Photography & Life

Passion and Creativity

As some of you know, I’m also a photographer. A reader suggested writing some articles with a bit more personal information, so I thought I’d write about photography.

Note: images in this article are at reduced resolution to keep the size down (for those reading this via email - this does exceed Gmail’s size limit so you may have to click on “view entire message” or view it in a browser).

In my mind, there is a big difference between “photography” vs “taking pictures”. Having an expensive camera, expensive lenses and expensive lights doesn’t make great photos, but those wonderful tools do help (and are fun to play with).

A few nights ago I started watching a show “National Geographic Photographer”. The first episode was fantastic and touched my passion for photography. The next three episodes were disappointing and didn’t interest me. One focused on the fact that the photographer was black, gay, from Ghana and his religious background. None of that is relevant to artistic photography! It’s time humanity stopped defining themselves based on skin color or sexual orientation. {face palm} The fifth episode, featuring Krystle Wright (no known relation), returned to the fantastic passion of capturing unique photos. Krystle is perhaps a bit crazier than I am!

Nature photography is not my niche, but I do love photographing animals. Photographers have many different styles. Mine involves a lot of creativity and a bit of risk.

Sometimes you have to ignore your girlfriend off to the side, back at the car, who is freaking out because a 3,000 pound bison is walking straight at her boyfriend.

This was shot in Yellowstone National Park. Some people have scolded me for getting within six feet of these beautiful creatures. Yes, it’s dangerous. Bison are huge and potentially dangerous. I definitely don’t recommend risking your life. However, I do have a trust in animals to behave in a predictable way. If I’m not a threat to them, they won’t be a threat to me.

Great wildlife photographers often get very close with wild animals. It’s a risk, but I think it’s worth it.

This is my most popular image and was purchased by a company for using in promotions.

Sometimes having a “long lens” (zoom) is essential.

Not every animal is safe to get close to.

And some are impossible to get close to!

This little guy followed us along the trail for a while before scrambling into this tree to keep an eye on us. Much of photography is patience and recognizing the right moment to capture an image.

Disappearing into the background is an important skill for a photographer. When you are shooting a “stagette party” you want the women to quickly forget that you are even there. No, I won’t be sharing any of those photos.

Lifestyle photos can capture the beauty of everyday life. Here Miss Boudoir MN looks very comfortable relaxing in my red robe.

If you let it, photography can take you on adventures. Taking Stacey to the Mayan Ruins for a photo shoot was one of the great adventures of my life. When you don’t speak the native language, bring a model that does! Stacey was born in Merida (Mexico) and is in fact Mayan, even though she was raised here in Minnesota.

A bit of post processing magic can draw the viewer’s eyes to the subject of the image. The authentic Mayan dress helps too!

Sometimes you back yourself into pitch black, ignoring the bats flying around you, and allow the light to create a bit of magic with your subject. You may notice the sheen on Stacey’s skin, it was incredibly hot (over 100 degrees) that day and climbing up and down ruins worked up a sweat!

Among ancient ruins, time travel is possible to create images of goddesses.

At the end of the trip, enjoying a bit of luxury, sometimes you spot a magical image right from inside your hotel suite.

I could write an entire article about this shoot in the Mayan Ruins. In fact a magazine did publish an article specifically on this shoot, featuring my photography. Yes, it’s nice to have your work published (somewhere other than social media).

Sometimes, extreme cold must be tolerated to get some shots.

Underwater photography is another challenge that I find enjoyable.

Eyes and faces are special to the human mind.

Candle light can be beautiful but presents yet more challenges. Low light photography is a bit of an art, best done with a very good camera and mastery of camera settings.

Some beauty needs no explanation.

Sometimes you discover an inexperienced person who is simply a natural model. When you discover a talent like that, the first thing you do is get her published in a magazine.

Photography can also introduce you to some of the most talented people in the world. Split second timing to capture an image at just the right moment is a critical photography skill. “Poppyseed Dancer” is a talented ballerina and a phenomenal pianist (as well as an international model). Even though my piano is not a particularly good musical instrument, with her playing it the music was incredibly beautiful.

Nature can provide some amazing views. When hot water meets cold water, here at Yellowstone, the result is fantastic.

Yellowstone’s hot springs display a wide variety of natural beauty and intriguing landscapes.

Bringing a beautiful girlfriend doubles the opportunities to turn a vacation into an enjoyable photo shoot. Nature’s beauty is even more enjoyable when you can share it with an inexperienced person seeing such marvels for the first time.

Every woman loves to be a princess. Buying an extensive wardrobe can be a large part of photography.

Cosplay can take quite a bit of wardrobe and props to pull off really well.

Models can be creative providing their own wardrobe too.

Or cosplay might require just a couple items and a prop. Here Angel portrays “Agent Carter”.

Sometimes cosplay requires no wardrobe at all!

Cosplay can also take you back in time to revisit fun shows from your childhood. Here Danielle portrays Jeannie from “I Dream of Jeannie”.

Jails can serve as very unique sets for a photo shoot! Tatiana giving us a look of attitude.

Dancing will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s nice to combine it with photography to capture some special images. Yes, sometimes I use myself as one of the models in an image.

Nasanin Nuri, whom I cast as the lead actress in Forbidden Power, and I enjoyed a nice walk in the park in Seattle before filming Forbidden Power.

Sometimes wardrobe is only rope! Yes, I do shibari too! If you aren’t familiar with shibari, it’s a form of Japanese decorative rope tying.

Often the magic of photography is using light in a creative way.

When not on screen making a movie, some women turn into beautiful cowgirls.

Events sometimes provide the opportunity to capture magical young people (Novalee) speaking out passionately with well known people (Scott Jensen) in the background.

Photos can capture memories of young people who have passed away far too soon.

Many people ask me how I got into photography. You can blame Katie here. When I took her to the Bahamas for a James Bond adventure / vacation, I quickly realized how much women enjoy having their photo taken. Even with a cheap “point and shoot” camera, you can get good photos when you are in paradise.

Unfortunately some of my best photographs can’t be shown here because not everyone appreciates the beauty of the human body, artistic nudity offends some in our culture. I’d rather not give anyone an excuse to kick me off Substack. Hopefully everyone has enjoyed a glimpse of my photography that I’ve shared here.

Hopefully you have enjoyed a brief taste of a small bit of my photography. This took an entire day to “write”, even though I didn’t write much, sorting through tens of thousands of photos to pick a few to share is time consuming! Feel free to suggest other topics for articles! Reader engagement is important to me.