure time, when you do that the camera is taking in and recording all the light in the environment. So you can take a flashlight and draw images and write messages and the camera records it all, or take LED color lights and “paint” the scene different colors. Its really cool because it lets a photographer put his own creative twist on the composition instead of just pointing and taking a picture. I first was introduced to it in a photography magazine that had an article about a really talented light painting photographer named Darren Pearson @dariustwin, he does awesome drawings of skeletons and fossils of dinosaurs, really incredible stuff. So I started to practice a little bit, I can’t wait for summer time so I will be able to stay out all night and hone my light painting skills.

How would you describe your ideal future self in ten years? Where will you be and what will you be doing for work? living?

It’s funny, Up until this summer I thought I was going to continue in the medical sales field until I was 40. Now that I’ve started to get better at photography I see myself doing something totally different. In ten years I hope I have traveled across the world taking pictures everywhere I go. I could see myself living in Seattle or Vancouver BC… somewhere that has a bigger city but wilderness is still easily accessible. I would love to be doing photography as a job, sporting events, weddings, and landscape, anything that keeps me behind the camera.

What do you think is your biggest limitation?

Wow great question. Fear is my biggest limitation. Fear of dropping something I’m successful at to try something new, fear of starting over somewhere new. And fear of failing would be the most relevant.

Favorite Thing Of All Time:

Baseball. I’ve been obsessed with baseball for over 17 years now. Besides photography, baseball is the thing that helps me break the monotony and really helps me forget about any troubles I may be having, even if it is only for a few hours. I always have something to look forward to every year, when the weather starts warming up and I feel like a kid every time I go to a baseball field. It really indescribable.

Check out more of Hunter’s photos by visiting his website at http://hunterday05.wix.com/hunterdayphoto .

Facebook: Hunter Day Photography            Instagram: hunter_day_photo            Phone: 406-370-8946             Email: hunterday05@gmail.com

Light Photography

Light Photography