Making Portraits with Local Non-Profits

Taking stock of my recent work, I have a significant number of portraits from collaborations with local non-profits. They range from staff headshots to LinkedIn-ready profile pictures of students in their various initiatives.

I’ve met some really great people, and people who really make a difference in their neighborhood and the entire city.

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Avenue

Avenue (www.avenuecdc.org) build affordable homes in Houston, with education programs to help families build long term assets. I had the opportunity to capture staff headshots in their headquarters.

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LISC

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (www.lisc.org) assist community organizations in underinvested places. We made headshots for the graduates of their leadership development workshops during an ambassador reunion event.

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CCSC

The Christian Community Service Center (www.ccschouston.org) work to reduce the effects of poverty in the local community through emergency services, food bank and education programs. Headshots of JobNet graduates get them a head-start on building LinkedIn profiles and their resumes.

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Families to Freedom

Families to freedom (www.familiestofreedom.org) serve victims of domestic abuse. The ladies in the staff headshots below literally transport people away and to safety.

Houston Photographers who grabbed my attention in 2021

Houston is a huge city with photographers probably on every block. There’s a lot of noise to sort through especially when consuming a metric ton of images through Instagram. My favorite photographers I’ve followed this year rise above not just because the pictures are awesome, but also because of their consistency and commitment to their niche. There’s no rank-order to this list.

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Joanna Booth

@sanguineportraiture

www.sanguineportraiture.com

You can spot a photo by Joanna from 100 yards because her style is so established. Classic studio portraits and family images that will age wonderfully and I’m sure they look epic when printed out large! Lots of attention to detail in the retouching too.

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Carl Fehres

@carlfehres

www.carlfehres.com

Magazine-quality shoots from a film-only photographer. Beautiful models in beautiful places. Black-and-whites are done properly - you can tell this isn’t someone just desaturating a color original. And it isn’t everyday you see so many great Polaroids.

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Chris Gillett

@6illett

www.liketherazor.com

As much as consistent technique is required for a good professional headshot, the key is in how he pulls emotion from the sitter. You can tell every one he shoots is having a great time. I’ve really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes Instagram stories showing the process in action.

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Laura Burlton

@houston_tintype_studio

www.houstontintypestudio.com

If you thought film was old-school, imagine a time before rolls and sheets of gelatin where you have to make your own light-sensitive emulsion. I can’t imagine the technical difficulties, and commitment that goes into each squeeze of the shutter. Laura’s work is a step closer to that of traditional art in the sense that each shot is unique and impossible to reproduce.

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Jenna Barrett

@antheminart

www.antheminart.com

Jenna’s fashion images span the spectrum from classic studio to full-on fantasy. I’m always looking forward to seeing what comes out of her camera next!

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Bethany Brewster

@bethanytakesphotosss

www.bethanytakesphotos.com

Wonderful studio portraits mixed in with personal adventures. There’s a confidence and a boldness that comes out in each image. The recent “Spotlight” portraits particularly caught my eye; every image made the sitter look like an absolute rock-star.

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Talking film photography on the Static Exposure Podcast

I was invited to talk all things film by the Static Exposure Podcast hosted here in Houston by Jenna Barrett and Julie (and for this episode, Jenna’s mom too).

We cover a lot of ground from why you’d want to shoot film in the first place, to how to develop your own film and use film alongside your digital cameras during a shoot.

You can find more details about film through my blog, especially about using stereo cameras, setting up a minimalist darkroom, useful film camera settings, and how to minimize the risks of film photography.

You can hear the episode via Anchor at https://anchor.fm/staticexposure.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Portraits of a DeLorean owner in Houston

In this ongoing series of DeLorean owner portraits, I’ve had the honor of meeting a number of owners and got a close up look at their vehicles. This one is Robert with a 1983 DMC12. It is in great shape and has been regularly driven which seems to lower maintenance issues compared to low mileage examples.

You can find more images from this series of DeLorean owner portraits in my DeLorean Gallery.

If you are a DeLorean owner in Southern Texas, feel free to contact me if you’d like a portrait taken with your vehicle!

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Fillippo Nenna's prints at Art on the Avenue

The annual Art on the Avenue auction is a huge event. Rooms and rooms and corridors full of spectacular art.

I had two photographic prints in the auction - both were of a 2017 lightning storm over downtown Houston, and both of which sold with all of the proceeds going back to Avenue.

This is the first public showing of my fine art prints, and the images were really nice. I chose a wide black mat with a white core and a deep metal frame.

Cityscapes have been a way for me to explore Houston, and auctions like this one for Avenue have been a great way for others to see, and even own one of those prints. My work is almost exclusively black and white film these days, and I aim to have some darkroom prints available in the future.

Fil's interview with Voyage Houston

I had the opportunity to describe my work to Voyage Houston, and the article was published today.

I used it as an excuse to show off some of my vintage camera collection, get the story out that I take epic city-scapes as well as portraits, and self-indulgently feed my own ego. It has not been fed in a while.

Voyage seem to be exhaustively cataloging all of Houston’s artists and entrepreneurs. Even though their almost un-edited style can make for a difficult read sometimes, it is nice to have a site full of local creatives sharing their stories.

Thanks for reading!