i heart faces . dramatic b&w

I heart faces is having a contest this week about dramatic b&w photos, when I read about it this photo popped into my head so I had to enter (and the fact that the awesome Tara Whitney is the guest judge is really cool)

I love this photo for so many reasons. It was taken with my Pentax 35mm film camera when I first started taking portraits so it's grainy and rough around the edges which I think adds to the photo. Alysia was my first client and one of my favorites ever she was up for any cooky ideas I had and some of my favorite photos I've ever taken are of her. To me this photo is what a deployment feels like, we're just loving our men (or women) and waiting for them to come home. This photo makes me miss film even more, hopefully I'll be able to pull the darkroom equipment out of my parents basement and set up a little darkroom soon, hopefully.