Family (Father & Son) Shots

I love to photograph people- especially people that I love! What started out as a professional/client relationship turned into a friendship that I now have with Isaac and his awesome and adorable son Javin!

Isaac was impressed with my work and believes in my creative eye as a photographer and an artist which I truly appreciate. Some people don't always recognize the thought that goes into art- let alone photography. In the twenty first century, with cell phone cameras, the art and value of photography has sadly diminished in many people's minds but I continue to stress how important photography is because it captures the world around us so perfectly. A few hundred years ago, people would sit still for hours as a painter captured their likeness on a canvas; to have a portrait of oneself or one's family was something treasured and almost sacred. When photography was created in the 1800's, it eventually took the sacred act of artistic creation and elevated it to a level of realism that made the artists job not irrelevant but more demanding. Being able to shoot a camera and capture an image was and is so easy that anyone with a working trigger finger can do it, however whereas a painter was someone talented enough to create one's likeness with paint, the artist and now photographer has to take the convenience that a camera provides and work to display the artistry of the craft through lighting, posing, composition, styling and editing.

Most of the necessities for creating photographic art are taken care of when you have subjects as great as Javin and Isaac! For one, their love as father and son is clear to see in person and just as evident in photographs. When everyone is comfortable and the vibe is naturally positive, naturally great photos will almost create themselves- especially insofar as poses.

Shooting in the Ross Dock Picnic Area in Fort Lee, New Jersey we were given a scenic backdrop of New York City and the George Washington Bridge. Even though it became an overcast, gloomy day and eventually rained, the muted, natural light allowed for a subtle glow that studio lighting rarely achieves; nothing is better than god-given natural light.

Composition is of the utmost importance when shooting photography. It's all too easy with digital cameras to shoot first and think later (and sometimes that actually is the recommended method, like when photographing very lively and uncooperative children) but to keep the shoot short and sweet, ideas should be fully thought out yet still have a concise execution; making for higher quality photographs overall. Quality is always more important than quantity and one perfectly composed picture will blow a dozen haphazard shots out of the water. When shooting one subject, they should always interact with their surroundings and/or attire and be posed in a way that feels alluring yet natural. When shooting two or more subjects, they must work together. Even if the subjects stand on their own and aren't touching or really interacting with one another, if they're in the same photograph, they are like two pieces of the puzzle that have to fit into the picture so they still have to make sense together.

"Like father, like son" is a good saying to be true when the style and attitude is served like this. Styling is just as important as composition and is actually part of it. Styling is like cooking, when you have a bunch of ingredients and how it's going to taste, or how the photograph is going to look, all depends on how you mix and cook the ingredients. When the ingredients include an Urban Backdrop, a Black Dodge Charger, Leather Jackets and Ripped Jeans and two fierce male models, it's actually hard to mess it up but still exciting when it comes out right.





To show variety in the facial expressions is really what it all might come down to. As the eyes are the window to the soul, they are truly the center of any portraiture. Every other element of the art could be on point but if the eyes and expression are off, nothing else matters. It's exciting to me as a photographer when a subject can go from mugging fiercely like a high fashion model to casually relaxing and smiling naturally. To model is in line with the work of an actor and goes to show that when the models are successful at their job, they are just as much an artist as the photographer.