This month my work wore on me hard.

You know when things kind of become monotonous, and you start losing interest in your work? That was me this month. Between trips to the ER for asthma and wedding planning, I’m just tired. I still love my job, but sometimes we have those periods in our career where we just feel a lull and everything feels a little heavier. February wasn’t without it’s high points.

NEW LENS
Glenn purchased a new camera, a Canon 6D, and while we were shopping, I found a used 85mm prime lens for $275. You’re dang right I bought it! The 85mm prime is great for portraits and I personally like them for wedding receptions. I like that they are compact enough to haul around on the camrea without it getting too heavy, and that it seems to fit my shooting style in terms of focal length. What I mean by that is for where I typically stand in relation to my subject during the reception, it tends to frame the photo exactly how I like it. It’s not too close, it’s not too far, it’s just right. For clients it means that I’m going to spend less time framing my shot and fiddling with zoom and more time shooting their wedding.

Barely in the door and there’s already cat hair on it.

THE VOIGTLANDER AND THE MINOLTA
I found them. What’s the big deal, you ask? In the words of one of my favorite TikTokkers, “that’s a great question I would love to tell you.” My dad is the one who got me into photography. He studied photography and photojournalism in the 70s at the University of Iowa. He had a love for photography and as a result he had some pretty dang cool cameras. The one he did a lot of his work on was a Minolta SRT 101. There is an electrical element out on it, and I’m going to try to get it fixed so I can start to learn some film photography.

The Voigtlander Prominent is a funny story about me being outsmarted by a suitcase. My dad kept the camera in an aluminum suitcase, which he padded out with foam and used for his camera. Well even though I’d opened it once and it was fine, I somehow forgot how to open it and thought it was locked. Well I screwed around with it and pop! It opened. And there was the Voigtlander. My dad said it still works, and I know there’s still film in it. I just don’t know how to rewind it. I want to develop it in hopes that I can have some of my dad’s work. And then I want to see if I can shoot on that camera as well.

DIANE ARBUS VIBES
My personal work is evolving. It’s getting a little more raw, and I like that. Two years ago raw to me was a photograph of my messy ass desk. Like, “Oh look how much of a wreck my desk is. Creativity is messy.” That’s true. And my desk usually looks like a weird clusterfuck of mismatched junk. But its not the most honest picture of my life. You know what is? Having such a shit day that you sit on the toilet and drink a beer. It’s a little darker picture than what I normally put out there. I had a day like that this month.

I couldn’t tell you what I was stressing about, but I polished off a cold one while I used the toilet. As I reflect on this shot, I think about where I was at mentally and why I wanted to take this photo. I think it was because it wasn’t a clean Insta-perfect moment. It was ugly. But it was real.

I think when taking images like this with Arbus as an inspiration, I have to remember she didn’t photograph the people she did to be edgy. She photographed the people she did because she truly saw people. She saw people’s stories in the lines on their faces. She saw honest and unfiltered people. To me that’s really a vulnerable place to be not just as a subject but as a photographer. It’s this intimate space that you have to be prepared to honor. You don’t just use your subjects for an edgy photo. You connect with them, you see them, and you honor them in that space. If I’m going to be that subject, I need to make sure I honor myself in that space and not use myself just for an edgy photo.

Also if you’ve never had Queen Bee from Remedy Brewing in Sioux Falls, SD you must go up there and try it. It’s a delicious beer.

THE END OF THE LULL
So, last Saturday (2/26), I got a message from fellow photographer, Ben Easter. He asked if I could second shoot for him. I about died. Ben is an extremely gifted photographer and he’s done work for some pretty big name clients (NYT, Obama for America, Delta Airlines, to name a few), so I’m pretty humbled that he asked me to work with him on this project. I am jacked for this. It’s a career moment, as I have admired his work and him as a person since I’ve known him.