Some of My Seniors Aren’t 70+ (Some Are 17+)

I do a fair number of senior portraits (age 70+) for The Wise Photo Project, but I also make a good number of high school senior portraits (age 17-18), a completely different kind of photograph, but oh, so challenging and creative. So, here are some from a session this week. I get to meet so...

Sisters Portraits: 8×10, Rolleiflex and the In-Betweens

I had a portrait shoot this week with a pair of sisters, ages 15 and 16. I told them to wear fancy formal dresses and meet me at the lake in my town. Their mom drove them over and the two girls had a look of embarrassment and annoyance at being dressed like that when...

“I’M NOT THAT BUSY”

I abhor the way every working photographer when asked how it's going replies, "I'm so busy." Automatically. Whether they are or not, they think it's a badge of honor. "So, so busy."Busy isn't the most important thing to be. A good balance of work and free time is important, not just running from one job...

Making a Series of Film Portraits on Your Terms

Made on black and white 4x5 film, this is the lead photograph from the shoot. I have a friend Clark whose Father collects classic cars and used to work for Kodak. I had never met his Dad, but told Clark that he sounds like someone I need to photograph. And so I did. I brought...

The Gift of Meeting People, The Gift of Photography

Like I said a couple posts ago, the more you go out, the more people you meet. This time I went out to McIntosh Lake with a roll of Ilford HP5 in a Rolleiflex 3.5F to see who I'd find. I always start on the promenade--that's what I call the sidewalk that wraps around the...

My Satisfaction = Photographing Folks Where I Find Them

A photographer friend recently sent me a video link to a talk by a photographer named Adrian discussing photography and his expectation to fail, concluding disappointment was just a part of the process. In the notes of the video titled, The Curse of the Photographer, he wrote, "Photographers might be destined to permanently feel dissatisfied....

Grandma’s Gone With No Portraits To Remember Her By, Just Like in 1890.

I was talking to a woman at a yard sale last weekend and she said the reason she had so many photo frames for sale for 25-50 cents each, is because none of her children or grandchildren want the family photographs—she's moving to a smaller house and thought they'd want to have them. Wrong! She...

200 Photos To Give Away

LaVern Johnson passed away. She was in her early 90s and was the town matriarch of Lyons Colorado. The town held a memorial service in a park that was named for her a few years ago. Since her passing, I had been posting photographs online of her that I made over the years because I...

What You Can Get with an Ask

Sometimes you just have to ask. You might get what you're asking for. I was recently in Urbana Illinois and I thought to look up online if there were any photography exhibits happening locally. I got the first result: Urbana Museum of Photography. Wait, what? There's a museum of photography right in this town? Wow,...

Always the Rolleiflex for an Introduction

I've used a lot of different cameras and of them all, I'd say the Rolleiflex is the one that helps me meet the most people. This trio of photos tells a story. This is Juneau, the dog I was taking care of for three days last week. This is the owner of a cafe in...