McKinney Photography

   My work is a hybrid of portraiture and photojournalism; the beauty of traditional
portraiture combined with the spontaneity of photojournalism. In my years of making photographs, I have found that a natural candid moment far outweighs posed portraiture in the sense of honesty that people project about themselves, and that is what draws me to that style of imagery. Walk down the street and, unknown to a person, take a picture of them doing whatever they are engaged in; then ask if you can take their picture.  The moment they are aware of the fact that they are being watched—much less photographed—their whole being changes, they pose and give you a contrived smile, revealing something other than their true selves.
   Every day in my studio, parents bring their children with the mind set of getting the perfect “model” picture, so I take the pictures they think they want.  Throughout the shooting session, I watch the child and snap pictures when they are being themselves; it is those pictures—the picture in which they are sucking their thumb, being their curious selves, or hugging their favorite blanket—that are ultimately the pictures the parents wish to have.  These are the pictures that reflect an image of the child that is closer to reality, closer to their personality, and closer to the person the parent knows and wants to remember throughout time. 
    My goal is to show consumers that there are good photographs, and then there are stunning photographs, and from my experience you can’t force a good picture of a person to happen, you have to wait for it to come to you.  I make beautiful pictures of real people, not models as stand-ins for mannequins, and in so doing I open my clients’ eyes to the possibilities for portraits that reveal the true nature of the people depicted in them.