How I Can Afford to Make The Wise Photo Project

I photographed Margaret, a lovely 98-year-old woman last week in my studio and will gift her a framed 12x12 portrait this week. How am I able to gift photo shoots and framed portraits at no cost to seniors in The Wise Photo Project? Easy, through commissioned portraits--when people commission a portrait, they know that the...

Happy Holidays: Buy Film, Make Art!

Happy Holidays to all my friends and family who let me photograph them (it's not an unusual occurrence!), sometimes in good light and sometimes in good shadows. To all my readers, viewers, listeners and subscribers on my various channels--here, YouTube, and my podcast--I'm thankful for all of you. Cheers to a great 2021 and as...

What is a Photograph Worth?

A conversation blew up on Reddit this week with people asking how can a photographer justify high prices for photographic prints. Which got me thinking, does the proliferation of "everyone has a camera" nowadays, does the cheapness of photography mean that there's no room for experience and quality anymore? No need for high-end photographers? Are...

Creative Withdrawal The Day After

Do you know how when you go out and splurge on a meal that's chef-prepared, how it's a bit of a let down the next day when you find yourself heating up a can of soup at home? (Even Amy's, a good organic soup, it's still a can of soup!) Or you get to visit...

Finding The Joy, The Creativity That Stops Time

I had a photo shoot this week for Yellow Scene Magazine, a local Boulder news and feature magazine, and was sent to an artist collective that opened to support empowerment and creativity, and to photograph its two owners, Jessica and Jessie. It was very creative. When I began, I immediately had an idea for a...

I Was Once a Gunslinger

It was the Spring of 2004, I had just moved to Colorado in 2001 and was living in Canon City which sits just 12 miles from the famous Royal Gorge Bridge overlooking the Arkansas River turned into a theme park. At that time, there was a second attraction that sat next to the bridge--Buckskin Joe,...

Not Trying to Be the Fashion Police But…

I offer a free portrait session in my studio every Monday for senior citizens age 70 and over as a way of creating a formal portrait in a sea of phone snaps and because I think it's important to document them in a formal legacy portrait, photograph them looking their best. LOW RESPONSEI've been offering...

No Reply At All

I was listening to Genesis' song, No Reply At All, and it reminded me of one of the toughest thing about being a photographer--when you reach out to someone with a special photograph and they never respond. And there's no reply at all. There's no reply at all. There's no reply at all. No reply...

Honored to Have Made His Portrait for the Family

Sadly, Mr. Momano passed away this past Sunday. Graflex RB Super D, a 4x5 SLR I met him only once when I was out using my new-to-me (though made in the mid-1900s) Graflex RB Super D, a hand-holdable 4x5 SLR camera with a 190mm f5.6 Kodak Ektar lens. (This is the same camera that Dorothea...

So Lucky Photography Isn’t Only A Job

I always have a camera with me. So much so, people expect it. When people expect it, they don't worry about me making photographs, that's the norm. I'm always lifting up the camera--that's just what I do. That's a lucky position to be in. I get to create memories and document the lives of the...