After an assignment today I drove around Bethlehem. The colors were beautiful everywhere today and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to capture some of the beauty. These two trees caught my attentions…one fully given into fall and one still holding the colors of fall.
I should mention that fall is my favorite season? And at least I will get one more season before moving to Phoenix…where seasons don’t seem to exist.
A little tale from which you might glean sound advice but is really more a recount of my family's head-butting preparatory measures of welcoming someone into our house to capture our final moments in this place we call "home."
As our move date to Minnesota gets closer, I have become more steadfast in my attempts to capture moments spent in our home.
Along with some fall portraits, my clients wanted some photos in their house as well, which was a beautiful backdrop for some family photos.
I had an amazing session with a family in Quakertown. They were so much fun and just wanted some really candid shots. We used all the leaves in their yard and really took advantage of the beautiful fall day.
My business is finally picking up and I have gotten my first few appointments set up for portraits (AHH!). This shoot above was the first child portraits I have done in a long time, at least a year. I forgot the challenges that go along with getting a good photo of a kid. It’s not easy and I have sympathy for all of those children portrait photogs out there. But I guess with more practice the easier it gets.
About a year ago I worked at Portrait Innovations for a few months and we won’t go into how much I hated working there, but looking back I learned some valuable lessons about being a photographer. I found out I wasn’t a studio photographer (the walls literally felt like they were closing in on me) but I also learned how hard studio photogs work. From a news photographer’s view, it’s work, but capturing a candid moment is now where near as hard as setting a scene up. And the type of portrait work I do is more on the candid side than anything they do at Portrait Innovations. (Also, it’s 100% less tacky, but we won’t go there.)
This other shot below is also one of my favorites from the shoot. I actually caught it as we were walking back to the car…you never know when an opportunity will arise…always have a camera ready.
Sometimes you just find something beautiful growing from destruction.
Along my walk today through Easton I found this flower just peaking out into the world from behind a broken and beaten fence. I couldn’t help myself, I had to take a photo.
Recently I acquired my own column in the Express-Times Sunday Morning section. I have always had a great deal of respect for writers and never thought I would see anything but art of mine published in a newspaper.
I have a love for old buildings and am quite the history nerd. So, I talked with the editors about doing a monthly piece with photos from old buildings in the Lehigh Valley. Maybe some captions with history, or explanations about architectural style or something small. Well, after the conversation, I realized my enthusiasm might have gotten me in a little too deep. I had agreed to not only give them a photo but to also write an entire article.
I am currently on my third “Reflections of History” piece for the paper and am in love with it. They have given me full control of over the piece which has given the creative freedom I was looking for in order to get all my nerd out once a month. So far, we have had a good response to the column and even some community involvement with giving suggestions for future places.
I could only hope to become a better writer by doing this…and maybe even write a few more feature pieces. But for now I will keep my title as photojournalist.
Here was last month’s piece: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment-general/index.ssf/2012/08/reflections_of_history_barrier.html
And can you guess where this month’s feature will be? http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment-general/index.ssf/2012/09/reflections_of_history_where_h_2.html
My assignment yesterday was very reminiscent of the “show off your ribs” contest I covered a few months ago, luckily everyone had their shirts on for this one though. If you haven’t seen the other contest definitely check it out here, I received the title as “the new low for the Express-Times” for the horrible photo that was placed online. Now, I will have to say it was the subject matter and not the quality of work that got me the title in the newsroom, but whatever the reason, I am still quite proud of my title. This assignment was much less hairy, if you want to say, but a guy in a chicken hat? Who could resist. And the fact that this got front page just tickled me pink this morning. The only comment I have about the contest…I don’t want to eat wings for a long time. 
Clearing ones mind is done best with a camera in hand. So it was another day, another solo adventure through the depths of Pennsylvania in search of something beautiful. I made it to Kutztown, Pennsylvania and then turned the GPS off. The roads I got lost on were nothing short of a photographer’s dream.
So the other day I was driving and decided that I needed to see something beautiful. I drove until I got to a road that said I needed to take a fairy or turn around. So I parked my car and explored for the afternoon. I mostly just stood against the railing with my face pressed against the wind coming from the water. I miss the water. I need to adventure someone else again soon.
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