What happened at the Authentic Portrait Workshop (and why I can't wait to do it again).

A couple weeks ago, I got to spend the day doing one of my favorite things: helping fellow photographers find new ways to give their portraits some extra zing. The Authentic Portrait Workshop wasn’t about settings or gear — it was about seeing differently, (Elliott Erwitt says, it’s not about what you see, but how you see), connecting more deeply, and creating portraits that actually feel like something. (Sign up for our newsletter to be notified next time we do the workshop).

This workshop was built for photographers who already know the basics but are ready to move past the safe pictures and the low hanging fruit — the stuff that’s technically fine but sometimes a little lackluster, maybe a little forgettable — and into portraits with more soul and grit and heart.

In an email a few days before, in letting them know what to expect, I asked them to show up with an open mind. They did. They all did. They all came ready to push themselves and it showed.


We talked about some basic stuff, sure — but we also talked a lot about body language, rhythm, gestured and expressions, how to direct without over-directing, how to get someone to drop their "photo face" and just be human in front of the camera. It’s a process and it takes a little work but more than that, it takes a shift from the way most photographers approach portraits. I did a little demo that showed my approach, then let them loose to try it on their own.

There were so many elements of the day that I loved:

• Watching someone adapt their shooting approach mid-session and suddenly seeing a new way they’re excited about.

• Seeing photographers encourage each other, take creative risks, and actually play again. Not everyone that comes to this workshop is a working photographer, but the majority are, and some come feeling like the excitement and shine of shooting has started to fade. It’s so great to see that shine show up again for them.

• I heard more than once, “This is the kind of work I’ve been wanting to make!”

I finished the day feeling so inspired by all of them. Their energy was contagious.

Teaching this workshop reminded me why I care about portraits in the first place and why I rarely get tired of looking for, chasing that split second where someone looks a certain way, gestures, make a certain expression that start to show something that feels real.

I’m already dreaming up what the next version of this could look like and I can’t wait for when that day comes around. That’s likely going to be next winter, at the beginning of the year but this one sold out so fast I have been thinking of doing another one in the late summer or fall. If any of this resonates with you, if you’ve been craving more honesty, more spark, and more you in your portraits — I’d love to have you there next time. Here’s a form to add your name to my mailing list which is where I’ll announce the next one.

Workshop attendees and the models everyone had a chance to photograph

After the workshop, some emailed with some really kind words regarding their time.

One said:

Wonderful, just absolutely so good. Thank you for this special time of learning, a peek into your world, how you treat people and for the support and encouragement. You gave us your all and you're still doing that by sending additional insight and practices. And the photos you took of us! You have a giving heart and that is what I walked away seeing. You are an amazing, skilled photographer but how you treat people and connect is your "secret sauce".

Another said:

This workshop was a pivotal moment in my career as a photographer. You provided us all with actionable steps to achieve the kind of authentic portraits we all admire from your work. I learned so much and I'm so excited to implement the things I learned. Thanks Justin!

How helpful are photography "rules"

The other day I was showing some pictures, and on one of the images I was showing, someone made a comment. They praised the tones, the exposure, stuff like that, all the technical choices—but not a peep about how it made them feel.

And I get it—sure, rules matter. But they’re not the point of the whole thing. They’re just a framework, a scaffolding to create something that moves you. They hold the thing together but they aren't the thing.

Nobody remembers a perfect histogram but they do remember the image that stayed with them. The image that made them feel something.

I was bewildered by that comment and didn't know how to respond. I just said Thank you. And I hope one day, that person will ease up on policing the rules, keep appreciating their purpose since they do serve a purpose, and start seeing photography the way it was meant to be seen—for the joy of it all, the story that's embedded, and hopefully, the emotion.

This picture isn't even in focus!

This picture isn’t even in focus!

You can’t even see this person’s face!

Portrait of Lori Nay, the Mayor of Gunnison

Meet Lori Nay, Mayor of Gunnison, Utah.

I met Lori’s daughter Amy a few years ago when I spent three days doing headshots for all the employees at Fox 13 in Salt Lake (Amy’s one of the evening anchors, there). Then Amy, bless her heart, told her mayor mother to come to me for her official mayor portrait. She’ll choose from the images I send her which one will hang in the hall at their city office building along with all the other mayor portraits from years past. There will be one difference with this portrait, however. Lori is the first woman mayor in the town history.

We had a lovely time talking about small towns and I asked her why she’s so darn ambitious. I told her meeting people like her and being able to photograph people like her, is the reason I love being a photographer.

Musician portrait - Robert Loud

The very cool and multi-talented musician, Robbie Connolly, or if you want his stage name, it’s Robert Loud, or, if you want to just address his hair, it’s Hair Majesty (his hair doesn’t really have a name, but maybe it should and it should be Hair Majesty.

Robbie is working on new music and came to the studio to be photographed, accompanied by his wife, the also very cool Caitlin Connolly.

Caitlin had very specific ideas about what she was looking for and how she wanted these portraits to look. Her most specific request was that the whole thing be shot on film. And while I cut my teeth learning about photography back in the film days, long before anyone had heard of a digital camera, and while I still shoot film on a regular basis both for myself and for clients, it has been a few years since I shot an entire job on film, without shooting a single shot on digital. I was happy that’s what they were looking for and excited to go for it. It was also a bit like a tight-wire act, without being able to see a single frame that we had shot. .

The pictures were taken at my studio in Provo, UT. I shot four rolls of Kodak TMax 400, and the camera I used was the good old Contax G2 with both a 50mm lens and a 28mm lens, which I’ve had since back in the day when I would shoot a whole job on that thing.

Thanks Robbie for hiring me to make some album art for you, thanks Caitlin for being an inspired guide and art director through this, and thanks Scout Smith for assisting that day. We make a great team, the four of us.

Family studio portrait

I’m not sure how other family portrait photographers run things, but around here, we invite people to come to the studio to view their images a couple weeks after the pictures have been taken. We put them up on a big screen so the client can see the images big, in all their glory, instead of looking at them on a tiny screen. We offer digital files, books, and prints, and we really focus on the value of a tangible, printed piece that will last for generations.

When Brett and Beth hired me to photograph their family, they weren’t entirely sold on the print idea and mostly just wanted digital files. Well, they came back to the studio to view their family pictures and I sometimes say my goal is open weeping for people looking at their pictures. I’ll just say, that goal was achieved that day and the ended up getting a good amounts of prints including a big honker for their wall.

There’s just something about a printed photograph.

Michelle Quist

I’ve known Michelle Quist for many years, now, and have photographed her a number of times. I was so excited to hear she was running for Attorney General in Utah. She would be the absolute best. at that job. On account of her running such a campaign, she needed updated headshots to go along with all the campaign content and material she would be putting out. I was honored to photograph her and welcome her back to the studio in Provo.

The site for her campaign can be seen here, if you care to take a look: https://www.michelleforutah.com/

Gabrielle Blair

Here’s Gabby Blair.

Back in 2010 or so, Gabby started a conference called Alt Design Summit. It’s been going on ever since and attracts the very best crowd, women who are both dreamers AND doers. They have great ideas and get things done.

It’s a great conference, because it was started and is led by a great person.

I’ve been at every Alt and have loved my association with it, and those who I have met, there. I used to go and photograph the whole conference, speakers and attendees interaction and what it felt like to be there. However, for the past few times I’ve been, my role has been to make portraits of the attendees and if you care to take a look, here’s one picture of everyone I photographed at the 2024 conference.

Birthday self portraits

Yesterday, on my birthday, I did what I’ve been doing on my birthday for at least ten years. I took as many self portraits as the age I turned. This year I’m 56, so I took 56 self portraits. It’s hard (for me) thinking up that many new pictures every time, so there are some repeated ideas from previous years. But there is something new. This year I wanted to ask strangers if they’d be in a picture. So, there’s some strangers in this year’s self portraits, and some familiar faces with friends. This might be my favorite year, yet. Every year, I wonder if this is the last year I’ll do this. I don’t know. I guess we’ll cross that bridge a year from now. For now, I’ll be glad I had the time to do this again.


Click any image to view it larger

If you want to see previous years, here are the images from the following ages:

2023 - Age 55

2022 - Age 54

2021 - Age 53

2020 - Age 52



That time Calvin + Olivia got married in Hawaii

In 2014 I photographed a lovely wedding in New York City. The bride, Aly Keller. She’s amazing and the wedding was perfect. A couple times since then, I’ve photographed the family and I got to spend some time around them all, including the youngest in the family, Calvin, who’s not so young any more. He’s old enough to get married, in fact. So I was pleased as punch when he texted and said he wanted me to photograph their wedding, and I wasn’t mad when he said it would be in Hawaii in February. A fun coincidence, because Hawaii is just where I would want to be in February.

To make it even better, my wife Amy was able to join me and after the wedding we stuck around for a few days to soak up some sunburns.

The wedding was at the Oahu LDS Temple and the party was at Kualoa Ranch. Because everyone involved was traveling from somewhere other than Hawaii, it was a small guest list. Very intimate and special. One of my favorite weddings of all time. Congratulations Olivia and Calvin.

Just before they got married

"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still." - Dorothea Lange.

I love the power a photograph can take on, and it’s ability to immortalize a moment from the past. Here’s Landon and Brinley, married now, but they weren’t just yet when these pictures were taken. Some day Landon and Brinley will have kids, and maybe those kids will look at these pictures, the beginning of their parents love story, and get a little insight into what their parents were like when they were younger.

The images are nice to view, now, but just think of what they’ll mean in 50 years from now.

I’m sure this is probably quite obvious, but I just really love photography. I know—duh! I love looking at photographs, I love taking photographs, and I particularly love family pictures because they just become more valuable as the days go by.

Some advice: Go take a picture of your family today, your phone will do, and then— and this is the important part, go make a real nice print of it and keep it somewhere safe where it will last and last, and be seen many years from now.

Shaun Johnson

If you’re not already following Shaun Johnson on Instagram then that’s really your top priority today, but only if you like to laugh.

We had a great time when he came to the studio to be photographed. And we laughed. Well, I did. Like crazy.

Headshots for actress Suzanne Pereira

Suzanne Pereira lives in NYC but was in town filing a movie. Luckily we found a time while she was in Utah when she could come to my studio in Provo to be photographed. Suzanne is a delight, just pleasant as can be, and easy to photograph. We had never met but it turns out, we know a handful of the same people. I do hope our paths cross again.

My approach and philosophy for family portraits

I’ve always loved this quote from Peter London in his book “No More Secondhand Art”, he says, “It is not beauty we are after, but meaning. Big, deep, wide meaning.” That strikes a chord. While I sure appreciate aesthetically pleasing moments with family pictures, my primary aim is to capture authenticity and something that is true, and I value that over an idealized version that might not actually exist in real life. So, I look for genuine, unscripted connections that not only look amazing, but are real. And heartfelt. So, if you are looking for a family portrait that gets at the depth of your family’s story, let’s chat. — All that said, I just got some film back from my time with Shay and Ryan and I think this image gets at the heart of what I’m talking about.

Demi Tebow

Demi Tebow is rad. (Miss Universe 2017, for one thing). She’s cheerful, kind as can be, and a real pro. She was up for whatever we asked. She made the shoot feel like a real collaboration and gave it her all to get the best images we could. This shoot was for Mixhers, a company that is made up of some of the best people I’ve ever worked with. The founders are amazing, I love the company mission, and the folks they hire are just the sort of people you’d want to spend all day with.

Kirby Heyborne portrait

I’ve known about Kirby Heyborne for a long time and always secretly wanted to be his friend because he just seems like the coolest person around. Well, as it turns out as I am so often, I was correct in my assessment. He IS the coolest person around. Here’s a portrait I made of him when he came to the studio a while ago.

Among all the other things Kirby is doing these days, he is the host on a BYUTV show called Making Good and if you want to feel like there is some goodness in the world, if you want to see something that will make you laugh and make you cry and make you feel good inside, then you should watch his show. Here’s where you can see all the episodes. www.byutv.org/making-good

Quarenteens exhibit!

The very kind and exceptional painter Pam Beach asked me if I wanted to collaborate with her on a portrait project and I said yes. I would have said yes no matter what her idea was, just so I could work on a project with Pam Beach. (https://www.pamelabeachart.com/)

For this collaboration, we interviewed ten kids who were teenagers at the time of the Covid lockdown and asked them about their experience during all that. Then we made some art in a response to what we heard them say. I took pictures, Pam painted their portrait. Last week was the opening of the show and it will be up for another month.