A Lack of Color.
Iconic.
I’m pretty sure I never blogged this image, but it’s easily my favorite image of all the film shots I’ve made. If not the fave, definitely in the top 5. I use it as an icon on numerous places, notably here.
The story behind it is kinda fun. He was 6 (I think) at the time. He’s gotta be more like 12 now. Anyway, I was testing cross process and deciding how I liked it. His mom had come in to the Darkroom (remind me to tell you more about Martha’s Darkroom sometime) to pick up some prints she’d ordered and I asked them both if I could take his picture. It wouldn’t be the last time I got the chance, but it would definitely be the best.
Anyway, they agreed and we wandered down to the corner of 2nd Street and Main, in downtown Richmond and very quickly snapped off a roll (12 images).
He wasn’t at all mad. In fact, we had to work to construct the look on his face. Got him to cover his ears, open his mouth really wide and squinch up his eyes…
Still, I love this shot.
And Strrrrretch.
Something Different.
I didn’t, as a rule, shoot weddings.
They’re high stress enough knowing that some bride might take my head off because I missed some moment of her special day that I thought wasn’t interesting enough. Moreover, wedding photography has become focused on a photojournalistic style and I tend to like having total control of my images. That’s something I have to relinquish to capture the joy of single moments. There was a time when only some photographers shot this kinda stuff. Everyone does it like this now.
Despite all that, when a friend for whom I’d done some baby portraits awhile back suggested that she knew some folks who was searching for a photographer for their special day, I was intrigued. Y’see Angel and Roger aren’t getting married. They’re committing themselves to one another.
To be sure, this isn’t the first same gender wedding (’cause c’mon, that’s what it is, innit?) but it’s the first in a long time and the first for which I’ve ever shot engagement photos.
We met up on a rainy Saturday and Joe came along to assist. Roger complained of having a cold so he had some trouble smiling for all the shots, but it wouldn’t be for a few days that we’d find he had walking pneumonia.
Against all odds, we got some pretty neat images, I think. I’m really looking forward to their ceremony. It should be a hoot.
Oh! Hello, Doughnuts…
Can you ever really be sure when something miraculous is gonna happen?
I mean, a plate of soft, fresh, glazed doughnuts could show up while you were sitting in the park, minding your own business. Couldn’t it?
As long as the confection-fairy is around, you’ll never know.
The Reception Out Here.
I was working with Joe last week on some concepts for headshots for a local branding company. One of the ones we played with was how to make a receptionist’s image more interesting than the standard boring company headshot.
We’re still waiting to hear back from the client if our concepts worked, but the idea of blowing the dust off old standbys is appealing.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.
After he fixed my bike, my friend Cary showed me around his house.
Y’see, when he’s not out riding bikes with the cool bike-race set, he’s a contractor. He builds things in people’s houses to make the houses pretty and raise their property values.
And he’s good at it.
Heck, the space he nonchalantly refers to as “The Bike Shed” is really a man-cave of the highest caliber.
Anyway, he asked me if I’d be interested in shooting some of his projects from time to time. I was all for it so when he suggested I start with some shots of the killer living room he’d put into his house, I was thrilled.
This is one of the ones from a hurried 1 hour session earlier this week.
I’m looking forward to working with him on more projects as the opportunities arise.
The Catering Job.
My son was christened this past weekend and my wife hired some local caterers to do the food. The setup was so pretty that I had to shoot a few images.
This was not the first time I’d shot images of food. A notable other time was here. I find its harder to shoot do without natural light, but it’s still an interesting challenge.
One of my favorite photographers had this to say about shooting food. And I think she’s right. And besides that, “pie-ness” is a killer word. (grin)
A Reunion, of Sorts.
When I left Pentax to come to Canon’s range of DSLRs, I was actually coming back. The first autofocus camera I’d bought years ago was a refurbished Canon Rebel X from eBay.
After having shot a Minolta SR-T 201 beforehand, it was a revolutionary step. It was like trading in an old Volkswagen Beetle with holes in the floorboards and getting a Lotus Turbo Esprit . I loved it.
I think I still have that body somewhere, but I managed to dig up an old Elan II body that I’d used and threw some of the new lenses I have on it during a recent trip to the playground.
I was goofing off, as photographs of my daughter often tend to be, but due to the lateness of the day, I managed a couple of interesting images.
I didn’t bother to clean the dust out of this ’cause I think it lends it a little more honesty. I’d forgotten how easy it was to love 35mm film. I think I’ll be taking the film camera out more often.













