Heather

Of all the portraits I have done this year, this has to be one of the ones I am most proud of!

When I started working on my Masters of Photography degree several years ago, I decided I would try and get it with at least one image of each person in my family. After a few years of competition, I had gotten merit prints of myself, my two boys and even our dog Annie. The only one I had to go was Heather. The problem with doing Heather’s portrait was that I was too worried about coming up with the “perfect” image. I would come up with an idea, then set it aside – waiting for a better idea to come along.

When I started on the 4040 project this spring, I knew I would have to come up with a grand concept to use for Heather. After months of thinking about it – I finally came up with the concept while watching Heather get ready at her vanity. I am a big fan of a painter named Pino who does these extraordinary paintings of somewhat everyday scenes. We put everything together, painted it with a very impressionistic, loose technique and here’s what we ended up with….

I love how it is a “slice of life” painting. It isn’t an overly-posed, overly-setup concept. Just a woman standing at her mirror getting ready for an evening out. It tells a story with a very elegant simplicity. Best of all, the print did well in the regional competition and will be displayed at the national photography convention!