You Don’t Have to Smile

I often tell that to my portrait subjects--no need to smile. I'd prefer they were being themselves rather than putting on the smile mask that we all learned to wear as a kid via "Say Cheese". There's nothing wrong with a genuine smile, but asking for it, or having them turn it on, I find...

The Wise Photo Project Expands

Big news. I've had several people contact me about creating portraits for The Wise Photo Project now that I've announced I've opened it up to photographers everywhere. And today I see that just that has happened. There were two photographs made and posted on our Facebook group page by photographer Mark Smith working in Aurora...

2005: The Year Photography Changed

It's interesting to me to see how things change. When I was in school we had text books and notebooks. Students today have Macbooks and iPads. We learned penmanship and how to write and diagram sentences. Do they even learn that now? When was the last time anyone had to write a letter by hand...

Part II – Rolleiflex Street Portraits in RiNo Area of Denver

The RiNo section of Denver is a hip new area full of brewpubs and eateries and lots of hipster types. That's not why I took my Rolleiflex there, but because the Denver Month of Photography is going on and I wanted to visit some of the galleries with current photography exhibits. After I parked the...

Kenneth Wajda’s Leica (Why it Matters to Me)

The other day I wrote about Ralph Gibson's Leica and why it matters to him, what shooting the Leica versus any other camera means to his way of working, and why once he started with the German brand, he never left. So, I was ruminating about my own workflow and how I use Leicas, but...

Adding a Chair to the Portrait Studio

For The Wise Photo Project, I've photographed people either standing or sitting on a red Victorian couch in my studio. So, when it became time to add a chair, I looked to Berenice Abbott for inspiration--she had a favorite chair that she posed people in and so, I went out looking for something similar, something...

Here’s To (the Gift of) Good Light

I received an email from the Chimera company the other day, a photo and video lighting company which is based here in Boulder, and they said they read had my story in the local paper about The Wise Photo Project (which you can join and I hope you do), and they wrote they would be...

The Wise Photo Project Goes Worldwide to Photograph Sweet Wonderful Old Faces

It really started kind of small in Kenneth Wajda’s Boulder Colorado commercial portrait studio back in 2015. He advertised an open studio on Mondays in the local events listings for seniors age 70 and over to come in and get a formal portrait made at no cost, figuring that was his slowest day at the...

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...

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...