I got into photography as a teenager. I was intrigued with cameras, from their dials, buttons and sounds. I loved the smell of the 35mm film as it came out of the canister, especially the new film from Kodak. Kodak TMAX film. It had a sweet, punchy smell. I bit into the film from time to time to get the full smell/taste. If you know, you know.

I also liked standing in the darkroom watching prints appear in the developer with the red glow of the safelight. I spent hundreds of hours in the darkroom at school. I’m very comfortable in the dark. I do a lot of stuff in the dark. It freaks out my wife and kids sometimes. It’s totally natural for me.

I was also a very imaginative guy, I needed a place for my creativity to flow. I was also very impatient and I had an eye for design. Photography was perfect for me, the impatient creative. I’m a lifelong photographer!

I knew as a teenager that I wanted to be a photographer. I didn’t know what kind of photography I was going to do but I knew I wanted to do photography.

I went to a photography school in Santa Barbara, California from 1995 to 1998. During that time I took classes about all sorts of photography. Commercial, architectural, and portraiture.

I didn’t enjoy grinding out a day in the studio so commercial was out. I couldn’t see how I could earn a living doing architectural photography…that was out. I liked taking photos of people but I was unsure about dedicating myself to portraiture. It seemed a little boring.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do. During that time we made a visit to Wendell, Idaho. Wendell was where Sam’s Grandma Smith lived. In her family room was a wall of portraits, all 10 of her kids in suits and gowns on the year of their high school graduation.

High school senior portraits were a big thing back then. For decades getting a high quality senior photo was an important landmark in a young persons life. The portraits on Grandma Smith’s wall were from the 60’s and 70’s. The portraits had been there for decades. They were treasured heirlooms. I was amazed. I looked at those portraits and knew that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to contribute to peoples family legacies. I wanted to be a part of the great sage of life that was playing out in houses all around the world.

So I decided to pursue portraiture.

It was an amazing time. I was meeting people in the studio, meeting people at the park. Boise was a great place for portraiture back then (1998-2005). I made good money and met some wonderful people. I did hundreds of portrait sessions and delivered thousands of photos.

I had a unique opportunity to do move to California in 2005 to buy a “famous” portrait studio in San Juan Capistrano. Charis Portraiture specialized in formal studio portraits. It was another level of portraiture that I tried to conquer. But the economy died in 2008. I lost everything. Went bankrupt. It was terrible. We moved our little family back to Boise in 2009. I haven’t done serious portraiture since.

I’ve been in Boise since 2009. I run into my old Jon Ball Photography clients all the time, even 20 years later. Usually they tell me that they still have the photo I took of their family. Sometimes they’ll get my contact info and text a photo of the photo on their wall. It’s very gratifying for me. I love to see them.

I actually remember most of the portrait sessions I did back then. They’re special to me, those memories. I remember them with fondness.

I have lived long enough to see the fulfillment of the promise I made to myself to contribute to family legacies. It’s come around full circle.

I know the power of photography. It “fixes” memories, it stops time. As the years progress the photos get more valuable. The distance from the time they were taken gets greater. I was happy to be a part of that for those years.