For the last hundred years there have been photographers creating documentary photography at museums. Famed photographer Elliott Erwitt documented so many museums around the world that he created an entire book dedicated to the subject: Museum Watchers (published in 1999). Photographing museum visitors connecting with art becomes art itself. Last week I visited the Indianapolis…
#1 “View from Lanai”January 3, 2025Camera: Fujifilm X-T20Lens: XF 23mm f/2 I’m always looking for a different perspective on the same subjects. So instead of photographing the beach straight on, I looked out the smaller window to the North. I like the geometry of the building set against the natural landscape. The lines of the…
Firelight photography gives a nice warm glow to your photos. It’s challenging to get exposure and focus locked in when you’re using a candle or campfire as your sole light source. But it’s worth the effort to learn and practice because it gives the viewer a sense of the ambiance of a place that would…
This past weekend was The Eras Tour in Indianapolis and I was THERE! Well, I was downtown documenting the scene outside the show. On Saturday, November 2, I headed to Downtown Indy with my wife and three of our kids to take them to see the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift and The Eras…
What is color photography, really? As I always say… “Color Photography isn’t about taking photos IN color, it’s about taking photos OF color.” How does color contribute to the story that I’m telling? When does it add information? When does it distract from the subject? When is color the subject itself? These are things I’m…
Photographing a Balloon Glow like Jupiter Flights at Connor Prairie is challenging due to quickly changing light conditions. Digital photography makes this much easier with instant feedback and take a lot of frames. However it is possible on film especially with an automatic mode like aperture priority.
Silver Beach Photography At the end of August, I spent the day with my family at Silver Beach on Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, MI. It wasn’t crowded since local kids were back in school. There was a breeze most of the day, so the water was a bit choppy, but it was perfect for…
The Indiana State Fair is one of my favorite places to take photos. I go each year and there’s always so much to see and do and experience! My wife and I take our 5 kids to the fair each year, so I’m there as a parent and a participant as much as a documentary…
Gregorian chants echoed off the bleachers as tens of thousands knelt in the darkness, in near-silent prayer & meditation. It was a long way from the usual stadium lights, high-energy music, and the cheering & jeering of the usual crowds at Lucas Oil Stadium. The National Eucharistic Congress was held in Indianapolis, Indiana from July…
Cars & Coffee photography is something I’ve done regularly this year. When engaging with a familiar subject, it’s important to me to keep it feeling fresh & interesting. What Can We Learn About Cars & Coffee Through Photographing the People? So this week for Cars & Coffee Photography, I decided to focus on the people…
Ballet INitiative in a nonprofit dance collective based in Indianapolis, Indiana. My introduction to their group came last winter when one of my kids was part of their annual Nutcracker with a Twist performance. The show, billed as a “feminist 1920s Nutcracker,” is primarily based in ballet, but also incorporates other styles of dance. This…
Last weekend Graham Rahal Performance hosted a cars & coffee event at their location in Brownsburg, IN. I headed out with the boys to see what we hoped would be some cool cars. We were not disappointed! We could not believe how many people showed up! And apparently they were a bit surprised as well….
We just marked the 40th anniversary of an important NASA mission. What does that have to do with photography? A LOT! Photos from NASA Mission STS-41B are some of the greatest in history! During the space mission, which took place February 3-11, 1984, astronauts completed the first untethered space walks. Even if you’ve never heard…
Dance Photography I started doing dance photography a few times a year when two of my kids started dancing. Because my love of photography is centered around storytelling, I’m looking to document the experience of dancing. I look for moments of peak action in their movements. I stand backstage with the dancers peering between the…
I’m keeping track of my 10 best photos throughout 2024. This started because I thought it would be funny to post “2024 Top 10 Photos” on January 1st, 2024 with 10 photos that I took that day. My wife, Courtney, because she’s super smart, suggested I keep this going throughout the year. So, I’ll be…
In 4 years of studying photography in college, I can’t recall learning of a single indigenous or Native American photographer. In the world of photography most indigenous people we encounter are photographed through the lens of white photographers. We can never deeply understand indigenous perspectives this way, so today I’m going to introduce you to…
This past weekend we made our sorta annual visit to Carmel Artomobilia, a car show in our town of Carmel, Indiana. As with most events I photograph, I wanted to focus on both the cars AND the people observing them. So here is my street photography approach to the car show… Related Posts If you…
Let’s go behind the scenes of a commercial photoshoot I did recently. This was a 5 day shoot at locations like small businesses in Indianapolis, homes in the city & the suburbs, and out on a family farm in Morocco, Indiana. Thanks to Young & Laramore for bringing me on for this shoot. It was…
I recently worked with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to document their Verizon 200 at the Brickyard race weekend. There were four races over the weekend and I was there taking photos of the experience. The Scene I took a documentary approach to show what it felt like to be at the track, capturing the overall…
Having lived in Indianapolis for 17 years now, I always wondered who got to drive the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Camaros I’d see around town each year starting in the spring. Well, now I know because I’m one of them! An Extremely Brief Introduction to the IMS If you’re not familiar with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway…
The Indianapolis 500 is a month-long celebration during the month of May in Indiana. This year I photographed two different perspectives on the festivities. First, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum hired me to photograph their Hall of Fame dinner two days before the race. It was an evening of racing legends, stories and a celebration…
I went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum this spring, and seeing as the Indy 500 is this weekend, now is a great time to share the photos! The winner of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race gets their name and likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy. The second place finisher gets nothing (well, some money, I suppose)….
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The Big East Esports Championship at Butler University was full of action and emotion and I was there to document it all! Scroll through the photos below and experience the story of the event as it unfolds. Related Posts For more sports & esports photography, check out these posts. You can also learn more about…
Photographing light, whether natural or manmade, goes a long way in making an interesting & engaging photo. Photography at its core is light and shadow. That’s why it’s the first thing I look for when taking a photo. March in the Midwest means a lot of gray skies. So on a rare sunny March evening,…
Work Truck Week in Indianapolis is always a joy to photograph. This year was my fourth time documenting these big big trucks inside the Indiana Convention Center. What I Look For When I take photos, I like to look for scenes and moments that are out of the ordinary. If something makes me stop and…
Creating social media content for clients using my documentary photography experience to share client products, services, and locations.
Live from _____, It’s a ZDP Photo Walk! Have you tuned in to a live photo walk yet? I’ve been a photographer for over 20 years, and photo walks (AKA wandering around with the sole purpose of taking photos) have been a regular part of my practice. But lately I’ve added a new element… broadcasting…
Snow day! That means it’s time to head outside and create some black & white photography in the snow! There was big, heavy, wet snow this morning, and I went outside to take some pretty photos and video of giant snowflakes falling. In fact, I have a nice, 60-second pretty snow video you can watch…
We’ve been anxiously awaiting the new renovations at the Carmel Clay Public Library and were excited at the opportunity to take a preview tour before the doors opened to the public. My wife and I homeschool our 5 kids, so the library is one of our most important resources. It was great getting to see…
As a photographer, I thrive on the novel. I love documenting things I’ve never photographed before. So when I was asked to photograph a ballet class, I was excited to see what I could get. This is The Ballet Studio of Carmel (Indiana) lead by Ashley Thibodeau. It was a fun class to photograph! The…
Available Light Only Documenting the mood and atmosphere of A Merry Prairie Holiday at Conner Prairie was a fun challenge as a photographer. There was a mix of light sources that ranged from candles and fires to outdoor projections to modern holiday light displays. Projection The first show we encountered was a projection on the…
Using motion blur in photography is a great way to convey action, movement, and excitement while telling a story. In this post I’ll give some examples of how I like to use motion blur. All photos here are from this year’s Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. To Pan or Not To Pan? There are two primary ways…
Beauty in the Ordinary Taking great photos of everyday scenes is something I pride myself in. I often say that while we’d all love to take photos of tropical or mountain scenes or bustling urban cityscapes, most of us don’t have the opportunity to do so more than a couple times per year (if even…
Photographing the new Butler Esports Park was my second photoshoot this year in esports. It’s been great learning about this new frontier in sports and technology. Both photoshoots have been for the architect of the new arenas, Populous. Their attention to detail is incredible and I’ve enjoyed showing it off in the photos. It’s also…
Recently I decided to take some photos as a sort of “event street photographer.” Here I’ll talk about the process and show the results! What is Street Photography? If you’re not familiar with street photography, it’s candidly documenting the everyday life and interactions of people in public spaces. Sometimes the subjects know their photo is…
Looking for the Different I’ve never been one to look for THE shot. The “hero” shot (it’s an advertising term). The postcard shot. So when I do photography at tourist locations like the Gateway Arch, I’m looking to see how many unique angles I can find. I have no illusions that I’ve taken the most…
Let’s be honest: lighthouses are freaking cool. I love the idea of 19th century ships navigating a rocky coast, relying upon some guy named Ebenezer or Ignatius to keep a lamp lit in order to avoid losing life or cargo. So yes, when visiting the Great Lakes, it’s imperative to head to the nearest lighthouse…
Photographers will wake up at 3am and hike for hours just to photograph a perfect sunrise. Some photographers. That’s not really my style. But staying in a cabin 100 yards from one of the Great Lakes? Sure, I can make a “sunrise on Lake Huron” photo story happen. Make it a story. There’s no official…
If you’ve come to my photos and videos through social media, you might be wondering “Who is Zach Dobson? What’s his deal? Does he actually know what he’s talking about?” I want to tell you about how my love for photography developed (pun not intended, but acknowledged), how it lead me to you here, and…
If you want to know what it’s like to work in commercial photography, I have some behind-the-scenes photos from a big photoshoot last week to share with you! I worked with Borshoff, an Indianapolis-based advertising agency, on a new TV and web campaign for a utility company. I was taking still photos alongside a video…
“Go big or go home,” is a saying that I heard a lot as a youth and young adult and quite frankly, it’s a bunch of bullshit. It promotes this idea that if you’re not able to do something world-altering, you just shouldn’t bother. It’s an idea I fell prey to as a young photographer….
Recently I had an opportunity to photograph something new: esports! Indianapolis played host to a 5v5 NBA2K tournament, called The Turn, in a brand new venue downtown. I was contacted by Populous, the architecture firm that designed the new space, to take photos of it in use. I had a great time seeing and documenting…
When I tell people I’m photographing a concert, their first thoughts are that I’m working for a publication or for the band itself. For me, it’s usually neither. There are a lot of people and organizations who need photos from concerts. Most often, when I’m at a show I’m working for a tourism board looking…
Hey, I was a guest on the Quinn Aden podcast! He’s a great interviewer! We talked photography, photo tech, business practices, copyright, and just generally about what it’s like to be a photographer in the world these days. Watch it below! If you’re on-the-go, it’s available on Spotify right here. We talk about copyright for…
This week I took a winter walk to shake off the Great Holiday Malaise and get back to taking some photos outside again. I like the variety of images in this series: abstract nature, people doing wintery stuff, and OF COURSE, just a couple golf balls. Hey, they were there! I had to do my…
Well, we’re back to photographing major sporting events! Here are some of my favorite photos from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, 2021. When I posted these on Instagram, I had people ask if I was shooting the race for fun. No! While it IS fun to photograph, I was hired to be there. My client is…
I’m excited to announce a partnership with my favorite camera bag brand: Think Tank Photo! I’ve been using their bags and modular system for nearly a decade, so I can say that these are the highest quality bags I’ve seen and are extremely durable. Check out the video below to see an unboxing of the…
I feel that “everyday” photography is greatly underrated. Scroll any social media feed and you’ll see plenty of tropical locations and mountain vistas, often with thousands of likes. Those photos are nice, but I want to see everyday life photographed in an interesting an engaging way. It can be beautiful or harsh or happy or…
Doing some late night photography lead to something I almost never do: using a tripod. Taking out the trash late one night, I noticed the (nearly) full moon shining down on my backyard and felt inspired to take some photos. I knew that I wanted to shoot at a lower ISO (for better image quality)…
The title of this series is 13 Minutes in the Fog: A Photographic Journey. A foggy morning is always great for making you look at your surroundings anew. So that’s just what I did this week when the fog rolled in and the scene didn’t disappoint! Inside Out I frequently look for how our inside…
Recently I did an editorial photo shoot for PUNCH magazine. They have a series profiling long-time bartenders and they hired me to photograph Chuck Sypult, barkeep at the famed Indianapolis restaurant, St. Elmo Steakhouse. In this blog post I share some of my favorite shots. They only needed one photo, a horizontal image, for the…
Stonewall Sports Indianapolis is a community sports organization for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. I went out to document opening day for their fall kickball league at Frederick Douglass Park in Indianapolis. What a fun group! There was plenty of music, customized uniforms, and not-so-subtle team names. If you’re in the Indy area and looking for…
Bloomington, Indiana is the home of Indiana University, my alma mater. I found these photos from a visit 5 years ago that I never put on the blog. This was a walk around town on a typical Friday in September. There were no special events or anything extraordinary happening. I feel like these photos are…
Today we make a return visit to the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres at Newfields in Indianapolis. For the sake of simplicity, let’s stick with calling it 100 Acres. Revisiting 100 Acres in Indianapolis allows me to explore a subject I’m drawn to frequently: the interaction between people and nature. What’s…
Seeing the peace and serenity of McCormick’s Creek State Park, it’s easy to see how this became the first state park in Indiana, founded in 1916. The spot was never destined to be harnessed commercially for its natural resources. Early efforts to build a sawmill and a quarry did not yield the hoped for results….
While visiting the Florida Keys, we decided to visit Key West for a day. It sounds a bit odd to take a day trip to a location that is nearly 1400 miles from home. But as hotel rooms were limited (and therefore EXTREMELY expensive), we thought a day trip to Key West from nearby Islamorada…
If you ever find yourself visiting Everglades national park, I HIGHLY recommend a stop at the Robert is Here fruit stand. Just 10 minutes from the park’s easternmost entrance, this stand has so many amazing fruits from all over the world, with many I can guarantee you’ve never even heard of before! Robert is Here…
Looking for a fresh perspective on my own surroundings, I created some black and white nature photography in my yard. If you enjoy photography, you likely value documenting your daily life and/or creating art on a regular basis. And while it’s great to travel to tropical beaches or vast mountain ranges, most of us aren’t…
The Everglades Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs, Florida has been an area landmark since 1936. Originally built as a roadside attraction on the highway between Tampa and Miami, today the park is a nonprofit that houses rescued birds and reptiles. Home to all types of flora and fauna native to Florida, Wonder Gardens is a…