Close

somewhere between a handshake and two kisses

35 mm

Sometimes you have to look back…

…to see how far you’ve come….

…and to see just where you need to go.

All of these photos were taken at least five years ago… if not more. I am sharing them now because the other day I had to dig through an old hard drive for something, and because I dig through old hard drives the same way I dig through my closet, I got lost looking in each folder. Before I knew it, several hours had gone by and I was still pulling out photo after photo and trying each one on again for size.

Luckily I was able to write-off my nostalgic meandering down memory lane because of my Photo of the Day album on my facebook page. Because I decided to try and post a photo every day, I thought it would be fun to share some of my old favorites that helped lead me to where I am, as a photographer, today.

Sometimes on the roller-coaster of photography, I get lost and insecure about the path I am on, especially as we transition from the blur that was summer, in to the shortening days of fall, and eventually in to the quiet days of winter. The transitions make me wonder how much longer I can endure the uncertainty of photography, with all its highs and lows of emotions and money.

And then, these old photos stand up like long lost friends and remind me that I really have come a long, long way… and if I am lucky then I still have a long way yet to go. They also tell me that if I am smart then I will start using 35mm black and white film again, because there really is nothing like it.

To see more Photos of the Day click this public link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186972&l=719aab5a14&id=43263909756

I want it all…

These days for my family photo shoots I like to offer it all… because why not?

For fast moving colorful moments I use my digital 35mm (click here to see digital samples of the same photo shoot.) While I generally prefer the results of film better, there are lots of benefits to digital. One huge benefit for me is that at the end of the shoot, I know I have some good shots, should anything happen to the film.

But regular viewers of my blog should know by now that my favorite favorite favorite camera is my Rolleiflex… the slowness of the camera can be a burden when trying to catch fast moments, but the results you get, especially when using black and white film, can never be matched by digital. (I have some really beautiful photos from this shoot of her nude silhouette, but unfortunately those are too intimate for the internet.)

And my second favorite (but rarely used) camera is my 35mm film camera… because I can get the deep blacks, the beautiful soft glow and the texture from the black and white film, but I can also keep up with the fast moving attention spans of two-year old children, because the 35mm is so easy and fast compared to my Rollei. So I am happy to have an excuse to pull out my old 35mm and put it to use again.


still learning….always learning

After using medium format all summer…..where the camera is so slow and therefore each photograph is so slow and at every shoot I take an average of 3-5 frames of each person……I forgot how to use 35 mm and I forgot how when you photograph a 6 year old, there is no slow…..but photographing Hannah while I was visiting SF, I had to relearn and relearn very very fast.

marla-07-042web.jpg

Hannah on the stairs is my favorite shot….so I did get a few keepers, but I got a lot of ‘oppses’ as well….but it is so wonderful that Marla, the mother of Hannah, appreciates film and actually requests film over digital, even though it costs more. The quality shows….and I fell in love with black and white all over again.

marla-07-019web.jpg

This was the third time I have photographed Hannah and it has been so fun to see her grow up from a 3 year old with a cast, to a 6 year old, who in her saucy-polka-dotted-halter dress looks much older than she is, until you make her laugh and suddenly her big toothless grin appears and reminds you she is still just a little girl.

To see more photos from this shoot click here.

And again, I have to give credit to my wonderful assistant and boyfriend, Arann, who made many of the toothless grins possible….I couldn’t have done it without him. It is nice to have an assistant who you love and who is good at assisting.

%d bloggers like this: