Fun fact - I own 149 cameras. 

Mostly film cameras. 

In fact, I was a camera collector long before I was a photographer. Most of these cameras I have purchased for next to nothing at yard and estate sales, cleaned them up, fixed them up, and started using them. Some others (like the one above) I got as a much appreciated gift. 

 And every day I pick up one of them and take it out for a photo walk… This way both of us get a little workout in the middle of the day :) 

Canon AT-1 from 1978 was the lucky one today

That’s a quote from an old book - “The Joy of Photography”. 

Personally I find it to be extremely true on many levels. Especially the “Everything is boring if you are bored” part. 

When applied to portraiture it’s about liking the person you are taking a picture of. 

“People are strange when you are stranger, Faces look ugly when you’re alone” (Jim Morrison) 

One of the reasons I became specifically a portrait photographer is because I genuinely love people and because I am endlessly fascinated by them.
And yes - even if I don’t quite like a person in front of me for some reason, I try very hard to change that immediately, looking for something I find beautiful and interesting about them. And I don’t recall a single time when I couldn’t find something. People are beautiful.

As I am preparing for my London trip I am looking into different ways to decrease my luggage weight… Which means I am trying to create a bare minimum equipment setup. Potentially that means getting rid of the strobes (but not speedlights), stands, less used light modifiers, etc. It might also mean using (gasp) natural light more.

I am planning to document my progress on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/maxeremine

In other news I have two Atlanta dates - September 23rd and October 4th. If you were thinking about booking me while I am in the South… now would be the good time :) Only one spot left on the 23rd and only two on the 4th.