A Note About Portraits
I'm not a big fan of the extremely posed, stiff style of portraiture that many people expect (and love). A portrait should capture some of the essence and personality of the subject. It's hard for me to find unique personalities in portraits that have the same pose, same background, same big smiles that everyone else already has hanging on their walls. My style of portraiture is much more informal. I like to shoot subjects in familiar environments, natural settings and poses that are comfortable and accessible. I describe my work as documentary photography with artistic style.

For children and animals I frequently find that using a beloved toy as a prop (as opposed to a standard set piece) both sets them at ease and helps define them for the camera. It allows them to relax and strike natural poses and positions that are comfortable for them. A child is never more beautiful than when he is happy and relaxed and a dog is never more gorgeous than when she's lounging with her favorite ball.

With adults, setting the subjects at ease and convincing them not to "ham it up" for the camera (as we've all done forever) is sometimes difficult but it's well worth the effort. Once the expectation of what should be done in front of the camera is dropped the beauty and personality of the subject is much easier to find and capture.