I got a visit from some friends the other day at the studio and it led to this sort of impromptu little fun session of making some pictures and playing around with the collected props we have sitting around. I love the exploration and creativity of young people. As I sat talking about boring photo stuff with her mom, McKenna just started finding things and playing with them. I was impressed at how she transformed herself in front of the camera and didn't just start smiling goofy and posing like we mostly do do a camera---she seemed to be channelling some sort of emotion. At first I thought it was just chance that I caught her between expressions, but then she held a pose almost as if she became this other person entirely. This really took me back to when I was in art school--these sort of impromptu sessions happened all the time. We were making pictures for no other reason but exploring what was possible both as subject and as a piece of art. Some of my favorite images from back them were these spontaneous portraits and character pieces. I think I need more of this. Even though my professional approach is often the same, the intent does constrain the creative process somewhat and that willingness to just make photos for the sheer enjoyment of making something cool....now those of you who have worked with me might be scratching your head at my using the word 'constrained' - you're right--I don't really constrain myself much--if I think something will look cool I usually go for it--- but its within the scope of working with a client who needs or wants pictures. In this case we were just playing and that was somehow..... well just plain fun! And what a great subject! Afterwards her mom and I went back to talking about boring photo stuff----well we're adults and photographers so we really didn't notice it was boring stuff! Photograph by Richard Sayer.