Characters

My daydreams these days revolve around a fully converted, off-grid-capable camper van, an assortment of photography/computer/wifi gear, a thermos of fresh coffee, a full tank of gas and miles of open road. Sadly, I have neither the budget nor expertise to convert a van, much less launch out on a fall foliage tour of the Adirondacks, America’s breathtaking national parks or wherever that open road might take me. Instead, I watch Facebook and Instagram and travel vicariously through the images of friends and mentors. Which is why my bi-weekly day-trips to the hamlet of Mumford have been a godsend over the last two years. Without spending more than a few dollars for gas and traveling less than an hour west on Routes 5&20, I can be transported — for the better part of a day — to another world. Genesee Country Village and Museum, the third largest living museum in the United States, is a 600-acre complex boasting 68 historical buildings and an army of costumed interpreters who love loca...

Is the best camera really the one you have with you? Photographer Chase Jarvis thought so, and in 2009 wrote a whole book by that title featuring smartphone images. I tend to agree, especially when a once-in-a-lifetime moment pops up and the one thing I have in hand is an iPhone and a split-second window of opportunity. One of my most treasured images from the last decade is a discreet closeup of my mom cradling my dad’s hand as he lay dying. Captured spontaneously and non-intrusively with my cell phone from across the hospital room, it shows the depth and richness of their 75-year love story. Thankfully, the moment is ours forever because my phone was in my hand and I responded in a way that was respectful to and honoring of everyone.  The same truth holds in more everyday settings, where “smaller can be better” for the amateur or semi-pro image maker. Venues are more welcoming and subjects more relaxed when a photographer is wielding a cell phone instead of a large camera. In sen...