Samuel Acuff, Photographer
Birds of the Mid-South
Bio
One day while perusing a thrift store, I found a copy of the 1977 Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds. I had been curious about a jet-black bird that flashes bright red and yellow in the farmland between Arkansas and Tennessee for years. I immediately bought the book and after some digging, discovered the bird in question was a Red-Winged Blackbird, quite common in the South. What shocked me was that almost every single bird I came across thereafter was equally colorful and interesting, if one took the time to stop and notice.
Over the past few years, I have combined my love of nature with my love of photography. As a teen, I remember working shifts at the grocery store to save up for my Nikon D3100, an entry-level DSLR. Now, I use a different camera (and for birds, a much larger lens), but my goal is the same: to immortalize those moments of beauty in life that we are often too busy to notice. I love capturing moments of grandeur in landscapes, or the fleeting intimate moments we experience with birds that are gone in a whisper
I have spent the past 7 years at the University of Memphis getting my PhD in clinical psychology studying human behavior and decision making related to addiction. I love my job, but photography reminds me to stop for a moment and pay attention to what is happening around me. I am also available for hire to capture the moments of beauty in your life, be it couples, pets, or portrait/headshots. Thank you for your support!