western Canada

back in April, i had the opportunity to shoot for a production chemcial company in the expansive province of Alberta (i mostly hung in Flame territory, but did venture up into Oiler land a couple times). i thouroughly enjoyed the trip & it yielded massive photographic opportunities. i stumbled across an image of McDougall Chapel outside of Calgary in the outakes at JPG. it reminded me of an image I shot last spring (far right, for those who don’t click on links).

in digging it up, i stumbled across a couple more images from that trip that have never seen the light of day – so, here you go. promise fulfilled.

oakley

it’s commissioned portrait time & i’ve been going non-stop trying to get everything that’s been shot processed and delivered. the pace has been rather refreshing, actually. and it’s reminded me of a few things i love about what i do.

i fancy myself a portrait photographer first and foremost. it’s a remarkably difficult thing to make a portrait. i confess to failing to achieve what i set out to do on most occasions. when you’re working with adults, it’s quite difficult to get them to put down their guard and reveal something about themselves in an honest way. they’re always trying to dress it up for you. it’s not that way with kids. they don’t know they’re supposed to hide anything, to suck in or puff up.

more often than not, kids just are who they are.

meet oakley.

i first photographed oakley when he was only 6 weeks old (left) and again, a couple weeks ago (right). i love the honesty in his eyes in both these images. i love the way he seems to be waiting for an answer to a question he can’t quite ask yet.