Here is a contact sheet from a wonderful San Francisco couple and their Spaniel. You can see that through these 12 exposures (one full roll of 120 film shot on my Hasselblad camera) my subjects are telling their story to me through expression and body language. I add to that light, exposure, composition, and empathy. And together we’ve collaborated on something beautiful and inspiring.

It takes a full roll of film to land upon that perfect moment. Actually, it typically takes many many many rolls of film. Many many many frames exposed before creating the winning image. I photograph through moments, observe quietly, and wait patiently to ensure I tell the most honest story I can. Here is my selection from this one roll:

The interaction between all three subjects here is wonderful and playful. The overlap of hands upon hands, framing of the identical legs, and slightly off-kilter dog positioning makes it a balance of balance and spontaneity that is typical with my style.

Which frame is YOUR favorite? Comment below.

Happy Mother’s Day, mothers. And fathers. We’re all in this together. Here are some wonderful black and white dog portraits I created last summer in New York’s Thompkins Square Park. Beautful light, wonderful people, and that perfect soft feel from the Hasselblad’s analog system. This is real photography.

A commissioned artist must listen intently to every word their clients say. Even small talk. Even the things that seem trivial. In order for me to create photographs that will resonate deeply with another person- I must first gain a sense of who they are, who their companion animal is, and what they value in their life. I do this by simply listening, and giving them the space to tell me stories.

This is Addie- a beloved San Francisco dog. Our Fine Art Dog Photography session took us out to a favorite secret little park near the Marina. I love this park because the light is perfectly diffused, and the garden and grounds have such beautiful texture. I know exactly how my camera will read this light, and how my lense will create the softest fall-off in just the right way, pulling my viewer into dreamy yet location-based images that truly feel like San Francisco.

Something my client made clear was that she wanted an image of Addie on her favorite couch, and an image of her feet with Addie. A unique request which I was excited to take on, as creative challenges like how to include feet in a photograph without it looking trite or cliche are what keep my creativity and camera work sharp. I set up these images gently, guiding Addie and her mom into the perfect pool of light and texture, and keeping everything calm and easy with my attitude and energy. In the end, we created a truly outstanding collection of fine art dog photographs.

The work I create for clients is not about me- it is about them, and about a relationship that I only glimps for a moment. A selfish photographer will hold too tightly to over-done style gimmics, letting their vision cloud their clients’ vision. This is a mistake, I think. I want to be a vehicle for my clients, not a demanding creative voice.

A contact sheet is made in the darkroom by exposing a sheet of negatives to photographic paper very quickly, and processing that paper in developer, stop bath, and fixer chemistry. The end result gives the photographer a physical archive of their negatives, which have now become positives. Small previews for inspection, to help aid in selecting the winning images from a photography session. Below is a detail of a contact sheet from an old san francisco pet photography client.

Deciding which image to show a client is a very important skill for a professional photographer. It is a final creative move that helps guide the direction of each commission. Here you can see that even the smallest variations make a frame feel different from the others surrounding it. My selections are circled in red after very close inspection of each frame with a loup (or photographic magnifying glass).

With every frame I expose in my Hasselblad, I am simultaneously measuring light, focus, and composition. Every detail of that process gets recorded within each contact sheet, and helps me reflect on my ever-developing technique.

After years of being commissioned for fine art dog portraiture, I have hundreds of contact sheets that act as a creative history. I love having these physical objects to revisit, instead of searching through files on a hard drive. In order to select the best images from your photography session, you need to give each frame an appropriate context. Contact sheets give that context a permanence that digital files never will.

I am currently scheduling New York dog photography sessions for SEPTEMBER 2012.

There are a limited number of sessions available, and these spots are filling up quickly. If you’d like to reserve a New York pet photography session, hear more about our New York pet photography packages, or just chat about why your dog is the best- contact us at the studio via our CONTACT FORM.

The Teahouse Studio in Berkeley CA is a place that truly fosters creativity and encouragement. Their classes range from painting, to journaling, to multi-media creations to photography. My day-long seminar was about harnessing the power of natural light for portraiture photography. I brought students through the somewhat intimidating land of camera basics (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length), required them to turn their cameras to MANUAL mode (horrors!), and then blew them away with a few magical demonstrations on reflecting natural sunlight, creating open shadows on a sunny day, and using a bounce card for a little flattering fill light. I love making photography simple, and giving students very simple tools. It’s then up to them to use those simple tools in a creative way. And this group truly took those skills and ran with them. Our final critique was exciting and impressive, and everyone walked away with a new understanding of the magic of natural light. Here are my students hard at work in the Berkeley sunshine:

We ended the day with a critique, where I of course had to talk with my hands a lot.

The following day I met the crew at Photoworks SF (San Francisco’s best source for analog film of all formats, instant film, film processing, scanning, digital prints, canvas prints, and an incredible collection of refurbished Polaroid cameras and Lomo supplies) to teach a class on the new instant film for polaroid cameras: Impossible Project film. Again, we started with the basics- how to load this crazy film, how to ensure strong exposures and development, how to trouble shoot, how to manage the simple settings on your old Polaroid cameras, etc. Then we took a little photo walk to Dolores Park where I set my students free to create their own Impossible imiages. My students did a great job and came away with some strong instant images with great exposures. Here I am proudly holding up a student’s wonderful Impossible Project photo:

Find more classes at Teahouse Studio here: www.teahouseartstudio.com

Find info on Photoworks services here: www.photoworkssf.com

Here is a little video showing some before and after portraits:

Natural light is free, and it is everywhere. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, properly utilizing natural light requires a huge amount of awareness, preparedness, and creativity. All my work is done with natural light on a manual camera, so I tend to be quite a purist when it comes to portraiture. Here’s an example of a well balanced portrait with even light, a nice open exposure, and thoughtful composition.

It is never enough to simply get the correct exposure. Or, get the right composition. Or, get the right light quality. Or, the exact right moment. You must accomplish all these things simultaneously. How!?!, you ask. Well, it’s simply a matter of having a strong grasp of camera basics. Once you become truly united with your tools, you will not have to think twice before creating an image. And this is especially important when creating a portrait. When your camera gets in the way of you and your subject, you’ve created a harmful distance. A portrait subject needs to feel comforted and trusting, and the photographer must be present fully. By fumbling with your camera settings or trying to find your aperture ring, you are putting an unnecessary technical wall amidst that crucial portrait moment.

Be present and be confident in those moments. Know exactly what kind of natural light you are looking for, and guide your subjects into that lighting situation. That is when your portraits will sing with even tones and an intimacy that can only be present when both photographer and subject are open to the moment.

Here’s a favorite image from last Christmas. The depth of field and crispness of the large format 4×5 view camera play together here to form a perfectly balanced portrait. I can’t help but get drawn into the eyes and smile of both subjects.