Here Comes the Flood, Save the Photos (What Photos?)

Last week, Hurricane Ida tore through New York and New Jersey and one of the towns that was hard hit was one I used to live in, Lambertville, New Jersey. It's a sweet river town situated beside the Delaware River just north of the Capitol, Trenton, and across from its more famous neighbor, New Hope,...

Saving Faces (Or Not) in the Modern World

It's difficult to imagine, but for most of the time humans have walked the earth--117 billion humans since the dawn of time; there are 7 billion on the earth presently--there was no way to save the face of a loved one. People lived and died without ever having a way to preserve the faces of...

The Camera In Hand Makes the Photograph

Which camera inspires you to make what type of photograph? There are times when I carry a small Leica IIIg with a tiny 50mm f3.5 or Leica II with its 35mm f3.5 collapsible lens in my front jeans pocket because they make me feel good having a small candid camera always at the ready, and...

Street Portraits on a Nothing-Happening Street Photo Day

What is is about street portraits? They can be a great way to create photos in public when we're not finding street documentary moments that are catching our eye. Especially if you see some interesting characters and faces. I define a portrait as one where the subject is aware of the camera and is connecting...

Radiating Youth with a 70-Year-Old Rolleiflex

I've always enjoyed photographing people's stories, making street photos and portraits of people I meet of all ages. I have a project dedicated to creating legacy portraits of older faces, The Wise Photo Project, but that doesn't mean that is the only age I photograph. I recently was out with the Rolleiflex and a few...

Portrait Magnet: A Dandy Rolleiflex T Dressed to the Nines in its Gray Leather Suit

I carried with me a Rolleiflex, held high in my hand with my elbow bent to keep it at chest level. No strap. No case. Just the Rolleiflex. It's a model T, a later model that is a bit of a dandy of a camera, dressed to the nines in its fancy gray leather suit....

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...

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...