lot of travel lately

I have been in a lot of airports lately. This morning was particularly beautiful in Reagan International. And with a longer than normal layover in Chicago, I just kept shooting.

Johnson Family Portraits

To be honest, I am not sure if the first time I photographed the Johnson's (see that here) was easier than the most recent two years later....because now the boys (and adults) know me and I have less of the "be good for the strange man with camera" behavior. Now it is more of the "poke Matt with a stick to make the kids smile" trick.

But it is fun photographing good friends, knowing the lives and stories I am trying to capture, and knowing how fast they have grown up, makes it feel like an intimate family excursion. Proof that I am "part of the family" came when a passerby offered to take our picture so that I could be in the photo too.

just returned from honduras

more to come, but here is some of me, and then the photos I took at the same time...

stretching myself simpler

Over the weekend, I headed out to a familiar wooded area to stretch myself.  I took a lens that I usually love to hate, and decided on pushing myself into a creative corner of simpler compositions.  I walked into the woods at a very slow and contemplative pace for 45 minutes, but when I ran out it only took 3. It was an interesting exercise that surprised me in the results.

so many seniors

This has been one of my busiest Senior Portrait seasons yet.  And it is awesome.  It is interesting doing this many; I was able to get an interesting selection of personalities, shyness, adventurousness, outfits, settings, willingness, and silliness. Because they were all within a month it is easier to compare them.  It was also a stretch to think of unique settings, poses, situations and moods for them all. It would have been fine to do all the same stuff with all of them but it was fun to try and create shots that were representations of each of the seniors...plus where is the fun in trying the same things?

camping with a little one

I know, the point of this blog is not to tell the world how cute my daughter is...but I get one post every once in a while.

She loved her first camping trip, and more importantly it was a great time to rest, relax, recuperate, focus, see nature, and all that stuff.  This was because we DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!

It was very restorative and it came at a very needed time in the summer.

 

In the spirit of doing nothing, I even limited my photography. Obviously, I shot some photos, but only what I saw; I didn't go looking for images or on photo walks. I even limited my gear to 1 prime most of the time.

Yes, I know, there is a lot of my daughter in all these...but that was the point of the vacation, to rest and spend time with my family outside.  (And she protests less than my wife when it comes to being in front of the camera.) 

I want to remember moments like this with her.