Más Moss

One of the things I love about photography is that I’m never done learning. It’s not even halfway through the year, and already I’ve experimented with a bevy of new elements: double exposures (more to come on that), printing at home for the first time, video, using more expired film, and macro photography.

This set is a combined experiment on those last two bits. I’ve been doing some nature walks with plant-minded friends to capture closeup shots of moss, lichen, and mushrooms (see here and here for more), and recently brought along a roll of expired Kodak Max 400 (expired 2008) to see what would happen.

Expired color film tends to run a bit dark, and macro photography needs a lot of light. It was also an overcast day, under the cover of tree canopies and brush. It could have gone either way. But the result was a series of warm, reddish-toned images that rendered our backyard flora and fauna otherworldly.

Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.

Bulls on the Beach Pt. 2

I’m going to keep the text portion of this post pretty short—you can find part one of this set here for my thoughts on being called a sports photographer and more photos from this event (True Grit Bulls & Barrels Beach Rodeo). I have more to say about photographing rodeos in general but will save it for a later post, so stayed tuned! Thanks for reading, you’re beautiful.

Bulls on the Beach

Describing to someone several months ago what I take pictures of, I listed skateboarding, surfing, and rodeos. “So you’re a sports photographer,” he said, and I was taken aback. I don’t like sports—I don’t play them, I don’t watch them. Sports photographer?

Then I had to concede it’s true—but not just any sports. It’s unlikely you’ll find me courtside at a basketball game or snapping photos of baseball or football. The sports I document are as much about the culture surrounding them as the activity itself, maybe even more. I love an action shot, but I also love capturing the fashion, community, and lifestyle associated with skate, surf, and rodeo.

I attended my first rodeo in 2014, but I didn’t start photographing them until last year. It’s a new pursuit for me, and that’s exciting. All images in this post were shot at the True Grit Bulls & Barrels Beach Rodeo on the Virginia Beach oceanfront, April 15th 2023. I’ve already bought tickets to two more events in the coming weeks, and have at least two others bookmarked for later in the season. Yee-haw.

Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.