You don’t need to go far to photograph

The secret sauce to great pictures is loving who’s in front of the camera

When I first started without paying clients, I wondered what was I going to photograph. So I took photos of my friends and messaged so. many. people in my area. Now I am getting paid, and I still love taking photos of my friends. This is because photography is for me a way of interacting and connecting with the world, and not only a weekend hobby.

This past spring I returned to Philadelphia for a friend’s wedding. A couple of weeks out I messaged two of my oldest friends Christine and Amanda to shoot in their homes, which got a big fat YES. Here are some of my favorite images, and I’m going to recap how we set this up.

First, a note. My feed has recently been flooded with pictures from the Mediterranean. They’re beautiful, and at the same time the most photogenic thing for any of us to shoot is what we love the most. That may be vacation! For me it’s the people who I’ve known for a long time. I lived in Philadelphia for a formative decade, and for the rest of my life, whenever people ask me where I’m from, Philly will still likely be the answer. It was a joy to be back.

It was actually Christine’s sister Laura, one of my closest friends, who suggested doing architectural-digest style photos of them. Amanda and Christine are both architects, and so is Christine’s fiancee Reid. Two houses, three architects. These houses are the opposite of sterile. They have character and personality and details that make for a real story.

I also went through a number of home shoots from Architectural Digest and compiled my favorite ones into a deck. Here’s one of the slides:

I’ve also followed a talented Philadelphia photographer named Kelly Levin, who shoots many families at home Here’s another of the slides:

From these I had a rough shot list of what to go in with, with plenty of room for other moments that came up:

• Close up of houseware

• Moving houseware

• Sitting at the dining table

• Sitting on the couch

• Wide view of living window

• On stairs looking down

• Working in office

• Leaning in hallway

• Sitting in outdoor space

• Holding cat

The first night I got in to the city, I went to Christine’s house. The timing worked out, as I knew that this home would photography beautifully in the evening. They’ve put so much thought into their lighting fixtures and warmth.

A little fun aside - Christine’s home is where I shot a a photo from my first ever roll of film in 2023:

Walking into this home instantly reduced my blood pressure by 20 points. It’s so warm and calm, and it also reflects all of the things they love - good design, hiking, camping, and of course Philadelphia. Peep their cute kitty further down.

We stepped into their outdoor space. Dusk was too far along to take photos outside, but I had them sit just inside their back window. I somewhat creepily shot in through the window and we got my favorite from the night:

I also brought Portra 800 film and shot a roll here. As you can imagine I kept it wide open with f/1.4 and a very slow 1/15 to 1/30 shutter speed at this time of day:

I stayed with Amanda over the visit weekend. Her home is one of my favorite places - hanging out was one of the highlights of my residency. Here’s a photo from back in the day :)

This girl can DIY anything. She did the flooring, wall remodel, toilet installation, and wallpapering of her laundry room. There are 5 projects going on at all times. Home reno is my personal nightmare and I will be contacting Amanda HQ for any remodel in the future.

For this shoot I wanted to get a lot of focused shots on her finds and wider ones of her sitting on the furniture. I could spend hours days cataloging all of Amanda’s handmade furniture, travel souvenirs, and photos.

Please be my interior designer in the future! It was so fun to shoot. Amanda also taught me how to load film, so naturally we shot film here as well. More Portra 800, which is perfect for the indoors:

If anyone is looking for something to practice, or really just to get back a creative spark, my suggestion is to start with your friends. You literally don’t have to leave the house!! But still have all of the exercises of preparing a shot list, posing people (they’re more comfortable since they know you), and having something to give as a one-of-a-kind present for letting you stay with them ;)

See you back in the fall for the wedding! I can’t wait.