I've read more than once that one of the finer criteria of a good photograph is, "Is the photo alive?"

Well, when shooting my pals Allie & Jonathan this past weekend there was one photo that was incredibly, wonderfully alive. Here it is!

They say that practice makes perfect. They are correct.

My portraiture needs more work. I'm not saying it's ever been bad, but it's been... low on the totem pole. I enjoy doing candid street shots in addition to my usual mix of power lines, buildings, and split walls... but I haven't included portraits much.

I'm attempting to change that. About a month or so ago I wrote to all of my friends and said, "Hey! I'm a photographer. You're a person. Can I photograph you?" The answer was a resounding yes. Everyone I asked agreed to do it. How humbling!

This past weekend, my long-time pal Jacquie was the first vic... er, subject. At one point when we were out she commented that the whole process reminded her of her senior photo shoot... I laughed, a lot.

When all was said and done, there were a couple hundred photos of varying quality and style. I didn't go in trying to emulate anyone other than myself, perhaps, and came out with a few dozen Very Good shots. I whittled those down to seven shots I thought were Really Good, and all of those are on flickr. #4, pictured above left, is one of the two I like the most - I go back and forth.

During the entire process I was genuinely excited about taking the photos. It felt way different than my usual photo shoots, and I enjoyed it a lot more. Jacquie was a ball to work with and was a great person to photograph.

There's more to come!