Personal background
Kirk Donaldson lives in Michigan. He is a dentist. He is a self-taught photographer. Kirk considers himself as a hobbyist but his photographs are all over his dental office and they just feel professional. He started taking photos in high school, developing his own black and white film and printing. He stopped for about 20 years when he got to college but started again when he took a trip to Guatemala.
Style
Most of his photos are candid or of nature or architecture. Be takes lots of pictures in the moment without a set plan so they very in style. Most of his photos have this controlled chaos. He loves to take photos of dance and nature the most. He loves to experiment with the blurriness of the background for photos centered around people. Kirk loves to focus on what the light and shadows are doing in his photographs.
Philosophy
He uses his photos to tell stories or to document events. He captures true memories in his photographs. Somes times he's capturing beauty. Sometimes they're statements. Sometimes it's a record. All of his photos are out of respect for the dignity of what he is capturing.
Influence
Kirk is very influenced by nature. He travels a lot and that influences him and it's shown in his photos. He's also influenced by people and dance. He has a whole section in his portfolio with multiple parts just for dance. Most of the photos that he takes are out in nature or in the city.
When I was looking through my house for a plant that was most similar to the plank Kirk used, I found this fake plant that I keep on my desk. I tried my best to have my image match Kirk's by messing with the contrast, exposer, light, curves, ect. I wasn't able to get my photo exactly how I wanted it but I got close.
When taking this photo I had used a lamp to create the translucent petals. When I was editing the photo I increased brightness and exposure to make the petals brighter.
I was on a hiking trip with my grandpa and I took this photo. I messed around with filters and lighting to get this photo as close as I could get it to to the original photo. I think I got this photo pretty close to the original.
Sources:
1. personal interview
2. personal interview
3. personal interview
1. personal interview
2. personal interview
3. personal interview
Images: