Family gatherings have become more important to me as I get older. As we drift apart physically, we try not to emotionally. Weekly telephone conversations, text messages, and social media keeps us updated on each other's lives, but the energy changes when we are all in a room together. We don't need those devices to help communicate. We use our faces and pauses to read each other in a way that feels telepathic. We finish each other's sentences and burst into laughter with a simple glance. Those moments remind me that we are family.

So this year, we were able to reunite for Labor Day. I knew I had to do a photo shoot; something naturalistic portraying us in our current state, because soon that will change with relationships, marriages, and eventually kids. Our family will expand, so I wanted to capture us here and now.

One of my favorite photographers is Annie Leibovitz. I am consistently studying her images, lighting, and style. Her use of Oliphant canvas backdrops inspired me to try painting my own. I hated it at first because it looked nothing like an Oliphant backdrop, but my roommate and sisters liked it. After shooting with it a few times, I've come to accept it not as an Oliphant substitute, but as my own creation; loving it the way it was made.

I also brought some vintage cameras with which to experiment. One of my favorites is the Polaroid Land 250. It's a medium format camera using instant film. One of the benefits I love is that I have a unique picture printed instantly. I can't color correct, retouch, or fix it. It's all done through the camera based on the photographer's skill.

Before I left Atlanta, I finished my first pack of Fuji-100c color film and wanted to experiment with a black and white pack for the family photo shoot. So, I went on ebay and bought some expired Pola 667 which ran for about $30 each, which I knew was expensive. But if the results were as good as the color pack, I knew the purchase would be worth it. Indeed it was.

I love the results! There were, what seem to be, light leaks due to either improper positioning of the 501A Portrait Lens Kit or due to improper squeezing of the expired film through the rollers. I love how the "mistakes" frame the faces and complement the composition. They're almost like angelic wisps surrounding each person.

One of the challenges of this camera is composing and focusing the shot, especially with the 501A Portrait Lens Kit. During my experimentation with the color pack film, I noticed that neither the outer frame or inner frame in the focusing window were completely accurate. The subject would end up skewed into a corner. It wasn't incorrect by compositional standards, but it wasn't what I had intended. With that in mind, this time around I tried first composing according to the inner focusing frame, then looking at the subject in relation to the lens. I had much better results. The subjects were still skewed to the corner at times, but it made for a surprising and interesting picture every time. I love the contrast and tones of the Pola 667. I look forward to experimenting again with the second pack.

Thank you for reading my first blog post! Feel free to comment below and share it with others. If you have any questions or things you would like to learn more about, let me know and I'll be sure to include it in my next post. Contact me if you would like to book a session!