Venice Beach Portraits
I was in L.A. for a photo conference, and one of our excursions was to Venice Beach. I was expecting a sunny day at the beach, but no. Overcast, hazy and pretty cool. But that’s not necessarily bad weather for outdoor environmental portraits. I saw this woman with red hair that coordinated with her outfit […]
Charlotte in Mono and Color
In my recent portrait session with Charlotte, I used both my digital color camera and my film camera loaded with black and white to get two different looks. The color images benefit from capturing her beautiful, natural red hair. They’re also much easier to process and alter—which should come as no surprise to anyone who […]
The Magic Trio
I often think of this quote from Alan Schaller when I’m out hunting for street photos: “If you can get the magic trio of a good subject, good environment, and good light all together in one frame, you’re winning.” If I can find a spot where I’ve got two of the three, or am close […]
Back to Film
Like many photographers in my age cohort, I shot film for decades before digital came along. Also like many others, I did some darkroom work back in the day, developing and printing black and white film. But I hadn’t shot film in probably 20 years … before buying a film camera a few months ago. […]
Portrait Session in the Mission
I recently did a portrait session with Kiki in the Mission District in San Francisco. We arrived early, when the streets were uncrowded and we had a clear sky with angled light. I’d scouted some locations ahead of time, and chose mural backgrounds—ideally, without discernible letters, which could be distracting. There’s no shortage of murals […]
