I am a portrait photographer serving the Upper Valley, and Keene, NH. I have had a passion for image-making as far back as I can remember, starting with drawing and painting, but it wasn’t until my travels to 18 countries, that my photography developed. For 10 years, I have been creating dreamy portraiture for folks as firefly photography. I am deeply passionate about image-making and my unique style reflects soulful, whimsical sensibilities. I always believed that time is abstract and to be “in the moment”. However, since losing my mother quickly to cancer in 2015, I am even more sensitive to those beautiful fleeting moments that create a life story. My website is www.whimsicalstorytelling.com

Using the Mamiya 645E

I chose the 645E. I imagine it was the easier camera to use, though it's been a long time since I shot with film, and it was my first attempt with a film SLR. Loading and unloading film seemed to go easy. Where I remember struggling was with focus and not having as a clear (no pun intended) a sense of focus as I'd have liked. What I liked about the b/w Ilford film is the stripped-down nature of the imagery. It's not obfuscated by color. I would like to do more black and white work. I think next time I will choose more contrasty scenes. I'd like to have a higher key sensibility in my next attempt. I really enjoyed working with this camera by going out of my comfort zone and ironically learning a new (to me!) technology.