Personal work: It's Spooky Season!!

Now, I am the first one to admit I hate being startled. So Halloween growing up was a little rough. I’m also fairly introverted so the idea of going up to a stranger’s door, knocking on said door and yelling “Trick or Treat!” still makes my face hot. But I still LOVE Halloween. I love the decorations. I love seeing people’s creative costumes. Pumpkin carving and candy and making spooky treats. The cooler weather and just happiness that just kind of floats in the air. It’s all wonderful.

So when I was asked to do a spooky season themed holiday shoot with an old friend I JUMPED at the chance. And I think we hit it out of the ballpark. It’s cute. It’s funny and I am so unbelievably excited about how the images turned out!

Stay broke, Shoot film, my friends.

Personal Work-- They really are GREAT

I finally got to visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park ! I have wanted to visit this park for AGES. I’ve driven past them many many times. Driving up to them in the very early morning (I left my campsite at 4am) was stunning. I could see them at the base of the mountains but I didn’t believe those were SAND at first. I thought maybe they were just smaller foothills…. No…. They’re MASSIVE. I hiked all the way to the top of this ridge (after the sun was too high in the sky for photos), entirely barefoot. Just as dreamy as I imagined they would be. Definitely one of my favorite parks. It’s always a little risky bringing only film with you on trips, but these turned out exactly how I imagined them in my head.

There's just something about water.

You know? There’s just something about water that gives your soul a hard factory reset. It’s just magical.

Austin Family Photographer--Just roll with it

Sometimes, shoots do not go as planned. In this particular case, I was a total dingus and ended up needing to shoot the entire session on my Hasselblad. Which normally I would have been thrilled to do, except that it was an unexpected turn of events and I wasn’t all the way prepared for it. Luckily, the universe was gracious and so was this family. They were sweet and funny and very fun to photograph and made me feel less anxious. I took a deep breath and tried to roll with the punches and it paid off. It was worth the anxiety and fire ant bites.

Austin Family Photographer--Quick in-home film session

I called up Courtnie on Saturday afternoon and asked her if she would be game for having me shoot a couple of photos of her and her daughter on my 4x5 camera. I’ve been really getting into using my 4x5 lately and wanted to photograph some people this past weekend. 4x5 is a slower process than most. You have to make sure everything is in the right place and secured down so it doesn’t move. You have to be meticulous about making sure you don’t miss any steps— or you might totally ruin a $10 sheet of film. But the payoff is so so worth it. I’ve tried to avoid large format in the past simply because it’s different from how I’m used to shooting film, but the more I use it, the more I want to use it.

Austin Fine Art Photographer--Something a little different

I’ve been trying to shoot more with my 4x5 camera lately. Thinking up mini-projects for myself. This past weekend I thought I had totally ruined some film while on a solo photo adventure. I was really upset with myself and annoyed that I had messed everything up— And honestly pretty sad about it and definitely pouted the rest of the day. HA! But I got the film processed anyway.

Never underestimate the beauty and resilience of film. Even when I thought I had messed up royally, the images came out dreamy and whimsical. Not what I imagined at ALL. But I love them anyway.

This is just one sample of what came out of that morning. The fogging on the film came from the heat and humidity provided by an early Texas summer day.

Sometimes the unexpected is a real treat.

Austin Portrait Photographer-- Fine Art personal work.

You know, I genuinely love making photos.

Creating and making pretty things is just…. so satisfying.

Remind me to shoot more 4x5 film when I can.

I can never quite get enough.

Austin Portrait Photographer-- New Film Project?

The more film I shoot on my Hasselblad, the more and more my love for film grows. Digital portraiture is just not the same.

Single Frame--A Trip to Cajun Country

Took a few days for my birthday to head out to Lafayette, Louisiana! I spent my birthday last year in New Orleans and LOVED it, so going back this year was a much more low key but equally as fun adventure.

Ate my weight in great food, toured the Tabasco mothership and got to pet a baby alligator!

I’ll post more later but for now…. a single frame.