A long, winding road has been my journey as a photographer. I started taking pictures at 13. My family, our poodle, and all my friends were my early subjects. Fast forward many years later, and I’m actually preparing to become a professional photographer. So while on vacation, I took portraits of my little cousins. All the grownups were too busy LOL. And I wanted to get used to my brand new Contax 645 medium format film camera.
Taking classes while teaching myself
There were no online communities or classes or chat rooms. No IG, or Facebook, or Pinterest. I took in-person photography classes, all on film and I read extensively about photography. The art form, techniques, and the early days of 35mm photography were my obsession.
I would go and spend hours at the bookstore in the photography section, going through books. Looking at the work of photographers who were considered “masters”. I always came home with some gems and I still have some of those books today.
Family snapshots
These are my 2 little cousins, indulging me for a few silly moments. I taped a plain white bed sheet on the wall and composed these portraits. I was in my Richard Avedon stage 🤩 Now these girls are young adults, out in the world doing their own wonderful things ❤️
Portraits of cousins on film
I was about their age when someone first gave me a little film point and shoot camera. Do you take photos of your family? Do you shoot with a film camera? Or your cell phone? These were all captured on real film, using a medium format camera. It’s incredible when I think about it, but I’ve been doing film photography ever since I was about 8 years old.
Let me know if you’d like photos of your little ones 🙂
Here’s some more great portrait entries: portrait portfolio, NYC High Line portraits, Dressing Kids for Portraits, and Central Park portraits