I debated a while on whether to post this photo or not.  My feelings for this photo are mixed, as are a lot of the photos I’ve taken.  The trouble is I know how much thought, planning, effort, and technical “try” I put into this shot.  For a studio photographer, these things come second-nature.  For me, this was a PITA – but a learning experience.  The challenge is simple (and easily solved, now that I know how): get proper exposure on the flower without washing out the color of the background.

My debate comes in when I try to separate the emotional (all the work) from the art (all the uhm… art) of the shot.  I’ve sold this photo several times, so apparently at least a few people like the photo on it’s own merit.

I had the pleasure of working with David & Tab on their engagement portraits.  We wandered around for a while that day, and got some fun looks along the path we took as well.  We had several locations pre-arranged for the day, but this was one that wasn’t pre-arranged and turned out to be my favorite for the day.  When I shoot weddings, I rarely pose photos other than the group shots.  I like for the couple I’m working with to be themselves, because after all that’s the only real way to capture their essence in a photo.

Portraits are largely the same for me.  Bad memories of the school photographer pushing us kids into an awkward “chin-up, more left, shoulders back and high, back straight…” pose made their mark: you can’t look natural when you’re over-posed.  When it comes time for portraits, I sit back and let people do their thing; though I do make minor tweaks or ask for a repeat performance when it seems necessary.  I’ve found success in this, even though I know at first it’s odd for the folks I work with to get very little guidance.  Eventually, they relax and fall in step with me, forget I’m there, and start being themselves.

As it is in the photo above, this was one of those moments.  We were walking to a new location, when David reached over gently and grabbed Tab’s hand.  They walked like this to the end of the block, never knowing I was behind them framing and shooting the whole time.  I did ask them at the end of their walk to do a “re-walk” but the photos from that weren’t good: they were posing for me, and even though all you can see in the photos is their hands, you can see a connection in this photo that you don’t see in the posed version.

I haven’t posted a Holga shot in a while, so I decided to go back through some of the “archives” and find some old Holga shots.  This one struck me as perfect to post on Earth Day.

The scene above played out in almost every small town to large city we visited while we were gallivanting around Europe.  Bike racks everywhere were filled to capacity with bikes waiting for their owners.  As far as I was concerned, this was a much better way to travel as I couldn’t even fathom driving in a city like Rome.  Those people make the craziest New York City drivers look like gramma’s headed to Sunday School.

These updates have been too few and far between; I really need to step up my game.

Late last summer, before the leaves started to fall, I visited Washington Square Park with my parents.  I decided to get a “clean” view of the arch – free of buildings and people – but still wanted some context.  This was shot with my trusty 24-70 f2.8, and I do wish I would have shot it with my 20mm, but I didn’t have that lens with me at the time.

This shot is taken from the northern side of the arch, looking south, right on 5th Avenue – which you probably could have guessed or figured out with minimal effort.

I would say dog people out there will agree that a dog truly can be man’s best friend. We, dog people, know what those among us don’t know about the joys of owning a dog: no matter how late you are getting home, how late dinner is, how angry you are at the dog for chewing the furniture, no matter what…  your dog is happy you’re there.  We all love our friends and family, but be honest here: when you tell them “I’ll be home by 7″ and don’t pass through the front door until 10, are they happy to see you?  Nope.  When you roll into the house 3 hours later than usual after work, your dog is so happy he might just pee in the floor from happiness.  And then you’ll scold him for peeing in the floor, but it’s all good to him, his person is home!

Pet people love their pets so much, and pets love their people so much.  My dogs eat better than I do most of the time, and I’m okay with that.  One of them gets a diet of special food for arthritis that costs $45 / bag and lasts about a month.  My other dog gets prescription dog food that costs $45 for a bitty teeny tiny bag, but lasts about a month as well.  Dog walks, special collars, fluffy beds, fur on everything in sight is worth it all.  I love my dogs.

Hank, above, loves his dog too.  The connection between them during this shoot was unreal.  You can see why I chose this photo – they’re so in tune they even are looking at me the same way asking the same question “Are we done yet?”  I was glad to work with Hank on this one, and I honestly think this session is the only way his wife, Amy, convinced him to take some photos with her.  I might be wrong, but I don’t think I am.  All of the photos turned out great, but this one just strikes me.

This is one of my favorite photos I’ve taken in the past few years.  My friend Kailey and I were visiting Portland, OR on a last-minute trip the weekend after Thanksgiving in 2008.

Off-topic: Kailey is the one I blame (only half-heartedly) for causing me to break my right wrist while mountain biking on Silver Mountain at the beginning of the previous summer – July 4th, to be precise… the eve of my birthday.  I got my revenge in the winter of 2008 by picking the snowboarding run, also at Silver Mountain, on which Kailey re-injured her knee.  We made up, but I don’t believe either one of us will ever trust the other when we say, “Come on, it’s not that bad!”

Okay, back on topic.  Kailey and I ran away from Spokane, WA for the weekend to visit Portland, OR, and part of the time we spent orienting Kailey to her new Canon 20d that she purchased from her favorite photographer (me) of all time.  As we were leaving on Sunday, Kailey insisted we go by the Bagdad theater to take some photos.  We started running out of time, but I fired off some shots really quickly, then started helping Kailey.

I took several shots, and also decided to do a 3-shot set to convert to HDR when I got home.  This is the result of that 3-shot set, and I’m quite happy with it.  Unlike a lot of HDR, it doesn’t look completely fake, and that makes me happy.  This could be any cloudless evening in Portland, OR. But, as it is, it was around 2pm and quite bright outside.  HDR is just good like that.

I think the photo and caption say it all on this one.  It was a fantastic afternoon for a post-wedding brunch, and all the people in attendance knew it.

I was going back through my recent photos and noticed that I haven’t posted any black & white photos lately, and it seems like a good time to do so.  Not only is this black & white, but it was shot on real film.  That’s not digital, for the kids out there.  This is a shot taken near Wallace, ID just off the side of the road.  This is a shot I found while driving around aimlessly and just stumbled upon it.  While I don’t think the shot is all that compelling, I really like the story it tells to different people.

There’s no telling how long this tree stood before it gave way to the water that surrounds it today.  The things this tree stump has seen and the way this one stump managed to survive the encroaching waters is a story I would love to know.  As it is, trees don’t talk, so I’m left to make up stories for this tree.  Personally, I think the tree fought and fought to live even in the face of certain death.  Even now, the stump remains as a reminder of the fight.  I rather like that.

For those wondering, yes this really was shot on Polaroid 665 film. 

It’s 70 degrees outside my apartment in NYC today, and I really wanted to post something to reflect what I’ve long missed:  warm days in the city.  Spring is on us, and I hope it’s here to stay.  The trees on my block are in full bloom, the sky is a perfect blue with not even a puff of a cloud to threaten the perfection.

This photo was taken late last summer while walking around with my parents after seeing Wicked.  No matter how many times I see it take place, it always catches me off guard.  While walking around mid-town at some point I start to see droves of people standing around on street corners having their picture taken. Each time I forget that I’m near the Empire State building, and that people are taking their photo in front of the building while they’re still far enough away to see the building.

I’m of course too close to the building in this shot to get the whole building, but I rather like how it turned out anyway.  My parents will be back in town on Memorial Day, maybe then I’ll get some more photos to post.  For now, I’m going back to staring out my window at all bustling streets and blooming trees.  I love spring in the city.

I worked with Kevin (above) and Clarissa (clearly not pictured) for their senior portrait session and I must say I had a blast working with them.  Kevin plays football, wants nothing to do with flowers, and hates smiling.  Clarissa does not play football, loves flowers, and smiles constantly.  The two of them together was a treat, neither really wanting to do what the other wanted.  Instead, I worked with them together first, then worked with them separately to get the photos they wanted, and the photos Clarissa’s mom wanted.  In the end, the photos they used for their yearbook were chosen by Clarissa’s mom.  Kevin was standing next to a wall, lit my sunset light, and uncharacteristically laughing.  Clarissa is lounging in a bed of roses, her favorite flower.

Somewhat surprisingly, the photo above was everyone’s favorite photo, but all agreed (except me!) that the more traditional photos should be used.  O’well.