A short preamble:

I have spent most of my life making pictures of one thing or another. My poor parents, I snagged my dad’s Kodak Retina when I maybe ten years old and started wasting his hard earned money on film. I got serious about in JrHigh(thank you RuthAnn and Fr, Smith) and then chose it as a profession in the Navy as a Biomedical Photographer.

I started out in photography a bit like Garry Winogrand, just being curious about ‘how things would look’ in a photograph. Also, my eyesight is poor(I am very near sighted..) and by making a photo I could see my subject with clarity and sharpness. Photographing ‘things’ turned into photographing places and eventually of course, people.

Oddly, (to me anyway), being in control of the lighting/posing/setting/wardrobe etc for shooting a portrait involves a greater degree of difficulty than going out looking for scenics or landscapes where none of those elements are in my control. Choosing a location, setting up the lights and creating a composition is like solving a three dimensional puzzle and it is a very fun challenge for me.

I have made portraits for forty-plus years of folks from just about everywhere, formal bridal portraits, informal outdoors, formals in the studio, high-key/low key, but my favorite has now become the environmental portrait. I love seeing people in their favorite environment, doing what they love. It is so gratifying to me, to do what I love, photographing people doing what they love too. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is just the best.

This is Lynn Young.

Not quite a mountain man although he did have a career with the Forrest Service traipsing around the Big Horns Mountains of Wyoming. Having retired he now pursues his passion for music, teaching all ages in a several different instruments. To see him, and hear him play, you would have to think the fiddle is his favorite.
I met Lynn at a bluegrass jam in Buffalo Wyoming and he kindly consented to let me make his photo. We set up near the front window of the famous Occidental Hotel and in between tourists and guests passing through the lobby we managed to make this image.
And by the way, he really is as entertaining and good natured as he appears here.

Charles “Gatewood’ Brown.

Another musician.
This is an example of what happens when you just take time to talk to people.
’Back in the day’ when I lived in just outside of D.C. I met this guy, I don’t remember where or why but we struck up a conversation and got around to chatting about various past times. He mentioned that he played the sax. I told him I was a photographer, and we agreed to make a photo. He came by the studio and as soon as he sat down in front of the lights it was clear to me that a simple elegant black white pic was gonna be the right call.

Peter McLaughlin. In bluegrass music no introduction or explanation is needed. From his home in Tucson to Spokane, SanDiego, and Nashville he is well known and respected by his peers. And no wonder, he is a past winner of the prestigious National Flatpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas. He travelled for years with Laurie Lewis, he is a wonderful song writer and has released many albums of his own as well as albums with the ‘Sonoran Dogs’. At home in Tucson he has won about all the local awards the music community has to offer and is in the Tucson Musicians Hall of Fame.
He is also generous with his time if you are a fellow picker and need a pointer or two. Or in my case, a photographer who wants to invade your home and rearrange the furniture!
I am grateful to Peter for his music and for finding a couple of hours for me to drop by to make this portrait.

You can learn more about Peter and his music here

And sometimes you just get lucky!

I saw a woman roll up to the local Harley dealer on a beautiful Softail and I asked her if I could photograph her bike. In retrospect it was a pretty easy question because most HD owners are pretty proud of their scooters and will pose for a photo in a heart beat!
Anyway, she and her hubby met me downtown in this alley and I spent an hour or so getting the lights in the right place for this image.
It’s not always about the people, but mostly it’s about the people.

One of our many jobs as Biomedical Photographers was making Officer portraits for their official service record. I took this job very seriously as the photo was used as part of their review for promotion.

This is Dr. Ghosh, US Navy Captain and a fine human being. He put up with all my tweaks and adjustments and especially the manipulations I had to do with posing and lighting in order to keep the glare out of his very prescriptive (if that’s even a word) glasses.

How about you? Want to make a photo? Let’s get started!  Contact me here