He's my youngest son, Matt, and he is a patient and photogenic young man. I often ask him to stand still for me while I balance lights in my studio, or I take photos of him fishing or hunting. As a result, I have a lot of pictures of him.
Through him, I've discovered that my favourite type of portrait is that of people doing what they love to do. I like working in studios, but people don't live in studios and it's an unnatural environment. What I want to do is move the studio outdoors, and photograph people hunting, fishing, kayaking, hiking, or whatever it is that gets them outside. Although I like natural lighting, I'm not opposed to using speedlights or strobe flashes outdoors, and I think it often adds something.
For example, my homepage photo is of Matt standing outside in the backyard, covered in snow. I shot that on a brilliant, sunny winter day. I used a shutter speed of 1/8000 second, an aperture of f/2.8, and a speedlight to illuminate his face. It's one of the best portraits I've ever shot.
In the portraits gallery, you'll see a photo of my oldest son, Peter, fly fishing from a canoe. It's one of the most serene photos I've ever taken and a favorite.
This is the kind of photography I want to do.