Perennially living under the radar? Perhaps.

But it doesn't have to be that way forever.

I've always felt like what I do doesn't reach the kind of audience that it probably could (or should). I still garner a fairly small number of per-day hits on my website (with occasional spikes like right when the recent Campus Glitter Ball photos went up), and have a Facebook group dedicated to my photography sized only in the lower 100's after 2 years of existence and 800+ photos uploaded to the group.

It's not like my photography goes completely unnoticed outside of my friends and bands I know though. In fact, I would say I get random people who I don't even know coming up to me at shows almost every few weeks. They tend to say something like they've seen my work and like it, and/or they've seen me out at tons of shows. I'm still amazed every time it happens, but I guess it's a good sign because that means that more people are finally starting to see and enjoy my photography.

Experience is a huge factor in what I do. About every six months or so, I'll look back on photos I shot about six months before. And every time I'm blown away by how much better my more recent work is. Whether it's a better camera, a better understanding of my camera, or just plain being better at shooting, I've been consistently improving my craft to the point that it probably should be garnering some more attention these days.

While hanging out at Transmission earlier for the So It Goes EP listening party/video release, a few friends of mine offered suggestions as to how I could go about getting my work out to a larger audience and possibly work towards actually make a living off of it as well. One suggested that I do another gallery show, which is something that I am all for and have always intended on doing again at some point. Though the Give the Gift of Rock benefit show at The Varsity back in December was a great success and raised money for a good cause (The Paul Green School of Rock's scholarship fund), I don't feel like I did as much as I could have for promoting myself as a photographer. Or maybe I did, it's just that I didn't really gain any momentum from it outside of becoming a strong believer in the School of Rock.

So for one, I want to do another gallery showing of my work, and not just as a one-day deal either. Whether it's a restaurant or some other fine establishment(s) around town, I would love to have my work on display where people can enjoy it besides just seeing it online.

Another friend also had the idea of me putting together a book, which is yet another thing I've really been meaning to do. The one thing that's held me back from really pursuing it (besides a lack of funding obviously) is the fact that, compared to national and more prominent local acts, very few people know about the bands I really love to shoot.

Matter of fact, if it wasn't for me shooting amazing-but-unknown-to-most bands like The Debut or Charlz Newman, there would literally be almost no good photos of them. Not because I'm the only good photographer who shoots them regularly, but because I am the only photographer who ever tends to be at their shows regularly. To me they're almost like the "Rodney Dangerfield" bands of the scene, in a sense.

Yet those are just two of the bands I love to shoot in this town. Right now, there are 15 local bands I would say I am completely loyal to, in that if they're playing a show nearby and I can make it, I will almost certainly be there. There are probably another dozen or so bands on top of that I also enjoy and try to see regularly, and I'm constantly discovering new bands through the ones I already like.

Though I've been musically branching out even more lately by seeing more national acts at The Varsity and elsewhere, it's just not my main objective to go out and shoot all the bands that everyone knows, or to try and only shoot the "hip" up-and-coming acts. I believe that when it comes to great photography, it doesn't really matter how prominent a band is or how big the room is that they're playing. What really matters is the material you get, and if your best work comes from bands that people don't really know about, then so be it. I'd much rather see a hundred awesome photos of a hundred unknown bands over a mediocre photo of a huge band any day of the week. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way either.

If I were to do a book on my photography, it would most likely focus on local bands and probably involve some in-depth interviews and insight from the bands, myself, and other people around town talking about what they've meant to me and the Twin Cities music scene. Or who knows what it might be about? I'm keeping all my options open at this point.

So, long story short:

-I take really good photos.
-I want more people to see them.
-I have ideas on ways to maybe do that, like a gallery showing or a book.
-But I want more than just my own ideas involved in this, because I am not a beacon for creativity.

So I ask you, people of the land of the Internets, what should I do, and who would like to help me out on this? All ideas, suggestions, connections, and offers to fund my pursuits are welcome.

Two years!

Today is the 2-year anniversary of my Facebook group, Mike Minehart: Rock Photographer. In that time I've uploaded over 800 photos to the group with a new photo (or two) going up almost every day.

In the past year the size of the group has doubled, and I thank everyone that has invited and joined over these past two years. But come next April 7th, let's see if we can double (or even triple) the size that it's at now. Invite your friends and spread the word that if you like to see some great music photography to join this group.

On top of that, I also have a website where you can check out full show galleries.

http://www.mikeminehart.com/

And like most everyone else these days, I have a few more social networking pages set up for updates on my photography and whatnot.

http://twitter.com/mikeminehart
http://mikeminehart.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/minehartbreaker

So encourage your friends to check out my work and also to join my Facebook group, because it's the only place on the Internet where you're guaranteed to see a new photo from me quite literally almost every day.