New and improved! Well, it was 119 years ago. That’s the camera that was for sale at an estate sale just north of my town, and how could I pass up this black beauty? The camera came with two lenses, both of the same 1906 vintage. I tried out the Wollensak 8 1/4” f4.5 on... Continue Reading →

For those driving a BMW i7. Making seven figures. Wearing a Rolex. I would like to invite you to consider the value of the highest quality family portraiture artwork–museum-grade professionally framed gelatin silver photographs. A large-format film portrait session is quite similar to these other luxury items. These are fine art images of your family... Continue Reading →

It’s interesting to me how things develop photographically. And yes, I could very well be talking about film development, but in this case, I mean photo projects that take on a life of their own and turn into much bigger projects than initially intended. It was the 4th of July, 2024, and I was going... Continue Reading →

Perhaps you’ve seen with my American Street Portraits project. I love how I can go out in public and find people to photograph and make portraits with a vintage Rolleiflex camera and black and white film that otherwise wouldn’t exist. I get to photograph their joyful faces. Some ask for prints and I gift them... Continue Reading →

My true love is making portraits on film with the Rolleiflex as you’ve seen with my American Street Portraits project. I’ve made some film portraits at weddings recently and they are just as beautiful. There’s a timelessness to these photographs. They get printed and shared with the families after the wedding. For years, I’ve also... Continue Reading →

I went down to Denver to a Sunday flea market and afterward went to Cherry Creek’s shopping district where there was a holiday market to see if I could make some Street Portraits. I had made 12 portraits in Boulder on Saturday knowing it was supposed to be windy on Sunday. These are those street... Continue Reading →

What a thrill it is to be seen. To be chosen to be photographed. That’s the power of making street portraits. People are seen and we get to make portraits of them. Similarly, what a thrill it is to inspire others. To have an impact and influence other photographers. My friend Michael started making street... Continue Reading →

Photography doesn’t need grand ideas. Small stories are all it takes to make successful photographs. I was at Thanksgiving dinner with a friend’s family and their grandson stepped away from everyone else in the kitchen and living room and was in the dining room working on something. I peered in to see what and saw... Continue Reading →

As I previously wrote, I have a portrait studio service I offer to brides and grooms for their wedding guests. I set it up at their reception and make family portraits before the ceremony and during the cocktail hour. But come the wedding ceremony, I have to make photographs. So, I bring along a film... Continue Reading →

I was recently photographing at a wedding of a friend’s son. My friend had asked me to photograph the bride’s and groom’s families in a portrait studio that I use to make beautifully-lit portraits instead of a campy photo booth. It’s a nice upgrade from the silly machine photo booth like every corporate event has... Continue Reading →

I was out photographing portraits of veterans before the start of the local Veterans Day parade in Longmont Colorado. I had used two rolls of Ilford HP5 120 in the Rolleiflex and went to a Leica M2 to photograph some other folks preparing for the start of the parade. These are those photos. Er… Wait,... Continue Reading →

I’ve written about the semantics of photography language before, but I was just listening to a podcast and they were talking about street photography and how some people take offense when their photo is “taken”. And, of course, they went down the road of no expectation of privacy in public. But I was fixated on... Continue Reading →

We are all just one big family! Like this beautiful family I met on Pearl Street in Boulder by the sprinkler fountains and asked to make their Street Portrait. Like all good families, we hold each other tight! Join for a daily bit of positivity: https://www.facebook.com/groups/joyfulpeopleamericanstreetportraits

I was asked to present a program on street photography this past weekend for the Professional Photographers of Colorado’s Elevate 2024 Photography Conference, which was held at an Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Denver. I love to teach and be a part of photography conferences like this, so of course I said yes! I started... Continue Reading →

Every time I go out to make Street Portraits, I tell the folks I photograph that they will be able to find their photograph at the top of the gallery that evening. They get a place at the top. Then, when I make more photos, they move down in the gallery and sometimes I bump... Continue Reading →

For all these street portraits I’ve been making, I’ve created a Facebook group called Joyful People – American Street Portraits to share them on a daily basis. I’ve been making street portraits with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ilford HP5 black and white film and people have told me they make them smile. That they inspire... Continue Reading →

I am quite comfortable going up to people to make the street portraits I’ve been making the last several months. The Rolleiflex camera in one hand and a 4×6 print that has 8 photos on it is almost always a sure win. Just approach anyone and say, “Hi, I use this vintage film camera to... Continue Reading →

What happens when Apple and other phone manufacturers program into their camera phones AI and computational processing to make every photo look the way the masses most want them to look? Because that’s what they’re doing. I was listening to a podcast, Antonio M. Rosario and Ward Rosin’s Street Shots, which I enjoy and they... Continue Reading →

I went to the cinema to see Lee, the Lee Miller biopic film with Kate Winslet that opened today. It wasn’t just to see her Rolleiflex, though that was certainly a draw. I really like Kate Winslet as an actor. She seems like she’s stepping into the shoes of Meryl Street with her ability to... Continue Reading →

I want to be able to print photographs in my tiny bathroom darkroom, but I want to be able to stop and start and still have use of the bathroom. So, I got a couple of covered plastic bins and made it so they fit under the sink so I don’t have to toss the... Continue Reading →

I didn’t choose to photograph this. The image appeared in front of me and the photo was made. I had no choice. Do you believe in the muse taking you away? As a fiction writer, I’ve started scenes for characters with an intention of what I want to happen but as I’m writing they don’t... Continue Reading →

I am leading a street photography workshop today and put together a few notes to share with the students and thought I’d share them with you as well. What is street photography? It’s documentary photography of life in public, whether in a city, a town, a beach, a park, business or school campus, or any... Continue Reading →

There was a Home on the Grange shindig out at the Altona Grange in Longmont this past Sunday, so I went out to see who I might find for my photography project which now has a name: American Street Portriats–Faces of Our Time. I hope to make it into a book, I just need to... Continue Reading →

Sometimes we’re not where we are meant to be. Sometimes, we have to find where we belong. After going to two different locations in Boulder (a Greek Festival and the always popular Pearl Street Mall) and not making any Street Portraits–I wasn’t finding anyone or the ones I asked said no thanks–I was driving on... Continue Reading →

Well, Labor Day found me in Lyons and Berthoud Colorado, two towns outside of Boulder. Which makes this the last post of the summer. Each set is a new group of amazing people I’ve met and added to my gallery collection. I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting them as much as I have. Here’s to a... Continue Reading →

I went back out today. As a photographer, I’m of the mind that there is nothing but the work. Just get to work. When we get to work, we make things. When we don’t, we don’t. So, it doesn’t take much to get me back out to downtown Boulder for more Street Portraits. I know... Continue Reading →

Hey, Monday is a holiday in the U.S., Labor Day. (Which is also the unofficial end of summer!) So, to celebrate the weekend, I made street portraits on two rolls of film. Let’s go crazy! Here I give you the beautiful faces I met, the folks I made portraits for, all down on the Boulder... Continue Reading →

…becomes an ongoing project. I am enjoying making these portraits so much that I know I won’t be able to wrap up at the end of summer even though that would be convenient to say, “There, all done!” [Claps Hands Together} It’s not in my nature to want to stop. I’m not looking to be... Continue Reading →

We had a good opening reception for the Views from the Street Show at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver Friday night. (It’s up until 10/5.) I was inspired to get to downtown Boulder and make more Sunday afternoon. Such great energy with the folks I meet and these impromptu street portrait sessions. Rolleiflex 3.5F & Ilford... Continue Reading →

I was recently on the east coast working a commercial photography job in Brooklyn and added a bit of time to my travels to visit family and friends in New Jersey. While there, of course I had brought the Rolleiflex with the hope of making street portraits. And so, I did. I brought the Rolleiflex... Continue Reading →