Tim finds me here me at work in a favored place, indeed. I am fascinated by the past, and how people, in their grief, create funerary monuments to remember their loved ones. Tim devotes most of this image to my surroundings, a vast cemetery in Jacksonville, Oregon. There is a sense of tranquility here. Symbolically, Tim portrays me as “pausing along the road of life” amidst reminders of those who have already traveled that path. Tim also makes sure to feature the dead leaves that litter its length. He also contrasts my size, as well as the small scale of the gravestones, to the massive arch of living trees that fill the frame overhead. Tim and I are shooting together at the same time and in the same place. Yet he is telling a different story than I am with the image I am making at this moment. The grave marker before me is white, while those that surround it are gray. By using my spot meter, I make the gray stones, shrouded in shadow, much darker. You can see my image, and the sad story it tells, here: http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/114571835/original

Britta Higgins made this striking portrait of me as part of an exercise in portraiture during her field work in a one on one tutorial. She selected an area in a nearby shopping center that was finished in rough hewn stonework. I stood in a spot where light faded into deep shadow, and I was instructing her in the use of spot metering to "paint a portrait with light and shadow." That is exactly what she does here. Britta's portrait captures my enthusiasm for teaching, which I express through gesture and expression. The colors in this image were significantly altered by the vast contrast between light and shadow in the image. I later converted her image to a light sepia tone, which removes those problematical colors and replaces them with a vintage mood, right out of the old west.

Most of the images in this gallery were made of me either making photographs or else talking about them. In this case, my 17 year old grandson caught me over the Thanksgiving weekend relaxing at home in my favorite chair with a newspaper in hand. (A closer study shows that I am actually reading about cameras and electronics – subjects never far from my mind.) What I like most about this shot is the way Connor uses the newspaper as a reflector to bounce window light back on to my face. I am also wearing an ancient University of Michigan sweatshirt – which I traditionally don on the day of Michigan’s annual season-ending game with Ohio State. Despite Michigan’s painfully lopsided loss, I seem to have nicely recovered my equilibrium here. Photographs can say much about people, active or not. In this case it is the relative inactivity that tells the story. (I made this image by scanning a snapshot, which accounts for the lack of info on the camera used, exposure, etc.)

I was framing a shot from between abandoned freight cars near the Nevada City ghost town when my friend pbase artist Tim May made this image of me. Tim uses the rail cars to abstract most of me – they show the wear and tear of time, which was exactly what I was searching for in my own shot.

I was delighted to find this image in Rosemarie’s latest Yellowstone gallery on pbase ( http://www.pbase.com/sunlightpix/yellowstone_country_2008 ) She writes in her caption: “Phil is an outstanding photographer and has taught me many lessons, including composing with less sky, and looking at things in new ways. I observed him enraptured with a composition, and took his portrait, then flipped it upside down. Phil seems so happy taking pictures – he reminds me of Fred Astaire in the movie “Royal Wedding,” when he’s so happy that he dances upside down on the ceiling.”

I left this comment for Rosemarie: “This is a remarkable image – the flip does wonders for it, and so do the primary colors of my parka and hat. I can vouch for the happy feeling I get when making pictures, but I am considered a hazard on the dance floor.”

Rosemarie responds: “I was drawn to the primary colors when I composed this portrait. You are the red and yellow, combined with the blue into a trio of bold color. I was very careful to not include any sky, since I was getting a deeper blue from the reflection. And the steam makes a great background. Then I wanted to take it to another level to try to capture the “head over heels” joy that photography imparts.”

With this image, Rosemarie shows us that a successful portrait need not always show human features – but it should always express something about the character or interests of the subject. In this case, her image says that I love what I do, and that I often try to do it in a colorful way, Fred Astaire not withstanding.

This image offers a great contrast in cultural trappings – I am draped in flopping masses of green and khaki, while the monk is draped in a simple orange robe. I am giving him a two minute crash course in expressive photography, and although he might not have understood all of my words, I hoped that he would understand the universal language of photography. I am amused by seeing all of the technology I have come to take for granted when I am shooting in the field – I rely on two digital cameras, a large watch, a handy pen, not to mention all the other stuff that is bulging in the pockets of my photographer’s vest and the computer, and battery chargers awaiting me back in the hotel room. I even wear a tiny Vietnamese flag on my floppy ventilated hat – a gesture of recognition to all of the kind people I encountered in the streets and fields of Vietnam, people just like this gracious monk who so patiently observes me here at my great passion -- teaching. Thanks, Tim, for making this example showing how others saw me in the streets of Vietnam in the first week of 2008.