August — A Year in Photographs — Lego Adventures

A favorite toy of mine as a child was Lego. Countless hours of construction, play, destruction, and reconstruction took me on adventures to the past, future, mythological, and science fiction. I’d wager part of my love of filmmaking steps from creating worlds and journeys with my Legos.

Earlier this year, March specifically, I spent a month of #AYearinPhotographs doing some of my favorite work in macro photography and was sad when the month was over. I wanted to continue doing more macro photography but it is a rule of #AYearinPhotographs that I can not repeat a theme in a single year. But I couldn’t help but be drawn back to doing some macro work—enter, Lego.

Lego Adventures evolved from both my childhood love of miniature fun and joined my love of macro photography. Most of these were shot using a Laowa 15mm ƒ4 Macro lens—a bizarre but amazingly fun lens with which to photograph. You can focus so closely that your subject is just about touching the front element. On the other hand, a more cinematic look sometimes is best and such a Fujinon 80mm ƒ2.8 Macro lens joined the fun.

From wizards to astronauts, location shoots and home-built sets, August is a tribute to one of the best toys ever invented.

July — A Year in Photographs — Long Exposure

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Between cinema and photography lies long exposure. There is a particular challenge of seeing all of motion and in a single moment captured in a still image. It is also a particular challenge to manage the light of a scene. And manage one’s own patience.

“Sometimes things that are technically wrong are creatively right.”

— Adrian’s Life Rule #25

Some of these images are eight-minute exposures while others are only seconds. Some take place at night while other take place during the day. When light is intense, special neutral density filters are needed to reduce the light. At night, the longer shutter durations make it difficult because any shake of the camera may be noticed while a eight-minute exposure takes a total of sixteen minutes to process. One may only get one chance to capture the image.

Sophie Ndimande

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Sophie Ndimande, 2023

On July 9, 2023, Aid Africa’s Children, a non-profit I work for, had the distinct honor of hosting one of our longest standing partners from South Africa, Sophie Ndimande, at a fundraiser at Lily Lake Resort in Wisconsin. We raised money and auctioned goods to support Sophie’s Crèche that feeds, educates, cares for, and distributes much needed supplies to hundreds of underserved children and their caretakers in Lethabong, South Africa.

One of Aid Africa’s Children’s next projects is to have a stand-alone building to house the nursery Sophie runs and bring new teachers to the crèche for the education of the next generation. If you have the means to donate, we very much appreciate your support.

Everything counts.