About David enjoying a coffee on his honeymoon in the south of France Better Children’s Photos for EveryoneSimply put, my aim is that there should be more good family and children’s portraits in the world. Here’s how I think I can help, in my small way:
It started with my daughterWhen I was a kid the family myth was that I could write and my sister was the visual artist. There was some truth to this – I wasn’t much good at drawing and could definitely write – but it made me think I was visually illiterate for way too long. And this despite loving photography in college, and spending lots of time first with my Dad’s old Practica and then an early Canon autofocus SLR. It wasn’t all bad. I’ve spent large chunks of my working life as a words person, writing books and articles, and designing websites. I still write articles for New Mexico Magazine (only now I photograph many of them as well). Five and a half years ago our daughter was born and I picked up a real camera again (after years with a point-and-shoot). I immediately felt at home, and now photography is an important part of my life and my living. So don’t listen to the family myths. What I shootAs befits someone whose daughter got him taking photographs again, I enjoy children’s and baby’s portrait photograhy immensely, shooting in the kid’s surroundings with natural light to capture something of the child’s real character – not posing them awkwardly in front of a cheesy backdrop. As a journalist, author and storyteller, I love telling the story of that baby, child or family with my work – often in the form of custom-designed high quality book. Clients and RecognitionThe clients I most like working for are parents and grandparents who want some great images of their little ones. The images might not have as wide a reach as published photos, but they mean much more to the people that commissioned them. It makes me happy to think of my work becoming treasured possessions in people’s houses, the way my photos of my daughter have become for us. That said, my editorial photographs have been used by New Mexico Magazine, the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, the Santa Fe Reporter, the Lensic Performing Arts Center, Outside In Productions, Riskin Associates Architecture. I’m also an Apple Certified Pro in Aperture, helping professional and amateur photographers develop effective digital workflows and get the most out of the processing options available in Aperture. In a wide-ranging creative career, I’ve published a book of travel literature, written articles for national newspapers, taught a graduate level university course and designed websites for architects, fellow photographers, non-profits and government agencies. I’m originally from England by way of a dozen years in Ireland, and now seven in New Mexico. Want more?My blog – now entering its 4th year and with well over 150 posts and articles – has lots of tips, stories, images and thoughts on my approach to photography in general, and making images of children and families in particular. It’s a lot of me in one place, but here are some good posts to start with that outline more of what I’m about:
Follow me on:Twitter: http://twitter.com/santafephoto Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clearingthevision Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/wycombiensian |
