Soul or System Photography

10/20/2026

I’ve been so busy behind the camera lately, but I just had to take a quick "paws" to share this adorable family portrait! 🐾

There is nothing quite like the unconditional love of our best friends that completely make my heart swell. 🤎

👇 Drop a picture of your fur-babies in the comments below! I want to see them!

10/12/2026

Ever notice how many outdoor portraits feature a completely blank, white sky, even on a beautiful day?

Snapping a photo is just taking what the environment gives you. Creating an artistic portrait requires technique.

Natural light forces a heavy compromise. It doesn't allow for beautiful skin, proper shadows, and a vivid, properly exposed scene all at once. Balancing the intense midday sun or a vibrant sunset while keeping your subject flawlessly illuminated doesn't happen by accident.

The path to 10,000 hours of practice and the expenses of the right gear is totally worth it!

Your senior or family photos only capture one moment and stage of life. It deserves a portrait that captures the whole view.

09/25/2026

Friday night lights hit a little different when it's Homecoming. 🏈✨

Huge congratulations to Eli on being voted Homecoming KING!

From dominating on the field to representing his senior class, he’s making this a season to remember.

Good luck to Eli and the Mustangs in the big game tonight! Go get that W! 🎯

09/21/2026

Your Story = Pure Cinema 🎬🔥

Senior photos don’t have to be boring—and honestly, they shouldn’t be. Your milestone portraits should reflect who you are, what you love, and the passion you put into your craft in an epic, unforgettable way.

Stepping into challenging environments like this to capture live fire in a tight space requires a bit of technical know-how. Balancing the elements is a delicate dance; you have to use at least one flash to properly expose the subject, but that artificial light naturally wants to compete with the ambient glow of the torch.

Crafting the lighting setup perfectly so you leave yourself with a clean, dynamic image designed for creative freedom in the editing room. From there, it's all about taking an already epic shot and elevating it in post-production to create a final piece that truly stands out.

⚡ Curious how we can bring your own passions to life? Let's chat!

09/17/2026

How THIS became THAT. 🪄📸

Now that the "When I Grow Up: Conversations Across Time" gallery has officially opened, I’m finally catching my breath—and looking back at the journey to get here. I wanted to pull back the curtain and show you a little bit of the magic behind the final pieces.

The image on the left is the RAW file straight out of the camera. As a photographer, capturing a scene means balancing what’s in front of the lens with the technical gear needed to make it happen. Those studio lights and structural gaps are essential for getting the exposure and positioning exactly right. And while seeing the entire, unedited environment is interesting to look at, it can't be the final product when you're aiming for a specific artistic narrative.

By building up layers, blending textures, and refining the finest details of the set, the artwork on the right comes to life. Because the gallery specifically required a portrait aspect ratio, I actually had to adapt this landscape crop into a vertical frame for the physical show. It's just one more puzzle piece in the meticulous process of fine art photography, but seeing the final result on a gallery wall makes every single step worth it!

Mikki & Harlow—thank you both for sharing your light and glowing in front of the lens.

Did you expect the unedited studio setup to look so different from the final piece? Let me know your thoughts below! 👇

09/16/2026

It has been an absolute honor to capture the transformation of the Linn Creek District over the years.

Seeing an idea on paper evolve into the beautiful Emerson Bridge and Ann C. Keyser Trailhead shows what happens when a community believes in a shared vision.

Thank you to the Arts + Culture Alliance for trusting me to document these incredible milestones. Check out the video to see just how far we’ve come! 🌟🎥

09/15/2026

Behind the lens at Fizz & Fiction: From Theory to Live Shoot 📸✨

🎓 Had an incredible time hosting our all-encompassing photography masterclass at Fizz & Fiction!

📚 We covered a ton of ground together—diving into everything from the history of photography and core composition rules to deep-dive technical aspects, famous photographer breakdowns, and lighting schematics.

💡To wrap it all up, we got the students hands-on and in front of the camera for a live shoot. We focused on manipulating ambient and added light to create these dramatic, cinematic portraits right in the space. Everyone brought such amazing energy to both the theory and the creative ex*****on!

🥂 A huge thank you to Fizz & Fictionfor hosting us and providing the perfect backdrop for this workshop, and to the Arts + Culture Alliance for making this workshop possible

✉️ If you missed out on this experience or want to book a private, personalized session at my studio or on location, shoot me a DM—let’s create something incredible together!

09/14/2026

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I usually pass out the second I step foot into a medical environment. 🛑🚑

But when Iowa Valley Community College District asked me to capture their incredible nursing program, I knew I had to channel my inner George Clooney and sprint down those emergency hallways like I was filming an episode of ER. Happy to report that the adrenaline pulled me through—and I successfully avoided any real IVs!

Huge thank you to the team at Iowa Valley, Marshalltown Community College and their phenomenal marketing crew. You are absolute rockstars and amazing collaborators. Thank you for trusting me to bring this vision to life!

Check out the final cut below! 🎬👇

09/02/2026

📸🖼️🖤

Thanks ACA!

08/31/2026

A huge thank you to the Times-Republican and Robert for the fantastic coverage, as well as to my models and everyone who came out to enjoy the space.

It was truly amazing to see adults and kids playing my childhood video games together, and to witness people spending so much time examining and contemplating the portraits.

The energy was incredible—there was endless laughter, deep conversation, and even some tears of emotion as people connected with old memories or saw their loved ones on the gallery walls.

None of this would be possible without Amber and Kelbryn with the Arts + Culture Alliance. Please connect with and support them.

Adults of a certain age -- namely, this author's -- could be forgiven for believing they'd accidentally stumbled into a time machine as they entered the opening of local artist Austin Chadderdon's "When I Grow Up' portrait exhibit at the Arts + Culture Alliance building on West Main Street Friday night.

The room, which was packed to the brim, was adorned with all sorts of nods to childhood in the 1990s, from the Nintendo 64 and VCR players to Kodak film cameras to board games like Battleship and Guess Who and even era-appropriate refreshments in the form of Lunchable style crackers, Fruit Roll Ups and Gatorade in a can.

The centerpiece of the exhibit was the namesake "When I Grow Up" portraits created by pairing children with adults who bear a striking resemblance to each other despite having no real-life connection. Adult participants included Black Iron Barbell Owner Jake Reynolds, Marshalltown Police Department Capt. Sadie Weekley, renowned Mexican folk dancer Bertha Santillan and postal carrier/artist Josh Cox, and the frames were created by another local artist, John Eich.

Link: https://tinyurl.com/3txrfnn9