The farmhouse is nestled in the hills near Pendleton, Ore. After a lovely drive down there, I arrived to find a beautiful old red barn and the grandfather saddling up a horse under the awning of a wooden grain elevator.  Oh my! This was going to be good.

The place was amazing, and frankly these images are only the tip of the iceberg. I could have gone on and on; however, a two-year-old only has the patience for so many photos. But hey, at least that leaves me with plenty of places to photograph in the future.

It was such a pleasure, too, photographing the grandparents. From the top of his Stetson down to his silver rodeo belt buckle, and starched Wranglers, the grandfather was a true cowboy through and through. And his wife was such a lady. They met in College in California. He was there for the rodeo team, and she was a young debutante. It looks like he was pretty good at roping because the rest, as they say, is history. It was such an honor documenting three generations on their family farm.

Why am I talking about this? Well it’s probably because looking at these family images is making me realize how much my shooting style and workflow has changed over the years. You’d think after having been a photographer for so long, these both would have been set in stone, but, in fact, this was far from true.

This family below was one of the first I photographed after I left the newspaper and started my own business. I still really love many of the images from that session, but looking at them you could almost think it was a different photographer who had taken them. Of course I still had the story telling images and the family interactions (I am a journalist after all), but four years ago open shade, back light, sun flare, and reflectors were hardly even in my vocabulary. A photojournalist doesn’t modify what they are photographing, they work with what they have. Maybe you throw in an off camera strobe, but really it’s just about capturing the moment, and anything that slows you down or changes the scene you are documenting is a big no no.

In many ways becoming a portrait photographer has freed my inner artist. I’ve had to learn a lot to get to the place I am now as a photographer. I am still telling the story of a family, but now I’m no longer held to the rigid hands off standards of a hardcore photojournalist.  This has changed everything from my shooting technique to my post production imaging. I have been using Photoshop since it was practically invented (I probably just dated myself). But while my color correcting skills where top notch, I didn’t have a clue on how to use all the tips and techniques I do now. I had to teach myself everything from Lightroom to skin tone plugins to RAW conversion. As a newspaper photojournalist I would have been fired if I changed the color and tone of an image or added a texture. Now it’s an integral part of what I do every day.

Yes I am still a photojournalist, but now I’m also an artist. It will always be about the story, but now how the story is told is up to me.

That’s it, I’m moving to Dayton!!!

OK, now for the next perfect family session…I’m thinking hot air balloons, and elephants…and trained bears dancing on circus balls, and cotton candy, and……….

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

- Jim Valvano

A happy, happy Father’s Day to all of you amazing father’s out there. And because words can not always express a father’s love for their children, just a few of my favorite images.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: Let’s Hear It For The Boys

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Enjoy!