At the end of the day I'm a storyteller and I like writing almost as much as I like capturing moments with light. Here are a few of my favorite write-ups, captions for lack of a better term, I have some written on instagram as well but I'm often frustrated as I write too lengthy of "posts", here I can write as much as I want :)
My stories...such as they are
At the end of the day I'm a storyteller and I like writing almost as much as I like capturing moments with light. Here are a few of my favorite write-ups; stories behind the photos. Many of these I have posted to instagram in the past as well, but they kind of get lost in the feed and it's hard to read lengthy posts. Here I can wax on about the stories and the intricate details of photography. Hope you enjoy a bit of what goes on behind the lens!
Story #1: Maria
This is the first 35mm photograph I ever captured. Ergo, it holds a special place in my heart. I had just recently purchased my first film camera, my trusty Canon AE-1 Program, and was eager to take my first photos. My good friend Robert showed me the ropes: we went to the local film store together and he proceeded to steer me towards a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus 400, a timeless classic for black and white film lovers. We then walked close by to where my sister worked at the time, a champagne and oyster bar in downtown Anchorage. You can see that I captured the exposure moments before she pops a bottle, I was most likely using a shutter speed of 1/60th or 1/125th of a second. It was my first foray into film photography, and needless to say I was hooked, even before I dropped my film off at the lab (seeing the photographs and negatives felt like a bonus). I was set upon a journey to capture that perfect photo: a subjective and bizarre pursuit to be sure, but I think it's one that many artists know well. Perfection can't really be attained; rather the pursuit of perfection, learning, and simply trying to master the craft. I'm still on that journey.
Story #2: Edmundo
I met Edmundo my first day in Mexico. ’Twas my favorite kind of serendipitous travel interaction, I just happened to walk by his store and needed (wanted) some food and coffee (he had both). He’s a super cool dude. We talked about travel, art, and our shared love of Europe. He lived in Prague for several years. It turns out he also enjoys film photography and showed me his Olympus that he found thrifting in Prague. He shot a roll of b&w in Prague and showed me a cool street pic he took. If you find yourself in Zapopan, definitely swing by his establishment. He makes killer coffee and crepes. Hasta la próxima vez mi amigo.
Portra 160, Olympus Stylus Zoom
#filmfriends #filmdiaries #Mexico
Story #4: Stranger in Sayulita
I can’t remember this man’s name but he was friendly and very curious about my camera, we chatted about it for a while. He let me take his photo (he was a little impatient). A very brief interaction, but I like to meet and chat with people even if it’s briefly, rather than just taking their photo.
Story #3: Ale
Color positive film can be tricky but I really wanted the colors to pop in Sayulita, and it renders skin tones very nicely. Ale was gracious enough to be a model with her lovely piel canela. Contrasted with my pale sunburnt skin jaja. Ale is a salsa dancing maestra (that’s one of her secrets for staying young). She showed off her country very well, helped me order my first real Mexican tacos, and introduced me to café de olla which is amazing. She knows how to properly relax and enjoy the Mexican sunshine. She had to tell me “No te preocupes” more than once, I tried to learn from her positive attitude.
Provia 100F, Canon Canonet
Story #5: Jose
Jose knows how to sing and dance and have a good time in proper Mexican fashion. We didn’t hang out long but it was a pleasure to meet him and his wife on the Tequila tour. He’s from Tejas (Texas) so once again it was super cool to chat with someone who can speak both Spanish and English with a perfect accent. I was also able to capture a few portraits of him and his wife.
Story #6: Jose
In the truest form of Mexican kindness Jose bought a total stranger sunscreen because I ran out of cash. He also showed me some underground Reggaetón by more obscure artists that aren’t easy to find. I think this photo captures him and the town of Tequila quite well. It might be my favorite photo I captured in Mexico, especially since it took me by surprise when I saw the film scans.
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Story #7: Rebeca
Rebeca was my unofficial tour guide in Mexico City, which worked out great because she went to Uni for tourism. My Spanish was just good enough to communicate (most of the time). Unfortunately I didn’t have much time there and Mexico City is massive; I didn’t even scratch the surface but I did make it to the photography museum and Bellas Artes. She showed me some cool streets near the middle of the city, a great restaurant for tacos, and a fun bar for dancing. I had just enough light to capture this, I think I shot it wide open and at 1/60th. It’s probably still a bit underexposed but it gives a glimpse of how cool and fun she is. Photo credit to Rebeca for the photo of me at the photography museum.
Ilford Ortho 80 Plus, Canon Canonet
#filmfriends #filmdiaries #Mexico #staybrokeshootfilm
Story #9: Matt, Kevin, and Eric
Story #8: Gabo
Gabo instantly destroyed any fear or trepidation I had about visiting Mexico City. You hear stories about muggings or dirty cops, but thanks to him I just have a great memory of meeting a cool dude who helped me check into my airbnb. A truly kind human being who embodies joy, you can tell he spreads happiness without even thinking about it. Sadly we didn’t get to hang out but he reinforced what I already knew about Mexicans being kind, hospitable, and helpful. Kindness is a universal language.
Highlights blown out again and there’s a bit of a scratch on the film.
Ortho 80 Plus, Canon Canonet
I met Matt, Kevin, and Eric when I was camping last summer. They kept my beer cold while I paddled around the lake and I shared some Austrian rum and moose hot dogs with them. Super cool dudes, I definitely need to visit Philly at some point. I love meeting new people, I try to go out of my comfort zone as much as possible to do it, especially when I’m traveling but in this case they were the travelers. It’s the next best thing to traveling itself, I really enjoy chatting with visitors to Alaska. I can’t remember the story behind the cake but this is one of my favorite film shots from last summer, Kevin said it “captured the moment perfectly”, and I have to say I agree with him on this one. Kevin is a pro photographer so we nerded out about gear for a little bit, and each got a photo of each other with my camera. He has since gotten a film camera, welcome to the club Kevin!
Story #10: Crusty Boyz
Early April crust ski with Adam, Jon, and Nield (not pictured). This sometimes happens once a roll only with my Canon Canonet; an advancement malfunction that turns into a partial double exposure on both frames, a serendipitous discovery that has yielded good results so far. I love the laughter in the first frame, Adam is still getting his ski legs but I taught him well and he had his new film camera at the ready even when he fell over!
Story #11: Hillarie and Alexa
Definitely one of my favorite spontaneous photo shoots to date, and one of my favorite memories from this summer [2022] so far. I only had a few shots left on the EOS650 and was playing around with an obscure expired color film stock (“Superior 35mm Color Print Film” from Mystic Color Lab which was strangely enough located on Masons Island Rd in Connecticut). I do like the way the colors turned out but honestly Alexa and Hillarie saved the day; these were my favorite photos from the roll. I felt like I stumbled on to a magical moment between friends and I just happened to be there with my camera. Thanks Hillarie and Alexa for being fun models and not caring about getting dirty with railroad grease. We kept joking that Alexa looked like she came out of a coal mine afterwards.
Story #12: Pasang
Pasang embodies “mi casa es tu casa” hospitality. Well in this case it was more of a “my dorm room is your dorm room” type scenario. Since I couldn’t get back to Austria during 2020, he housed a lot of my belongings for over a year and then let me stay in his dorm room when I finally made it back. Pasang was one of the first friends I made in Austria. We hit it right off since we have similar hobbies like biking and hiking, and he’s just cool, really fun to be around and easy going. Also a very hard worker and future engineer. He’s a recent photography enthusiast himself and the proud owner of my original Canon 6D. I can only hope one day he’ll “level up” and start shooting film ;). To quote Pasang himself when I showed him some of the Europe photos I captured on that trip, “Film really gives soul to the pictures”. The first two pics on this post are the very first photos I ever captured with my favorite camera, which got inaugurated in Europe and it was fitting that Pasang was my first “victim”. We’re definitely gonna do a long hike in his native country of Nepal one day. Super looking forward to that.
Story #13: Micah
I met Micah while backpacking in Hatcher Pass, he heard me blasting Bad Bunny and asked if I spoke Spanish. To which I replied “un poquito”. I was outgunned because it turns out Micah grew up in a Spanish immersion school since kindergarten; he speaks amazing Spanish with a flawless accent. We hung out a bit in the mountains that night and the next day we both learned to avoid cow parsnip while hiking in the hot Alaskan sun. Luckily he doesn’t mind hanging out with older people so we’ve hung out a good bit since then. Here we are a year later and it’s coming full circle. Today Micah and I are flying to Miami to see Bad Bunny in concert. We’ve also created some Spanish music of our own, just not ready to drop it on the world yet. Fun facts about Micah: He’s an amazing freestyle rapper. He doesn’t skip leg day. Suavamente with the ladies. A future engineer. Former TikTok star but was recently on a social media hiatus (there is hope for Gen Z). Bright future ahead for this “young lad”! This photo is Micah on his birthday a few weeks ago with his birthday present, a “new” Japanese 35mm SLR (I think he’s excited to test out his first film camera in Miami), it’s a beautiful camera. Update: he did capture some amazing photos, including a portrait of me which is now my favorite.
Story #14: Tony and the boys (Little Havana)
Tony and the boys playing dominoes. Tony is the one standing smoking the cigar, we didn’t chat for long but I learned that he only recently moved to Florida from Cuba. We didn’t get into specifics but it sounded like he much prefers actual Havana to Miami’s little Havana. Makes sense. He seemed happy nevertheless and was very friendly.
The street lamp definitely saved this photo since daylight was almost gone and I was shooting with ISO 50 film. Shot it wide open and honestly surprised it came out as good as it did, I thought it would be even more underexposed.
Velvia 50, Canon Canonet
Story #15: Micah and I in Little Havana
Well it’s not my typical travel post showcasing locals, strangers or new friends, but since most of my black and white roll came out disappointing (nigh unusable) this trip, it makes these photos extra special. It felt a bit silly taking portraits of each other but in the end I’m glad we did, because these easily turned out to be the best on the whole roll. And since they were a part of the journey, they might as well get the full portrait story treatment like I would give any other portraits. We took these photos in a side street right outside Mr. Cigars which is, you guessed it, a cigar store. We visited the day before and chatted with the owner (Mr. Cigar himself presumably?) who was super friendly, and he suggested we come back sometime in the morning if we wanted to watch the man who presses and rolls the cigars. We did exactly that and it was super cool to watch him work his magic. Unfortunately this photo was way underexposed due to the super low ISO film I was using. Taking a new film stock on a trip may have been the wrong time to experiment, but hey that’s how you learn. This was the lowest speed film I’ve ever used, and as I learned, also very unique. The photos, even when exposed properly, turn out crazy rich and contrasty. These are the only frames where it truly shined and highlighted the aesthetics of this particularly interesting German film. Props to Micah for making me look cooler than I ever have. It was one of those serendipitous photos, Micah timed it and composed it great, highlighting the texture of the marble wall which I didn’t really even notice until he mentioned it later. Okay back to the story. Turns out the only thing Mr. Cigar does better than make and sell cigars is make killer mojitos. You get a free mojito with the purchase of a cigar, and I honestly have to say it was the best deal we got the whole trip. Micah and I don’t smoke but I purchased an extra cigar aside from the one I bought as a gift, and well…when in Little Havana. Not a particularly exciting story but that’s it. We enjoyed the sun, laughed as we tried to smoke, and drank our delicious mojitos.
Story #16: Leo and Andrea
Leo and Andrea were gracious enough to model and be the last exposure on the unique film roll. They’re from Venezuela but have lived in Miami for a little while. We didn’t chat long but they were super cool and friendly. My Spanish was flowing decently thanks to the boozy slushy and luckily they understood me. Being outgoing isn’t always easy for me, but it’s always worth it; meeting people and making the human connection. Strangers might just be friends you haven’t met yet :)
#filmfriends #nuevosamigos #miami
Story #17: Steve and Camila
“Made in Medellín”-J. Balvin. Well at least Camila and the relationship were. They’ve got a great (and funny) story that I’ll probably mess up, but basically Camila saw this hunk of an American dude when he was in Medellín and the rest is history. For not having known Steve and Camila that long they’ve become dear friends. They’re a real power couple. Both engineers. Entrepreneurs. But they also know how to have a good time (see photo for evidence). I captured the cabin photos right after Steve told me nonchalantly, out of the blue, “oh yeah, we got married like a week ago”. No time like the present for an impromptu photoshoot. Serendipitous that this roll was my first time purposely pushing film, which allowed me to take pictures in the dim cabin light sans external flash. CineStill 800T is apparently designed to be pushed 2 stops, or at least performs well when you do so. After the cabin trip I told them we needed to do a proper photoshoot for such a momentous occasion…and that we did. A few weeks later in my “studio” we had a fun photoshoot, it was a hybrid shoot so lots of digital photos were captured, and I also captured a few on different film cameras. You can see my favorite photo from that session in the "Couples" page, a black and white medium format shot. It’s just so smooth looking, I guess thanks to the low speed film, high resolution, and studio lights!
Story #18: Bob and Cuckoo's Wedding
Bob and Cuckoo’s wedding was a magical weekend in Girdwood in September of 2022. I’ll try not to write another novel, I think it’s evident from the photos that everyone had a great time. I brought two different film cameras and was able to capture some of the fun while still having a bit of fun myself (yes there was a hot tub on the roof). Here are some of the greatest hits.
Story #19: Hugo and Maria. 5 November, 2022.
This one was obviously special since it was my sister’s wedding. My wedding present to them was buying some nice film stocks and being less conservative with my shots. They already had a professional photographer so I just tried to capture some behind-the-scenes moments and not get in the way too much; I came away with a few exposures that I’m pleased with. I kind of wish I had brought an external flash but I was already lugging three film cameras and lenses around Europe…
Story #20: Bilbao buddies
Bilbao buddies. Well technically new friends from Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Spain, and more. First shot is of Glenn while we were near the ocean just north of the city. It being late October the water wasn’t that warm, but we all jumped in nonetheless. Glenn is very athletic; he was heavy into parkour in a past life and demonstrated some flips for us (see 2nd pic). Now he devotes his athletic prowess to quidditch (yes, apparently it’s a real thing). I took some photos of Elvira and Jorien on the beach as well. They were all so cool and friendly, despite me not speaking Dutch.
Story #21: Pulse Café
Cafés are probably my favorite places in the world (aside from mountain tops). And not only because I love coffee; maybe it’s partly due to my dream of being a writer and spending even more time in cafés. To me they signify a place where one can simply relax, converse, read a book, and watch the world go by. Slow down from the daily grind (no pun intended). The act of walking around and stumbling upon a new café, new to me at least, is magical in and of itself. Coffee is sometimes just a bonus to the ambiance. When you can sit outside on the street at a café it takes me back to Europe. So amazing. And when you can get a pastry, coffee, and beer at the same time…game over. I’m sold. Yes, Pulso Café had the holy trifecta! I stumbled upon @pulso.cafe in La Roma and immediately loved it. I asked to take a portrait of two rather stylish dudes on the bench outside and one of them happens to be the owner. Brian is on the looker’s right side of the bench, looking very zen. He was very nice and has cool tattoos.
Story #22: Ale
And let’s not forget Ale. She tried to act natural and not smile for the portrait but she couldn’t help it. She’s just a naturally happy person. I was able to visit Pulso again and Ale helped me out! She gave me some pills for my stomach bug (traveling isn’t all sunshine and rainbows). Ale es muy padre. Her English is better than she’ll admit. She makes a mean coffee, and even let me pull a shot while she took a photo. Deftones is her favorite band. She also has some cool tattoos. Can’t wait until the next time I visit and drink some more coffee, maybe another “combo breaker”, quite delicious!
Story #23: Gissel
Gissel showed me almost all of the major landmarks around Puebla, it’s a really cool and colorful city. I still need to see Cholula during the day, apparently it’s spectacular. She has a great sense of humor, is a huge fan of Coldplay and the beach in her native Acapulco. Thanks to her I got to try Pulques (super delicious), another type of alcohol specific to Puebla (delicious), and Chapulines (not so delicious). Gissel has an amazing, infectious laugh.
Story #24: Sarah
Small world. I met Sarah in Mexico City far from her native Deutschland, and I found myself once again brushing up my rusty German in Mexico. She was sick at the time so we basically said “hallo” and that was it. However, by sheer happenstance our paths crossed again, and when we went to add each other on social media we saw that we have mutual friends. Sarah is also friends with my friends Sarah and Janik, who I studied with in Austria. We were both shocked! So crazy. Unglaublich. Sarah is super fun, she has a lively personality and also a great philosophy on life and travel. It takes courage to take a sabbatical and travel the world solo. You also have to be a bit spontaneous which was great for us; she joined our day trip to Xochimilco on a whim (and also watched her first Super Bowl). In typical European fashion she’s trilingual: speaking amazing Spanish and English. Sometimes a mixture of languages happened which we had a good laugh about; we coined some new phrases such as “it’s totally vale la pena”. After her sojourn in CDMX she continued on her epic six-month-long world traveling journey. I think she was about 2 months into her trip when she reached Mexico, not even halfway! It’s been fun seeing her updates, never knowing what country she’ll be in. Right now she’s on the last leg of her journey, soaking up the sun in Spain. I plan to ask her for some tips if I ever do a South America trip :)
Story #25: Government Peak Climb
June 3, 2023
This summer (if you can call it a summer) has been unusually cold and there was actual fresh snow (not a dusting) on the top third of the mountain a day or two before the Government Peak Climb. In June! I wanted to capture the dichotomy of racers (sometimes shirtless) with shorts on running through deep snow. I played with some different colored filters which is a common practice for black and white film, most notably the red filter which increases contrast. Took a few telephoto shots as well until my hands got cold when it started snowing at the summit. Huge shoutout to the people who built the snowman.
Story #26: Kumpels
Ich habe in Frankfurt Maxi und Jan kennengelernt. Ich hatte Glück, sicherlich, für mein Hostel Mitbewohner. Sie sind sehr cool Kumpels und wir hatten viel Spaß gemacht. Wir waren alle müde vom Reisen aber mit Hilfe von Max wir waren sehr Spontan und hab nach eine Konzert gegangen. Und das Konzert war tatsächlich der Hammer!
Foto 1 wenn man deutsche Schlager hört: war mein erste die ganze meine Reise, und wahrscheinlich mein Lieblings. Es war sehr lustig, sie im Dialekt singen zu schauen.
Foto 2: Jan sitzt draußen ein Café
Apologies for my bad German grammar, it’s a never ending work in progress
Story #27: Berlin Bilder (Sonntags im Mauerpark)
Finally made it back to Berlin and it didn’t disappoint. It’s held a particular mystique in my mind over the years; perhaps because I loved it so much when I first visited around 2015 and it was the first time I really practiced speaking German on the streets. I could never put my finger on why I liked Berlin; I always said the city simply has a good vibe. I can still confirm that’s true. Even got the summer vibes this time around. Plus I made some new friends and visited some new places :) But like always there’s more to explore #nächsteMal
Story #28: Segovia
Segovia is best known for the Roman aqueduct from the 1st century AD that runs right through the city. The engineering is a marvel to behold; it’s really fascinating to look at the arches up close. Fun and crazy fact: the aqueduct was in use until 1973! It was a great day trip (until I picked up a nasty stomach bug), I met a nice family from Australia/Croatia (last photo), walked around the city and also visited the fortress. Shout-out to the random people standing by the windows in the fortress, I really like how those photos turned out.
Story #29: Freiburg
Sunny summer nights in Freiburg are Aperol Spritz kind of nights. Which means basically every night is an Aperol Spritz kind of night. Freiburg is simply an amazing place. Small city with big city vibes. And of course it evokes that quintessential medieval European feeling. Sarah and her friends were so generous and I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality. Hanging out with them I quickly realized I had trouble with the southern German dialect (not that I don’t have trouble with Hochdeutsch most of the time), but thankfully they were patient with me (or spoke English haha). It was really cool to get an overview of the city from Kanonenplatz/Ludwigshöhe: from there you can see France in the distance, a valley to the South with a castle, and a general lay of the land. The market in the Münsterplatz is ausgezeichnet to say the least, I bought probably the best tasting honey of my life there. I also had some time to kill so naturally I drank some beer and captured a photo of some local dudes doing the same. Connected to the Münsterplatz is one of the craziest narrow streets and I just had to take a photo. Next time I need to do some more hiking in the Black Forest!
Story #30: Ireland pt I: Dublin
Dublin had been on my list for years; super glad I finally got to visit and wander the streets. I immediately found a cool coffee shop to ward off the jet lag, the coffee was great and I asked to take a photo of the baristas. Daragh and Austin were great hosts and my personal Irish ambassadors. I met these cool fellows when I was studying in Austria; we went out the very first night they arrived in Wels with a few other fellow students, a few drinks later and karaoke bonded us for life. Technology enables people to stay in touch with old friends from all over the world, which I’m grateful for. They picked a more traditional Irish pub that was a bit outside of the major touristy area in Dublin, and it was there that I was finally able to have my first Guinness “straight from the source”. It’s been on my list for years. I love Guinness and I can attest it is simply better in Dublin. I may have had too much Guinness (and “baby Guinness”), but I guess now I can say I’ve had a real Irish experience. Austin claims it’s holy water but I’m a bit skeptical.
Story #31: Ireland pt II: Galway & Cliffs of Moher
Once again my rain jacket wasn’t really needed in Ireland. I only had 2 hours to explore Galway but it’s a quaint little city with some beautiful old churches and streets. Turns out the thing to do there is to find a shady spot to read a book. Now for the cliffs of Moher, or the “cliffs of insanity” as I jokingly referred to them. In all sincerity, it is insane how beautiful they are, a truly grandiose landscape. Just like in the mountains, you quickly become aware of how small you are and how fragile your life is. A few wrong steps, and you’ll quickly meet your maker (be careful if you visit, I saw some tourists taking crazy risks!). I walked and ran along the cliffs quickly to get different vantage points; would’ve loved to have had more time to run around and explore. I actually got super sunburnt on the cliffs, it was about as hot as it ever gets in Ireland. Not sure what this pale skin is good for if I can still get burnt close to the motherland. #blanquito
Story #32: French Lunch Friday
My father enjoying “French lunch Friday”, as you can see all the members of our family share an enthusiasm for fine European cuisine. I always try to shoot a black and white roll first when I get a new camera. This is (was) my first ever medium format shot, from sometime in April of 2021. I had recently purchased my first medium format camera, a Mamiya M645 that I found on eBay, I was graciously gifted a roll of 120 Ilford HP5Plus 400 from the seller. The roll was probably long expired, and as I came to find out, also had water damage. But I don’t actually mind the aesthetic from the water damage, like most “mistakes” with film photography, it just adds more character. Thanks to my family members for always being good (looking, might I add) guinea pigs.
Story #33: Paul Ickovic
“Everyone has a story, no one is special”…
I saw an old man sitting alone at a cafe in Paris. I suspected he was French; he looked the part and was also smoking a cigarette. I thought about asking if I could take a portrait of him, but before I got the chance he approached us (he needed help calling his girlfriend in Slovenia). It turns out he is originally from the Czech Republic, has 3 passports, and is none other than Paul Ickovic, a professional film photographer.
Stunned at my fortune (and trying hard not to fanboy) I asked if I could take a picture of him with my poor man’s Leica (Canon Canonet QL17 GIII). He graciously obliged. Another reason to always have your camera with you. I then asked if he wouldn’t mind taking a picture of myself and Manisha, and then we let him work his magic. #Life goals. These are those photographs. Sans light meter as per usual with this camera, but I believe I had it manually set to 1/125th at f/8. It’s most certainly one of the coolest and serendipitous things that’s ever happened to me.
It gives me some solidarity knowing that I have some link (however small) to my photography heroes and the old breed of real film photographers. Paul was an assistant to the great Henri Cartier-Bresson who pioneered the genre of street photography. I’m still freaking out about meeting one of my heroes but maybe I should remind myself that “Everyone has a story, no one is special”.
I’ll give you one more great quote from Paul: “The most important equipment for street photography is a comfortable pair of shoes”.
*Update: Paul has since passed away. RIP Paul. You can see some of his work here:
Story #34: Manisha
Manisha is a gifted artist, a language expert, and one of the most compassionate humans I have met; a beautiful person inside and out. She’s a big believer in using the word “brilliant” a lot. Did I not also mention funny? Wait until she regales you with one of the most flawless French-English accents I’ve heard. Future millionaire with an app idea that probably has potential…but right now it sounds an awful lot like kidnapping. She deserves some accolades for putting up with a ton of photo requests in Paris (I really needed to use the film up before I left). It was definitely worth it, she’s a great model because she’s just a naturally happy person. Most of you will never get the chance to meet Manisha, so if I was able to capture even a fraction of her essence I achieved my goal.
Story #35: Infrared
I had this roll in my camera for 7 months and was super curious to finish it and see the results, being it was my first time shooting with infrared film. It’s so crazy that there are other spectrums of light going around us all the time but we just don’t think about it because we can’t see them. And in this case the infrared film only captures it depending on the filter you attach to the lens. Turns out composing and focusing with the infrared spectrum is quite tricky, and a bit of a pain to set up, but it was fun to learn. I will definitely experiment with more infrared film in the future.
Story #36: Fiorella
Fiorella might be the most photogenic person I know. You’d be hard pressed to take a bad photo of her. We have one main hobby in common which is hiking, so most of the photos I’ve captured of her are in the mountains. Fio is an adventurous soul. It takes real bravery to move from Peru to Fairbanks (I’m from Alaska and that’s even too cold for me). She’s always fun to be around and has a real love for the mountains. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard her complain while hiking, and believe me she’s had lots of opportunities. She’s got a pretty subtle sense of humor, it’s honestly pretty hard to make her laugh but it’s magical when it happens. Our common hobby also lends itself to a problem we share…creating a never-ending list of hikes to accomplish in the summer. We know we’ll never accomplish them all, but we’ve come to realize that just knocking a few off the list and being outside in nature is the important part. We also share a never ending list of countries that we want to travel to. One day I’ll make it to Peru and hike in the incredible landscapes there. And naturally I’ll make Fio be my guide, because she always chooses the best hikes.
Story #37: Adam
Adam is surprisingly not one of my oldest friends, but we’re still going on a solid 14 or so years of friendship. Adam is the kind of dude you hate having in your class (yeah my boy’s wicked smaaaat), because even if he’s slacking off he can just absorb all the knowledge. Avid reader, renaissance man, history buff, hard worker, family man. Basically the kind of dude you picture behind a stately mahogany desk smoking a tobacco pipe he bought somewhere on his travels in the 1800s. Proof that you don’t need a college degree to be successful and make good money. Living with so many sisters maybe made him too smart for his own good (just kidding Adam). Many of the best memories of my life involve Adam. We love talking about the same things, whether it be world history, philosophy, fantasy series, film (both cinema and photography), our shared love of beer, or really just anything. I can also occasionally get him out for a hike or ski, which he always enjoys. I’ve taken lots of film shots of him over the years, because we simply hang out a lot. And let’s be honest he looks better holding a beer than almost anyone. I gifted Adam a classic tank of a 35mm SLR camera for his birthday a few years ago, he’ll be a pro in no time now that he owns his own camera.
Story #38: Bob
Bob and I have been good buddies since high school. Bob was a photographer long before I was, and when I started I would often come to him for advice. He was the master, and I the Padawan. Bob lives in the moment and that comes through in his photography and his other artistic pursuits. A naturally talented musician, guitar player and songwriter. If you’ve never heard Bob’s music I suggest you check it out. Bob and I are kindred spirits, the weird kind of dudes that write acoustic songs about film photography. We also have written songs together (very dated now), but our free website is still active if you want to listen: https://masonwick.wixsite.com/bobandmase
Bob respects the art form, and studies the process of whatever he pursues. This was a photo from I think my 2nd summer shooting film, we had recently watched a Netflix series about the Greek photographer Platon. In the series he explained how he purposefully framed and shot a portrait of Bill Clinton from an angle that made him look big and grand, like the Parthenon. I think unconsciously I tried to mimic this style, and I like how the photo turned out.
The other photo is from my first roll that I ever shot (read Story #1, Bob played a pivotal roll), Bob singing and playing guitar, presumably to a song that he wrote.
Story #39: Nield
Nield is my go-to adventure buddy. He very well might be the person I have the most film photos of, almost certainly. Nield is a naturally cool person; truly genuine and not superficial in any way. A kind and good human all the way to his core. Nonmaterialistic, a music connoisseur, great guitar player, fisherman, mountain goat, get-er-done diy mechanic, surfer, skateboarder, snowboarder, skier. Voracious reader. Aside from maybe Adam he reads more than anyone I know. He’s always reading a book in either Spanish or English. Once he gets his passport situation figured out we’re definitely visiting his native country of Panama. We probably get along so great because we enjoy similar things: being in the mountains, making music, and of course food and beer after a long hike. He loves food maybe even more than me and never turns down a free meal. We both like to laugh at stupid stuff as well, especially while hiking or caping. Parks & Recreation quotes are a favorite. I don’t think there’s ever been a hike where we haven’t quoted Lord of the Rings at least once. There’s no one I’d rather sing to Bad Bunny at the top of my lungs with.
Story #40: Tyler (and Kayla)
Tyler is without a doubt my oldest friend. We’ve known each other since we were a year old, for real. We were right around 12 months old (both April babies), I believe our Moms were nursing us at the same time at church and that’s how they met. I can’t really shoutout how awesome Tyler is without also doing so for Kayla, definitely his better half (right Tyler?). They’re both adventurous and enjoy mountain biking, hiking with their dogs, snowboarding, paddle boarding, you name it. A real down to earth couple, and did I not already mention hilarious? Great senses of humor the both of them, although Kayla doesn’t always appreciate his humor (I got you bro). Surprisingly I don’t have that many film portraits of Tyler over the recent years due to us living in different places for some time. I do however have this classic photo of us together back in grade school circa 1997.
Story #41: Nick
Nick is probably the funniest person I know; in social situations he can relieve any tension, make everyone laugh and feel at ease. Nick is one of a kind, he’s very true to himself and calls things as he sees them. He’s a great example of how to work a normal job (while also being a Dad) but have fun on the weekends. Nick is a great dad, and also quite artsy: he’s a cinephile, loves indie rock and rap music with deep lyrics. He always raises the energy level of the group and gets others excited about enjoying life. I gifted Nick an obscure 1970s SLR for his birthday, a Japanese brand I had never heard of where the lens actually screws on to the body. It’s a beautiful camera and he’s already taken some great photos with it.
Story #42: my Grandma Evelyn
My Grandma Evelyn is and always has been a very classy lady. Dresses to the nines, but also very down to earth. She could easily be a purveyor of fine art, she has quite the collection (her father was a gold miner). She is also one of the most intelligent people I have ever known, she has a memory at 90 years old that would put most 20 year olds to shame. It’s truly remarkable. If you get the chance to talk to my grandma Evelyn you’ll be amazed and learn many things, but you might not get many words in yourself (you were warned). She’s a special lady and we enjoy chatting over our shared love of art and affinity for all things antique, and scoring good deals at auctions. She’s given me a few things just because she knew I liked them: an old analog camera of hers and a piece of koa wood. Mechanics and artists run in the family, apparently her dad (or maybe my grandpa’s dad) was a skilled furniture maker, and another great grandfather was a big photography enthusiast. Not to mention my grandfather Melvin (Evelyn’s husband) who was a genius mechanic, much like his son Scott (my father). They can fix anything. I know Evelyn gets lonely sometimes since the passing of my grandpa Mel about 13 years ago, but her faith keeps her going, plus she’s very strong and independent. Thanks for letting me take a few portraits of you grandma, love you!
