Caroline ~a study

Jamie and I spent a little time with our nieces and nephews recently. I was excited about the three or four days we would be with them, because I really wanted to try a few things photographically and they always make great subjects. I wanted to go beyond just making "pretty pictures" and did my best to push myself to not only create photos of the kids, but to create feeling as well.

I dunno. I just have such a curiosity about the vulnerabilities of all humans. We're born innocent. We say what we mean. We mean what we say. We're not afraid to show our emotions. Then somewhere along the way --slowly -- but often quite certainly, we begin to build walls. Rather than admitting our fears, our worries, our ignorances -- we craft a life we think is correct. Often hiding to others the vulnerabilities we all feel in one way or another. We don't always know we're doing it, and I don't mean to imply this is bad -- or good -- it just is what it is. And I am fascinated by it.

If we are lucky, we recognize the boundaries we've built in our lives. We recognize them early enough that we are able to do something about them. I doubt we ever truly overcome them, but I do think we can whittle them to the point that we reclaim some of that innocence that we were blessed to have when we entered this world. But it's not easy. And just as it takes time to build them, it takes even longer to tear them down.

So while spending a little time with my nieces and nephews this week, I decided I would take the opportunity to use them as models. These images are an exploration. An exploration of life. Of childhood. And of my own feelings and curiosities. Children are truly a wonder, and we adults could all do ourselves a service if we tried to be more like them.



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Now, on a technical note. I've had a few questions from other photographers about how these images were created. They were all photographed with a Nikon D200 and deliberately underexposed a stop or two so that they would be a little more grainy and film-like. But the key ingredient, technically speaking, is the Lensbaby. Well, that and not being afraid of a little (or a lot) of blur. The images were then processed in Lightroom using some custom presets, and a few were textured a bit in Photoshop to finalize the effect I was looking for. If you have any questions about how they were created feel free to post them here or email me directly. I'll answer as best I can.

Take care and continue to explore.

~wj