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fuji superia Personal

happy first day of summer!

it’s finally here.

film look daisies summer flowers

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Personal

2012 – personal reflection + a collection of my favorite work

self portrait with Mamiya 645 Pro captured on Tri-X and self developed

Up to Now

2012 has indeed been exciting. I’ve spent much time this year redefining my artistic vision, exploring a vast array of different topics of study in the sciences as well as the arts, self-developing over thirty rolls of film, and in the latter part of the year, deciding how to begin to add high quality cinematography services to the package lineup.

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film Personal portraits

dreams

This image marks an important checkpoint in my walk as a professional artist. Just before I made this image, I had an amazing explosion of pre-visualizations take place in my mind’s eye. I’ve had similar experiences before, but this time, I finally felt able to direct the model [my wife], to act out what I was thinking. With very specific words, I explained the feeling that the photo should have, told her how to lean her head, where to place her hands, and adjusted everything in little increments until the image in reality and the image in my mind lined up perfectly. The awesome part is, I had spot metered on her face, set the shutter and focused before any of those artistic thoughts took place. I was prepared.

dreamy girl on swing kodak try x self developed by Virginia Wedding Photographer

Another awesome aspect of this image is that I metered, set, visualized, executed, developed and scanned all in one afternoon. There’s just something special about self developing black and white film, especially when the images on it are fresh! It’s an amazing experience watching the images roll out one by one while unwinding the reel and hanging the strip up to dry. I foresee a lot more of this in the future.

This image is titled “The Power of a Dream” not just because the mood is dreamy but because it is a dream of mine fulfilled. Years ago, I knew I wanted to eventually make images like this and I think my confidence level is finally catching up. I certainly don’t plan to become vain in any sense, as all vanity is doused by this being the only awesome image on the 36 exposure roll [in my opinion]. But this result speaks to me with much volume: if you have a dream, chase it. Be responsible while you chase it, but don’t let it get away. I have had my eyes set on becoming a better photographer and I truly feel like I am growing every day.