Author: Kelsey Bacon

One recent Christmas I was stuck for what to give to my two sons that would be more than just a tool or a trinket that would be taken home and put in a pile of other gifts and soon forgotten who gave it to them as just another part of their Christmas haul. I try to make the gifts I give something more than that whenever I can. Especially as the kids get older, and inevitably, so do I, I want them to have treasures that mean something to them, and not just the memories of the things we have done together.

Much to their chagrin, I spent their childhoods with a camera in hand, always photographing them, and aggravating them with having them take the time with me to get a photo of some sort. Wherever we would go, whatever we were doing, they got captured in their least favorite medium, photographs.

That year Christmas I realized that it was the time to give back to them for all their fuss over the years. They were both married, and have young families, one with a son, and the other with his wife. I got each of them a hard drive and made a folder on my computer to copy all their photos into. Then I copied that folder to each of their hard drives. That is what they got for Christmas.

There are gifts you give where the people you give them to come up and say thank you for. And there are gifts that you give that they not just rave on about for a time after, but they give you that look. No words. Just that expression that says more than words. Call me selfish, but that is the gift I give to myself whenever I can.

On Sunday morning I went to James Mack Memorial Park in Smithfield and worked a paid gig! It may have been a family thing, but it was the taste of work, and a chance to put some photos on this site. I am going through the photos now and rating them only by clarity in the important parts of the scene and will use a different rating system for the subject and composition later.

I thought it was hilarious working on the images of the family before Dad finally stepped in and had his photograph taken with mom and the kids. Being camera shy, he was not eager. I took quite a few shots of everyone getting settled in that were blurry and sometimes even out of focus. I worked my way through, getting more and more nervous all the time till finally, it arrived! Two photos out of maybe ten that were usable in one way or another. I’ll take that!

Then, there is nothing funnier than Dad stepping into the photograph and pulling a face that requires him to be edited out again. Naturally I am going to give them some of those for the family treasure box!

James Mack Memorial Park is perhaps the most beautiful city park I have ever been to. Coming in off the south parking lot there is a place where the path passes along a grassy patch, and from there one can see through some trees and to the side of a little wooden bridge in the distance. It is an excellent place to take portraits. There are lots of mature trees in the park and light is easily subdued under them. It is a lovely little park with a hill blocking in the west side, and the water holding much of the neighborhood at bay to the east. The houses to the south are beautiful and will not spoil a photo, and the north end narrows down between the west hill and the road as it vanishes up the canyon. It is picturesque and well kept, and even on its busiest day that I have been there, it has never felt too crowded. Definitely would shoot portraits there again. Five Stars!

The pricing schedule below is a trial one, with possible changes coming in the new year of 2025, depending on market demands and the like. More photography offerings will be added as time goes on. For example, architectural photography.

I have updated the contact information on the contact page to include my phone number, and how to get me to reply. I have to screen calls like most everyone does these days. I don’t want to feed the trolls, as we say online, nor do I want to encourage the spammers to call more than they already do. And since I do value my time and yours, just a quick one-word text will get me to reply to talk about doing portraits.

Portraits is generally a change in direction for me in my work, but one I would like to make. I tend to find people fun and interesting and would like to subjugate them to my humor. Moreover, I am interested in working with people, rather than living the lonely life of a landscape photographer.

Help me to create my vision and I will help you to create yours. If I can use your photos on my website, I will offer a 10% discount on your photography session.

These prices reflect me arriving at a location and shooting Portraits, then we will decide on artwork for your home or album at a separate cost.

I produce roughly 45-megapixel jpegs, good for some pretty decent enlargements. This should produce perfect quality prints up to 20″ x 30″, and good quality prints larger, up to 40″ x 60″, for example.

Let’s talk and see what you need for your art and arrange a date!