Contact Us:

(703) 878-2587
michael@OBrienPhoto.com

About O'Brien Photography

O'Brien Photography, founded in 2002 by Michael and Christina O'Brien, specializes in black and white photography of our nation's capital. In a city dominated by federalist and neoclassical architecture, our style fits well with the monuments and structures in Washington DC. Though use of lighting, shading, and composition, we try to capture the essence of the capital city and its rich history. With all prints developed in our darkroom, we have full control over the look of our prints, allowing for dramatic scenes.

Few O'Brien prints are head-on shots. Instead, we tend to find interesting angles that better communicate the meaning of the subject. Our prints especially make use of shapes and textures to convey different feelings.

In this era of digital photography, people are sometimes surprised that we still use film. Yet, we would not be able to produce the same quality prints with a digital camera. For example, one would need a 60 megapixel digital camera to equal the resolution of our medium format camera (35mm film would require a 20 megapixel camera). To put this in perspective, high-end digital cameras cost well over $1,000 and provide only 5-6 megapixels.

Another reason we use film is because we like to capture specific moments in time. When you see an O'Brien photograph, you are seeing what we saw the moment we took the picture. We haven't removed objects (such as people, trees, construction equipment), or in any other way manipulated our prints, except for adjusting contrast, and burning and dodging (emphasizing or de-emphasizing different objects by adjusting how much time light hits a particular area of the photo paper). With digital you can change reality, which makes it border on a whole new art form.

Michael started to take photography seriously in junior high school. By high school he was winning national awards, working for the local newspaper, and photographing weddings. Having started college as a photography major he improved his technical understanding of the art (he eventually graduated with a political science degree). Four years ago, Michael's interest in photography reemerged after he built a darkroom in his house. Since then, he has taken thousands of pictures around Washington and started O'Brien Photography.

Christina runs the business side of O'Brien Photography, as well as performs all post-production work (matting, framing, etc.). In our first year of business, O'Brien Photography has sold hundreds of prints and have been accepted at numerous juried craft shows, including the Occoquan crafts shows.

Some view black and white as old fashioned and outdated. This would be like saying the cello is old fashioned and outdated since there have been numerous instruments invented since. Just as rock music does not compete with with classical music, color photography and digital photography are their own art forms, and do not compete with black and white. Unlike color, black and white photography has a unique ability to evoke different moods and emotions. Since we do not see in black and white, our brain is forced to interpret the print -- this is where the creativity in black and white lives. Black and white is also more three dimensional, since contrasts and shades give a much more accurate depiction of depth. In B&W, lines and shapes take on a much more prominent role, helping to communicate much deeper concepts.

We hope that our pictures bring you enjoyment and inspire you to take some of your own.

This is a photograph of our 10x10 booth setup that we use at shows.