"Unique" Lauren

"Unique" Maggie

After a hiatus, I am glad to be back with the "Unique" series. Here's Maggie.

Union Rescue Mission in Print

This past November I worked with the Union rescue Mission in Los Angeles..here is the link:

http://scottstreble.blogspot.com/2009/11/los-angeles-and-union-rescue-mission.html

Here is one of the photos being used. I love the "You Are The Mission"....so very true.

St. Paul Academy

A few images from a shoot I did at St Paul Academy this past week. A favorite client of mine where I just need to stay out of the way and let the teachers and students do what they do. (That, and be ready to shoot)

"Edmund"

My neighbor, Edmund, came into the studio today for a photo of himself with his coveted Irish Pipes. (He owns 3 sets) He had previously shown me some historic photos of pipers he wished to emulate so we went that direction. Edmund is a fun guy, and the pipes sounded great in the studio.

In the early days of photography, the photos were very deliberate & formal, because of the difficulty in making them. I felt like I was cheating to have the modern luxuries of digital capture and instant feedback. I didn't have to go into the dark room to coat a glass plate. Instead, I ran to the computer and banged of a 17x22 archival print that Edmund took with him. Crazy stuff.

Photographic Rewards

Today, I received a kind message from Heather, who participated in my "Unique" Series.

Scott: Working with you changed many things for me - the pictures you took were amazing. People who know me say they are the first ones they have seen that show me "as I am". My daughter especially loves them. (not bad for someone who hates to be photographed and avoids it ... I participated in the project partly to "prove" to myself that I could do it ...) The session gave me a new sense of confidence and new sense of who I am .. it has helped me move on and make some changes that were long overdue. Thanks for listening to my story and for taking the time to photograph me. I wish you only success in this project and all others ,,,, Heather

As I plug away making photos, I forget the effect that images can have on people. This is a nice reminder.

After some time away from this personal project, I am going to restart it again. If anyone knows of a possible candidate who is unique (everyone) please have them get in touch with me to schedule a free sitting.

Prairie View Heights

Well it has been a long time with no posts. Just busy with the holiday madness. Personally, I am glad we are on the other side of all of that and getting back into some sort of routine.

I spent a few hours today doing portraits of some of the residents of Prairie View Heights which is a Good Samaritan facility. It is an on-going project, where I am attempting to create portraits for people who wouldn't normally have them done. It's been my experience that these photos ultimately become very valuable.

Today I had to cajole many reluctant people into sitting in front of the camera. Either they have had bad experiences with photographers in the past or they didn't think they looked good...which is unfortunate. To me these people are beautiful.