Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. The holiday originated as a Western Christian feast day to honor one or two early saints that were named Valentinus.

My friend Rick Sammon likes to say that, “The Camera Looks Both Ways.” While I ponder the existential nature of my friend’s quote, I also wonder what today’s featured portrait says about me other than just trying to make the best possible photograph, which is my typically goal during these kinds of glamour photography sessions.

Once upon a time, one of my car enthusiast friends told me that he believed that a clean car—he was speaking of Porsches, in particular—ran better and faster than a dirty one. While on the face of it that doesn’t seem likely, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

A funny thing happened when I had my hand surgery a few years ago. Photographers from all around the country who I didn’t even know,contacted me with stories about their own hand surgeries.

In my book Studio Lighting Anywhere I quote Richard Avedon who once said, “I think all art is about control—the encounter between control and the uncontrollable.” That’s what a dedicated studio, no matter what size it may be or where it may be located, can offer a photographer.