I used my new Sony camera and am astounded at the detail it captures. I love how small it is, which makes it less obtrusive.
Category Archives: Street
Acosia Red Elk
We have so much to learn from our land’s indigenous culture.
Go to a pow wow, not only to watch the dancing, but also cross the cultural divide, dismiss any personal shyness and hesitation, and spend some time talking with someone from a tribe. Listen to their tales of history and beliefs. It’s opened my world and shifted my thinking substantially.
I can’t thank Acosia enough for letting me into a small part of her rhythmic world.
TEDxPortland Book
They wanted something with a gritty street look and feel, and requested that I send images of the “real” Portland and a few other areas: from skateboarders to drag queens to strippers to authors and everything in-between. I was also asked to create a few images for their sponsors as a thank you for their support.
This week the book will finally go to the printers and we could not be more excited to see it come hot off of the presses. The book is available only to participants of the 2014 TEDxPortland talks.
If you want to take one home with you, get your tickets here.
How Do You Like Your Cowboy?
Say hi to Cody Campbell!
Prints For Prints Team Ethiopia 2013
Here are the members of the team with links to their websites:
L-R: Heather Binns, Bill Purcell, Constance Spurling, Joni Kabana, Steve Bloch
(Photo by Ben Opsahl)
Prints For Prints: A Makeshift Studio in Rural Ethiopia
So this November, I will be traveling to Ethiopia with a small team of photographers and we will set up a small portable studio in several villages. We will capture portraits and donate the prints to the families we photograph. In addition, each US photographer will be paired with an Ethiopian photographer so there is an exchange of talents: technical skills, cultural awareness, and love for humanity.
We are planning a fundraiser to help with the costs for this project. The concept is simple: we are calling the fundraiser “Prints For Prints”, and we will auction matted prints from photo-loving friends (both amateur and professional photographers). The prints will be sold at a very reasonable “affordable art” cost ($50-100 sliding scale) during a fun and relaxed party, followed by music by Portland’s very own Ethiopian funk band: The Tezeta Band!
This event will be held on August 8, 2013 starting at 7pm at the Secret Society Ballroom and we hope you will be able to attend.
All ages welcome until 8:30pm, then it is 21+.
Follow me at @jkabana on Instagram during November to see this project in action.
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PrintsForPrints
See our Website to view all of the prints and the fabulous photographers!
Argentina: The Land Of Colors
Global Press Institute: Argentina Office
We covered camera operation, lighting, composition, aperture/shutter speeds and the psychology surrounding taking a compelling portrait.
I will truly miss being with these women, and I look forward to reading their stories and seeing the beautiful photographs they will make which will enhance their articles.

Women reporters use their new photography skills while photographing a juggler on the streets of Argentina
In Bed With A Magazine
And I am a cheap date: magazine editorial rates can pay for a few books, but hardly enough to help with college tuition for my three offspring.
But if truth be told, I do this because I repeatedly fall in love with some of the subjects. I never know when it will hit me, and it is a random thing. The way a hand brushes lint from a skirt, a pause in a spoken sentence, a flip of an attitude, a squeal of glee, one sarcastic comment.
I go home, download the images, and BAM. I am in love.
Here are a few people who have had that effect on me. There are more tucked away on external hard drives, but I snagged a few here because, well, I love to think about what they bring to the world, one small gesture at a time.
(See if you can guess who each person is. Scroll your cursor over each image for the answer.)
An author:
A girl living happily on a commune:
A beer maker and a building restorer:
The Littlest Cowboy In Frenchglen, Oregon:
A dancer:
A redneck bar stool philosopher:
An architect with a penchant for the drawing outside of the box:
Two crusty miners in Plush, Oregon:
A lovely creative force who conceived of The Girl Effect:
A bread maker:
Another author:
Workshop: Venice Beach Street Portraiture
We also built a mini outdoor studio….but the winds were so strong, we had to have body weight to hold down the sides of the black velvet material, which only added to the fun.