This guy.

I’m still at a point in my photographic learning where it takes concentrated effort to work with the light, simplify the composition, watch my lines and patterns and visual weight, demystify the camera settings, and get the correct exposure the first (or second or third… not tenth) time. Generally, this means that when I go out shooting, I’m slow. I take my time, I wait and walk around, I fiddle with the camera and talk to myself. This is all fine when my subjects are stationary, like buildings. And graffiti. And fungi.

So photographing people is a huge challenge for me. There’s expression and posing and authenticity to worry about. Plus, people move. They get nervous and impatient and worry whether their hair looks good. But recently I’ve been appreciating portraiture, more than in the past – whether it’s my desire to form and capture some sort of emotional connection, or just because all human faces have their own stories to tell.

So this guy was kind enough to let me point a camera at him for an hour or two. Luckily, I’m married to him, and he’s pretty patient with me. So he didn’t mind me awkwardly bossing him around, and screwing up, and trying something else, and then doing it all over again. He even told me I could publish some of his photos on my blog.

He’s a good sport.

And not bad-looking, in my opinion.