I’ve been going through old files and cleaning out the random stuff that somehow accumulates on my hard drives. During the process, I came upon this portrait of my father. It was taken during the summer so I was in the midst of peak photo season insanity and I never got the chance to edit or post it.

I am so happy that I happened upon it though because it is difficult to get portraits of him! I usually have to sneak pictures of him because he hates being in front of the camera so much. But I love this one; it fits his personality to a T.

As a photographer, it’s easy to get so involved in making art and showing the beauty in things that you forget the WHY in portraiture. Why make portraits in the first place? There are lots of reasons why I make portraits, but one of those reasons is because a meaningful portrait can continually remind us of the love we have for the subject of the portrait.  I’m sure most of us have had the experience of looking at an old family portrait and have memories and feelings come rushing back to us.

Maybe it’s the cold and snowy Minnesota winter making me emotional, but this photograph hit me hard (in a good way) this morning. Love ya lots Dad!