©J. Brett Whitesell/UGILocation portraits are always a challenge, none harder than in the winter. Many photographers simply close up shop in bad weather. Use the winter scenes and make the best of a bad situation with great back rounds, lighting, and props.

Virginia High school Championship Rodeo ©J. Brett Whitesell/UGIShooting individual, isolated portraits at an event is not uncommon. At a rodeo it was an absolute hoot. Some of my best journalistic portraits and action at a most unlikely place. Also some of the most fun I have had as a photographer. See others in gallery.

Rock Creek, TN. ©J. Brett WhitesellJust when you have forgotten how nice film was.................

©J. Brett Whitesell/UGIWinter fog in the mountains of Southwest Virginia.

©J. Brett Whitesell/UGI

 Much of my portraiture over the past 20 years or so has been coaches, players, sometimes police, and security. There were also dignitaries and personalities that needed to be photographed. Much of the time they were moving, as they should be. In a great many of these cases long telephoto lenses were already out and being used.

I got used to shooting individual portraits with 300 mm and 400 mm lenses. The more I used them the more I liked the photographs I was getting. Here is Lili. Shot with a Canon 300 2.8 and a 1.4 converter.

It doesn't get much better than this.