Photography

Texture, light, leaves, birds, subtext, nuanced body language, contextualization, quirky phenotypes, revelry, my cat.

1) If a tree falls in the forest, and no one takes a picture, who's going to like it?

2) Alright. That's a dystopian oversimplification.
This tech-mediated dopamine hack works partly because many of us are fundamentally wired to exist communally or codependently to some extent, like the one-winged, one-eyed jian bird of lore. Photography enjoyed nearly a century of being one of the most literal ways to share a moment with someone who could not be present.

3) Take it from an amnesiac: Memory is seriously fallible.

Existentially:
1) Most of all, what I learned is to exist fully in a moment without the need for anyone else to see it or understand. The impulse may still exist but less frantically than before.
2) Microexpressions are the windows to the soul.

Technically:
1) Unless you're Herzog, everything is darker than you think.
2) Bring a reflector and a friend.
3) Prime lenses teach good instincts. For the ablebodied & ambulatory, legs are your zoom. Walk deeper in, where traversible, and you often get the better shot and the better understanding.
4) When parsing the filmroll, rank your photos in black and white to assess the quality of values & composition before assessing other factors. It will quickly narrow down the best shots.

Professionally:
1) Don't take a gig for less than $150 unless it's for your grandmother or mom and you like them.
2) Hire an assistant.
3) Your clients hire you. But you also hire them. Figure out who you want to work with and find them. Then you'll rarely have a bad day.

Sometimes your sky clips. Sometimes your shadows fry. These are preventable. Sometimes the sun won't cooperate and the baby has colic. These are navigable. Never have I met a photography obstacle that is truly insurmountable, aside from the failure of one's own faculties. Each failure is a lesson in resilience and better preparation. It's an idyllic trade for the restless, relentless and adaptable.

If I can't get your shot, who will? Some sith lord from a satellite? No. Diane Arbus? Weegee? Man Ray? Okay, maybe.

This is what I do best, and I'm great at it.

I don't know, I lost track. I got some publications, won some contests. Whatever. Exposure bucks. Not the point.

• Lots of people came and went as per the nature of the business, but longstanding were:
• Adam — my assistant.
• Zoe — I was her assistant, for a year or so, before going full time at my own company.
• Attention Seekers — I did some of their set photography.
• SOU — Did event photography for the International Studies program and the Digital Media Center
• Klamath County Public Access Television — Covered local events.