Peter Holcombe Photography Blog

Photographers are notorious for never having images of themselves. I go through phases where the thought of creating a self portrait of my own family makes me want to have a dental appointment just to get out of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love photographing my daughter and wife. But when I have to leave the safety of being behind the camera I get a whole new perspective on the portrait process. I see a very important need to put myself through this process because it lets me see how my clients feel and allows me to be more understanding of their perspective. It also lets me practice what I preach in that you can’t get the past back and that photography is forever. Capture these moments now or they will be lost forever.

These images are of the family of my good photography friend Brian Zierlein from Lightwriting Photography. We have become good friends since he took one of our Business of Photography Workshops that we taught in Denver a number of years ago. He is one of the special photographers that really sees the light and can create any light that is missing. We share a strong desire for quality lighting on location. Brian has done our family portrait for the last few years giving me the perspective I wrote about above. We have really enjoyed the images he has created for us and given us something I could have never done for myself. This fall it was time to return the favor and I set out to create a fun, natural, fall family portrait with a uniquely Boulder feel. We were on the tail end of the fall color but I had a great location that still had colorful leaves on the branches of the giant cottonwood trees. Shooting with friends is nice as it is a little more laid back, but it is also a lot of pressure to create something great as they are familiar with my work and I have to take it up a notch. I am very happy with the end result for the Zierlein Family. I am also looking forward to our next shoot where I will be in front of Brain’s Camera.