I envisioned Lemme See portrait sessions on Kodak Gold 200, a color film.

Janessa wanted to create images that felt real to her: at home in her therapeutic garden as she approaches her 40th birthday anticipating the release of her first book, I Am The Sun.

When I showed up Janessa and I hit it off and started making portraits immediately. Her third year raspberries, a bag of zinnia seeds, red story-telling nails, and native jewelry set her precious under and in a blue June sky.

Gaining more experience with my new camera was one of the big aims in offering these portrait sessions.

I’m more convinced than ever than the right tool is like the right wand, therapist, sleep schedule because my god I love this camera.!

From shooting digitally (juggling editor and photographer simultaneous) for 17 years to the fully manual, slow going Rolleiflex masters program I’ve been in for the last 2 years, to this (essentially) point-and-shoot medium format camera is like being set creatively free.

First of all, this camera shoots fast! I think I popped off a full roll of 17 frames (the Rollei got 10 exposures per roll) in like 10 minutes. Ideas come and I direct and shoot them.

I feel a freedom of connected responsiveness to the people I’m photographing and a connection and flow with myself and my ideas. To learn film (not that it’s an arrival) I needed (or thought I did) the slowness, but to make the work that sits behind my eyes I needed the articulate quality of this camera to paces with my ideas.

does pentax 645n print settings on negative?

When I left my house that morning I brought along a new film stock Jon gifted me: expired Delta 3200 film. The ideas still coming and a few minutes left I asked Janessa if we could shoot for a few more minutes.

I knew one of the biggest challenges of these sessions would be keeping my focus on the creativity with one eye on time and I hesitated a bit. This was more than I offered in the sessions but….I had to keep going and so did Janessa. We were just getting warmed up- ideas where coming!

black and white image of woman dancing in sky

In short I fell in love. This film stock, with all its appetite for light, grain size, etc has a way of offering something I feel and see behind my eyes. Fly by glimpses that translate how I feel when I’m experiencing connection to an idea, a movement, a scene.

This was the first pivot of Lemme See and it set the tone for every single session that came after it. I was offering the experience of being Seen and a huge part of that and my New Portrayal work is in allowing a session to be what it is.

That very “let’s see what happens” openness I encourage in my clients pushed me to shoot an extra roll and Janessa and I created some beautiful work with tones and a flavor I’d been dreaming of for years.