North Shore Weather Report
June 8th, 2010
Brooke and I are exploring the north shore of Lake Superior and doing some photos. This is a beautiful place, though not quite as wild as I had imagined it would be. But there are still plenty of places to get away from the signs of civilization, which are really not all that intrusive on the natural beauty of the place.
Weather has turned out to be our biggest issue. Yesterday we spent the day trying to hide from the sun on a bright, blue-sky day. Despite that we were able to find plenty of places and times when the light was working. Like in the photo above on the shore.
Today started out pretty good with clouds, and we spent the morning exploring the Gunflint Trail north of the lake, but by the time we had stopped for lunch it was starting to rain and the rain picked up to a fairly heavy level…I don’t mind shooting in the rain, but this was enough water falling from the sky to have a negative impact on the kind of photos I am trying to make here, so we called it a day and are hoping the rain will stop by the morning.
I don’t do all that many portraits when I’m out on one of my photo trips with a model, but Brooke was looking so fine in this photo below that I couldn’t resist taking it and sharing it here. I think she was letting just a little bit of her soul show.
Field Work
June 8th, 2010
On Saturday Ken, who knows his way around the restored natural areas of Chicago, took Natalya and me out to a wetland where we could do some shooting. I think Natalya had a good time. And we got some fine photos.
Then we cleaned up and made our way to the gallery for the second opening of the show in the evening. That’s Ken and Natalya below in front of Ken’s photos at the show. The second opening was a lot quieter than the first, which was a good thing in that it was a lot better environment for actually viewing the art on display. I saw a number of people there on the second night who I remembered seeing the week before at the first opening. So I’m guessing they came back because they liked the show and wanted to get a closer look.
I left the gallery a bit early because I got up at 4 a.m. Sunday morning and drove to Minnesota where I picked up my favorite model, Brooke Lynne, and we headed off to the north shore of Lake Superior. That’s where I am now, after a day of shooting in this beautiful place with Brooke. We have a few more days of shooting ahead of us. It’s already a great trip. You’ll be seeing some of the results here, I hope. The wifi connection at the motel has been a bit weird. I couldn’t get on line yesterday afternoon, but it seems to be working fine now. So as long as I’m able to connect I’ll update the blog with our latest photos.
Starved Rock
June 4th, 2010
I had today set aside to work with Claudine. She is a great model and a great person. I try to get together with her whenever I’m in Chicago. We’ve shot several times, including last weekend, of course. Today we looked at several options and decided to head down to Starved Rock State Park. This park, of course, is one of my friend Dave Swanson’s favorite places to shoot. I’ve seen his photos, and now I’ve see the place and made a few photos of my own. It is indeed a great place.
Tomorrow I’ll be getting together with Ken and one of his model friends for a shoot in the morning. Then the second opening of the gallery show is tomorrow night. Hope to see you there.
Old Iron
June 2nd, 2010
After our opening of the show at Gallery Provocateur on Saturday night some of us got up early Sunday morning to do a shoot. I met Ken, Iona Lynn and Claudine at 8 a.m. and we headed to an old abandoned iron works that Ken knew about for a day of shooting.
It was a very hot, sunny day, which presented a bit of a challenge for making the light work. And there were lots of other folks around, it being a holiday weekend. But we managed to get a few worthwhile shots.
Tomorrow it’s back to Chicago. I’ll be shooting Claudine again on Friday and doing another shoot with Ken and several models on Saturday before we head to the opening.
And then I’ll be taking off for what promises to be a great little trip to a great out-of-the-way location with my favorite model, Brooke Lynne. More on that after it happens.
Gallery Provocateur
May 30th, 2010
Last night was the opening of my show at Gallery Provocateur. It was a great night with the gallery packed with people all evening. I’m so used to openings where a dozen or so people wander in throughout the evening that the crowds that Veronika always seems to be able to draw for her gallery shows are always a pleasant surprise.
Among the folks who were at the opening were my friend Dave Swanson and the lovely model Sarah, seen beside my part of the show in the photo above.
The opening was also a launch party for f-eleven, Volume 2, a book with some of my photos along with a bunch of really fine photographers. In the photo above is Roman, one of the other photographers in Vol. 2, Mariah who is in Vol. 2 and was also in the show at the gallery, a model who was hanging out at the gallery…can’t remember her name…, and Ken who is also in Vol. 2 and the gallery show. Note that the gallery encourages “creative attire” which Mariah took to a lovely extreme.
Another feature of the evening was a beautiful slide show of photos from f-eleven, Volume 2. I also took my copies of both Vol. 1 and 2 and put them out for folks to look through. That’s Roman’s self-portrait from Vol. 2 on the screen.
Up Close With Angie
May 25th, 2010
Here’s a shot of Angie in my studio where I continue to play around with lighting in the new setting. Angie wanted some more classic figure photos for her portfolio, so, of course, I shot some for her. I’m usually not too enthusiastic about those pretty standard studio nudes, but every once in a while, with a great model like Angie, it’s possible to do something that I like. That’s what happened here.
Don’t forget about the show opening this Saturday at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago. I hope to see a lot of friends there.
And bring your copies of the f-eleven books, both volume 1 and volume 2, and get them signed by several of the photographers in the book, including me.
My first test post
May 24th, 2010
This is my first attempt to make a post on my new blog. It doesn’t look like it will be too much of an adjustment to this new blogging system. I’m looking forward to having the blog out from under the tyranny of blogspot and google. I’ll gradually transfer my blogging over to this new location over the next few weeks and eventually stop using the old blog, once everyone has had time to change their links.
This is a photo of one of my favorite models, lovely April. I don’t get to shoot her much anymore since she moved away, but we stay in touch and get together when we can, usually working a shoot into the time together. She’s awesome.
Chicago Show Coming Soon
May 20th, 2010
Just over a week to go until the opening of my show in Chicago at Gallery Provocateur. That show has been keeping me busy getting my prints ready, and now I’ll be spending a lot of time in Chicago. The first opening is Saturday night, May 29. I’ll be there. And there’s a second opening the following Saturday, June 5. I’ll be there for that opening too. If you can make it to the show please come by and say hello.
The show at Gallery Provocateur is also serving as a launch party for the f-eleven Volume 2 book of photographs. That book as well as Volume 1, is still on sale. Bring your copies to the gallery opening and you’ll be able to get autographs from several of the participating photographers, including, of course, yours truly. For more information about the f-eleven books please visit the f-eleven books site.
Both of the openings should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.
Kelsey in NUDE Photographed by Carrie Leigh
May 17th, 2010
That’s one of my favorite models, Kelsey Dylan, as she appears in the new issue of Carrie Leigh’s NUDE magazine. The photo was taken by Carrie Leigh herself http://www.carrieleigh.com/ If you’d like to have your own copy of this issue of NUDE, pre-orders are available until May 21st at http://www.carrieleigh.com/Nstrbckiss.html
Kelsey is a great model and a delightful young woman. I was looking forward to working with her again in Seattle, but had to cancel that trip. I hope we’ll get the chance to make some more art together this summer when she is back in Ohio for a couple months.
In other news, I went to Chicago over the weekend (up and back in one day…12 hours of driving) to drop off my prints for a gallery show that will be opening on Saturday, May 29 at Gallery Provocateur. There will be a second opening on June 5. If you are in the Chicago area please try to come by and say hello. There will be a lot of art on display thanks to the several fine artists participating in this show. Hope to see you there.
The show at Gallery Provocateur is also serving as a launch party for the f-eleven Volume 2 book of photographs. That book as well as Volume 1, is still on sale. Bring your copies to the gallery opening and you’ll be able to get autographs from several of the participating photographers, including, of course, yours truly. For more information about the f-eleven books please visit the f-eleven books site.
It’s Personal
May 10th, 2010
No photo today. This isn’t about photography.
And that’s not how I do things here. I started this blog as a place to show my recent photo work and talk about what I was doing with photography. I’m not big on putting a lot about my personal life on line. But I feel I need to make an exception, so here goes.
I’ve received a lot of very nice messages and comments expressing condolences on the death of my father. Your thoughts and thoughtfulness are greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, my situation is not typical and most likely not what most of you are thinking it is. So I feel the need to explain a bit.
My father and I were not close. In fact, he wasn’t my birth father. My mother married her second husband when I was about two years old. He adopted me. But he never treated me as his son. I was just an obligation he took on when he married my mother. As a child I didn’t have the tools to understand, but I knew something wasn’t right.
As I grew up there were many conflicts between my father and myself. Eventually I started to be aware of him being cruel and abusive toward my children and I stopped taking my children to visit him. That also cut my kids off from contact with their grandmother, but I wasn’t going to allow my father to do emotional and spiritual harm to my children.
After my children had pretty much grown up I started to visit again, and even encouraged my children to visit, although they seldom did because of the toxic environment surrounding my father.
My mother died about 5 years ago. In the aftermath of my father’s death I learned, to no real surprise, that he had removed me from his will after my mother’s death. One final hurt delivered from beyond the grave.
The financial impact of that is insignificant. The insult to my mother is troubling. If I believed in heaven it would be fun to imagine her up there kicking his ass. But my children assure me that they know they have something that I have never had: a father who cares deeply about them and loves them unconditionally. So it was a small price to pay to keep them safe from the hurtfulness that I’ve had to deal with throughout my life.
So, this has been a very complicated time of grief, but also of bonding within the healthy and loving family I’ve created. Creating that family was a challenge for me since I had no role model for how to be a good father.
It’s been very hard for me to focus on much other than this for the past couple weeks. But the storm is clearing and I’m going to be getting back to work and back to blogging. I’ll have new things here again soon.
I’m concerned that this all sounds whiny and complaining. I don’t want it to sound that way. There are huge numbers of people in this world who have much more to complain about. My issues are minor in comparison. I am fortunate to have a loving wife and wonderful children. I am who I am because of all the things that have happened in my life, including my relationship with my father. And I’m pretty happy with who I am and the life I’ve made for myself. So I really don’t want to complain.
Quoting from the Desiderata:
“…Be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.”
Thank you all for being a part of my life and for caring. I’ve always been a little suspicious of the whole on-line friend thing, but over time I’ve met a lot of my on-line friends in person and I have yet to be disappointed in the people behind the web presences. You are all a bunch of great folks. Thanks.
