Most of my photography has been shot in color, but I’ve always held black and white photography in high regard. It’s in my roots. Early on I used black and white films almost exclusively, then later concentrated more in color.

In the normal course of shooting, I’d occasionally shift back to black and white. Like the time a good friend asked me to take a portrait of her daughter. Lucy was around 3 years old. We went to a wooded lot in Hatteras Village, and Lucy was on her own time and mood. We had to work around her reactions to the camera. 

Children that age have short attention spans and photographing them can be challenging. On my knees at her level, we tried different poses. Results were mediocre. Then something happened. When Susan, standing by me, said something, Lucy spun her head around, smiled, and I quickly hit the shutter. It felt good so we stopped after only ten exposures. 

I used Kodak Panatomic-X film rated at ISO 32 processed in homemade Dektol developer. Then I made her a beautiful print on Agfa Portriga, my favorite paper.

That was over 40 years ago. I wonder where Lucy is today.