The Golden Hour

The Golden Hour is Dead. Long Live the Golden Hour!

2009-10-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

Hello all of my favorite people. I am writing to inform you that this is the last post on my blogspot hosted blog.

Check out http://melissagolden.visualsociety.com/ for all future updates in a much sleeker, multimedia-friendly format.

I transferred a handful of posts to their new home, but will keep this blog on life support so that my archives will continue to exist in the internet ether if anyone cares to look.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Car Columnist Joseph White for the Wall Street Journal

2009-10-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

I came back early from a marvelous weekend at the PDN Expo in New York (where I picked up a few new secret weapons) to shoot a job for the Wall Street Journal. I woke up extra early to drive into DC to follow WSJ senior editor, automotive industry reporter and columnist Joseph White as he commuted to and from work without a car. After recently moving to the District from a lovely Detroit suburb where he drove to work every day, Joe is slowly readjusting to the new lifestyle of a much smaller loft-style home, no car of his own (he used to have a WRX Impreza- even I'm sad he had to sell it) and a commute that includes squeezing onto trains with the unwashed, sneezing, coughing, headphone-noise-leaking masses. In the evenings, he can walk a few blocks to his neighborhood grocery store with a sporty little red cart and load up on fresh foods.
The WSJ did a great job of putting my pictures in an online gallery to accompany the column.
Check it out!

Frank Kratovil for TIME

2009-10-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

It's rare that I get to shoot anything outdoors anymore but the other week, I got a call asking me to spend the day following freshman congressman Frank Kratovil around his district. It was almost entirely outdoors on a glorious day. I even got a sunburn.

Blue was definitely the color of the day and reporter Jay Newton-Small was the hero of the day when she let me drive her audi while she interviewed the congressman in his car on the way to his son's peewee football game. Check out her great article here.

White House for TIME

2009-10-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was asked to show up at the White House to spend the day covering for another photographer who couldn't make it for the obligatory pool coverage. I was more than happy to oblige, and thankfully I wasn't thrown into the deep end. It was a slow day at La Casa Blana as evidenced by my wandering around the grounds and taking pictures of nothing in particular- which is always an absolute pleasure for me.

I caught a glimpse of Bo between buildings. Some guy was walking him. I wonder if there is an official White House dog walker or if some staffer's responsibilities were expanded to include the regular walks?

There is a small army of television cameras set up on one end of the North Lawn. I presume they are there for the requisite live shots for the nightly news broadcasts. I think they're there rain or shine. This photo doesn't show the full extent of this army, just a sliver through the landscape.

The president was engaged in television interviews all day. This is a picture of some of the equipment / wardrobe in the queue to get in.

A pretty happy looking White House worker caught me sneaking a shot of him from a distance. I like the angle and if I ever get the chance, I'd like to use that particular background for a portrait. I'm always scouting.

The first lady gave a policy-support speech on her husband's healthcare reform efforts. It lasted a little long for me and I couldn't get up and leave, so I got a little out there with my shots in an effort to stave off boredom. This one is of her reflection in some glass.

Same room, same glass, just a wider angle lens and focused on the audience.

To my knowledge, nothing particularly historic or important happened while I was there, but it was an honor to be there on call, just in case...

Ron Paul for Time

2009-10-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

The lighter side of Ron Paul on white seamless.

The darker, more contemplative side lit by glorious congressional window light.

Website Update!

2009-09-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Mosey on over to melissagolden.com to see a new addition to my website. I now have a Recent Work section featuring two new galleries.

The first one is from the 2009 Air Guitar Championships, which was previously featured on the blog, but the second gallery is from my trip down to Florida where I took in the majesty of The Holy Land Experience. It was indeed quite the experience. Check it out!

Congressman Charles Rangel for TIME

2009-09-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

I shot my first assignment for TIME Magazine back in July. They asked me to shoot a portrait of Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) in the morning and then follow him around for a few hours. To me, this is the best kind of assignment. You get to know your subject a little bit and engage one-another for the duration of the portrait session and then for the documentary part, everybody is more relaxed and you're more likely to catch genuine moments.
I showed up to Congressman Rangel's office bright and early and then waited with my assistant for 3 hours as his scheduled was continuously pushed back. This turned out to be a good thing as it gave us plenty of time to determine location and lighting. When the Congressman did show up, he was generous with his time, giving me half an hour for the shoot and he was amenable to all suggestions. Thirty minutes may not sound like a lot of time, but for people with important jobs and places to be, it's an eternity. I'm lucky to get 5 minutes with some of my subjects. Because of all the time we had to set up, I was able to shoot him in six or seven different places around his very interesting office.

This one went over well with the editors and was shot in this style per their request.

But it lost out to this one in the end. They only had a vertical space to work with, so they ended up cropping out some of my favorite elements of the picture, but such is life. I work for them, not vice versa. Whatever makes them happy makes me ecstatic.

This was another one of the setups. I was a fan of the blue carpet and the sailboat.

We moved to the couch for a little window-light action. I'm always drawn to natural light and windows usually provide the best in any given space. The Congressman eased himself down onto the couch and then for a split second, let a little weariness show. Given his role in congress and in the healthcare reform debate, I'm surprised he's not completely wiped out. No, no, he was as energetic and lively as a 76-year-old man could be. I bet he could beat my time in a mile run, too.

Being from New York, he was visited by both the Governor and the State Comptroller. I got to tag along and watch him engage with both of them. There was a little side-meeting with the governor and I snuck into the room to take a few shots. They were talking politics behind closed doors and it was a wonder to be in the room. Photographers are usually not privy to such things. When the governor (who is blind) heard me move around, he gave the Congressman a quizzical look. Rangel then says to him, "Don't worry, that's just Melissa from Time. She's deaf."

That I am, Congressman, that I am.

Law and Order Superfan for TV Guide

2009-09-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

I photographed Law and Order superfan Cassandra Ramirez for a special L&O edition of TV Guide. It turns out the show has quite the rabid following, with collectors snatching up rare items from the show on ebay and other venues. Cassandra had quite the collection, which I tried my best to fit into one frame to show the extent of her devotion. While I'm not a regular viewer of the show or any of its spinoffs, I do know that it has one of the best theme songs in the history of television. If you live under the sea and haven't heard it, it goes exactly like this: Duh DUH da da da da daaaaaaa, Duh DUH da da da da daaaaaaa daaa waa waa wa wa waaaaaah.

As a special note to all my fabulous fans (hi grandma!) I'll be updating the blog with all of my assignments from the past few months. There have been some good ones, so check back often.

Air Guitar!

2009-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

I recently got to shoot the 2009 US Air Guitar Championships for the Associated Press. It was totally awesome and totally metal. Who needs real guitars when you're faced with talent and showmanship like this?

Ryan Layman, stage name Stryker / Dreamcatcher, of Denver, Colo. smashes beer cans together during his set. My camera got a little sip, but I can't complain too much.

Cami Phillippi, stage name Airisol, of Minneapolis, Minn. She brought some gymnastic / acrobatic talent to the stage and was my personal favorite of the night. She was robbed.

Justin Hypes, left, stage name Steve Lavender, of San Francisco, Calif., reaches out to an audience member during a free-for-all audience participation air guitar version of the song "Free Bird." This was by far the coolest part of the night. Everyone totally let loose and hammed it up.

Matt Cornelison, stage name Romeo Dance Cheetah, of Chicago, Ill. gestures post-performance. I loved this guy's costume. My eyes were drawn to his... belt for most of the night.

Andrew Litz, stage name William Ocean, of New York, N.Y., poses for a picture after winning the 2009 US Air Guitar Championships. He did rock it out pretty hard and involved the audience with gusto.

Lance Kasten, stage name Shred, of Severna Park, Md., throws up the sign of the beast post-performance. 'Nuff said.

Ain't I Artsy?

2009-08-06T10:19:00.000-07:00

All the way back in December, Pete gave me a Holga camera for Christmas. I thought it was a lovely gesture, but frankly, I was afraid of this little toy plastic film camera. I shot a few frames, but without the instant gratification provided by my digital cameras, I was not in a hurry to see the shitty results of my labor. I finally got my first roll developed at the end of July, and while half the pictures were black because I had to open the back of the camera to fix a problem inside the camera, I was pleasantly surprised by the pictures that came out. They had character imbued by cheap optics and light leaks. Ultimately, I found it all rather charming and my Holga will now accompany me to regular photoshoots.

Sapelo

2009-07-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

A slice of life on the island.

Metafilter Holla!

2009-07-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

I went to a local meetup recently for the 10th anniversary of my all time favorite community blog, Metafilter. It was surreal seeing my secret internet "friends" in real life. I half suspected the website was actually populated by clever, snarky bots. The folks were quite lovely and it was nice hanging out with other unabashed geeks.
A well-lit wall caught my eye and I was inspired to do an impromptu portrait session for a few minutes before I had to skedaddle.

5th of July

2009-07-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

I spent the 5th on the water in Clearwater, Fla. It's a happy, lovely place.

Scenes from the 4th

2009-07-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

I spent the 4th of July in St. Petersburg, Florida. They put on a good show.

Road Trip Part 1

2009-07-05T09:53:00.001-07:00

I recently purchased a new car. I'm quite enamored of my Hyundai Sonata and I wanted to see how she handled on a longer haul than my commute into DC. This is my new car parked on my street under a lovely summer sky.
It wasn't difficult to decide on a route. DC to Atlanta to Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga to St. Petersburg, FL to Orlando to Jacksonville to the sea islands of Georgia and then home.

This is my dear good friend Saira with whom I went to high school. She spent two years in the Peace Corps in Honduras and now she's at Georgetown Law. We're from Atlanta, though and that's where she's spending the summer.
I stopped by Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga to see my friend Evan Parker who left the fast-paced world of NYC photography for the much more intense world of the U.S. Army. He's at airborne school now. This is him on base with jump towers in the background.

Arne Duncan

2009-06-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to photograph Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for Australian Financial Review. They ran the picture on the left to go with a column called "Front of Mind." It's a beautiful magazine and the picture looked great in it. It was a fun, quick shoot and Secretary Duncan was a great sport about running all over the post-apocalyptic-looking sunken courtyard outside the Dept. of Education.

Avow Weddings

2009-05-19T16:49:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen , I am pleased to introduce Avow Weddings.*

Colleague Robert Caplin and I have joined forces to create the ultimate wedding photography tag-team. You can read all about us and Avow on the website and check out the Avow blog to keep up with our jet-set lives of documenting true love in all its forms. Go team Avow!

*The lovely and talented Laia Prats designed our website and blog and logo and everything else.

Seating for Yetis

2009-03-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

We had what I hope was our last snow day in New York City. I walked part-way across the Manhattan Bridge and saw this from above. Everything looks better from the heavens. I envy the birds and their views.

Author Peter Manseau

2009-03-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

I've been shooting a lot of portraits lately. Here's another batch from a shoot with DC-based author Peter Manseau. He was generous with his time and he had a lovely family and home. It was a pleasure of a shoot during which I depended solely upon the natural light of a winter morning in Washington D.C.

Peter gave me a copy of his new book Songs for the Butcher's Daughter which I'm reading right now. It's quite good and each time I pick it up I get lost in another world for a while. That's quite the mark of a good story, no?

The Many Faces of Steven Van Zandt

2009-02-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of photographing Steven Van Zandt for the Guardian of London the other week. You may remember him from HBO's The Sopranos as Silvio, owner of the Bada Bing. If there are any Springsteen fans in the house, you'll know him as Little Steven or Miami Steve from the E Street Band. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

Good times.

Fort Tilden Part 1

2009-02-22T22:11:00.000-08:00

Pete Kiehart and I went on a Presidents' Day photo safari to Fort Tilden in Rockaway at the end of the A line. It was a long haul to a mysterious land of abandoned spaces, ocean and sand dunes. The Fort itself was decommissioned in the 1970s, but served for a long time as a vital component in the defense of the East coast.

You might be expecting pictures of all the neat empty spaces and lonely beaches, but I kept finding that the addition of a person improved these pictures quite a bit. Since Pete was the only person around most of the time we were out there, he stood in for what was essentially a big location scouting trip for future portrait sessions.

Pete riding a tree.

Pete in front of some sweet graffiti.

Pete in an abandoned warehouse.

Pete waiting for the bus to take us home to civilization.

Civilization.

The title of the post is Fort Tilden Part 1 because I also shot some film for pretty much the first time ever. Pete decided I wasn't a proper photographer unless I had a film camera so he got me a Holga for Christmas. I took a few frames and if they turned out alright, there will be a part two.

Prostrate Chickens

2009-02-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'd slept in my new Chinatown apartment for the first time Saturday night and found the mattress to be sub-par. I awoke to aches in places I didn't know I had.
Fast forward to the afternoon. I had planned to meet my friend Travis for Dim Sum, but seeing as it was the actual lunar new year with large parade and large crowds, dim sum was out of the question. The lines were hours long. We walked into the neighborhood a bit and I suggested a place I'd seen from a cab. With a name like Good Dumpling House, how could we possibly go wrong?
For starters, there was this gem of a menu:I think that cartoon man is about to do horrible things to that chicken.

We left with full bellies, but not from ordering the house special. Walking leisurely through Chinatown, we ran into the tail end of the parade where I saw this lovely lady:
Travis left to go bake some bread (lamest excuse to ditch out on a day ever, bro) and I continued my walk and saw some nice afternoon light.
All in all, a lovely day full of lovely people. I love my neighborhood.

Squashed!

2009-01-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

I was walking through Grand Central the other night and was pleasantly surprised to see an international squash tournament taking place off to the side of the main terminal.
I came back the next night to try my hand at shooting it. The PR folks were very nice and accommodating. Really, I find that all I have to do is ask politely.
The game is fast. So fast that I was having a hard time getting my timing down and I couldn't get a ball-on racket shot for the life of me. It's a good thing that's not what I was going for.

This is Gregory Gaultier of France in the quarterfinals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions. He won this match. He also won the 2007 British Open.

Chinese New Year

2009-01-27T12:52:00.001-08:00

I wandered down to Chinatown yesterday with a strong craving for soup dumplings. Awesomely, I walked right into some New Year celebrations. I'm a sucker for feature photos of cute kids and people having a good time. It's really important for me to remember this is what life is about and I have to balance the bleakness with the joy.
I've noticed a certain aesthetic when it comes to "highbrow, serious" photojournalism. There's so much darkness and pain and if you look at any of the major photojournalism contest winners in a given year, that's all they show. It's almost as if nothing good happened that year. Nobody had a good time, nobody smiled, nobody loved.
Don't get me wrong. I know how important it is to remind folks that there is suffering and pain and disaster- but that's not all there is. Not by a long shot. I'll continue to shoot pictures of smiles and love and happiness. God forbid I forget how good life can be when I'm faced with the suck.

This kid got a face full of cotton candy.

This little dragon was roaming the streets, terrifying the locals.

Many of the local vendors were selling confetti tubes. You twisted them and they exploded into joy.
From what I can gather, silly string is an essential part of Chinese New Year festivities.

This guy got nailed in the head with street confetti. He took it in stride. It reminded me a little of Fiesta in Santa Barbara. People go around with eggs full of confetti and smash them on your head. Good times.New Year baby for sale.

New York Nights

2009-01-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

I've relocated to New York City for the next three months to work on some projects. I love this city. I love the nights most of all.
My good friend Kevin moonlights as a producer of rather interesting parties. He threw a cotillion themed party Friday night with men in seersucker suits, a dixieland band and lady acrobats. It was lovely.

Expect frequent updates now that I'm here. I'm thinking every other day is a good goal. I take my camera with me every time I leave the house, so I'm always shooting and there's always something interesting to shoot.

The Inauguration- Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Crowds

2009-01-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

Even though I went into it kicking and screaming, I had the great privilege to photograph the crowds on the National Mall during Barack Obama's Inauguration. I was up for 25 hours straight, and was outside in sub-freezing temperatures for 12 of those hours without a break. I sat down twice in those twelve hours for about 2 minutes each time. I walked probably about 10 miles and took over 1700 photos which I had to go through as soon as I got home so I could caption them and send them off to where they needed to go. The next morning as I write this, I felt like I'd been run over by an eighteen wheeler. Was it worth it? Check out the slideshow and you be the judge. If you want to view the pictures in thumbnail form, just click the x in the top right. Big thanks to Rapport for making me go out there, my brother who works for the Red Cross and told me how to dress to keep warm, and all the photographers whom I ran into on the Mall- y'all are good company. Biggest thanks goes to the crowd and some of the amazing people I met who had incredible stories to share and reminded me how much I love my country.

Santa Infestation

2008-12-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

Exterminator: Hello, you've reached Beverly Hills Pest Control, how may we help you?

Beverly Hills Housewife: Yes, um... I have.... a problem. There seem to be... short men in red suits with long white beards... they're congregating behind our hedgerow. They're quite menacing. I'm not sure what to do.

Exterminator: Sounds like you have a Santa Claus infestation, ma'am. They're pretty common this time of year. We'll be right out. It's important you don't go near them in the meantime. They're surly and may bite.

Beverly Hills Housewife: My goodness! Please hurry! They're ever so unsightly and the neighbors will talk.

Exterminator: We're on our way!

Things Seen From a Window

2008-12-12T10:50:00.001-08:00

I continue to be in California. This is the view from my friend Andrew's apartment in Los Angeles. It's all symmetry and crosswalks and carscapes.
Downtown LA is evolving into something wonderful. My friend used it as an example of revitalization and development in the face of hard economic times. I see it as another sign of suburban entropy. It's not like the neighborhoods of LA's bedroom communities aren't dotted with homes with foreclosure notices on the door and dead lawns.
In the face of suburban decay, oddly enough, there is urban renewal. Many of Europe's cities provide a good example of thriving inner city surrounded by suburban hellholes. High density living is just more sustainable and I'm certain we'll continue to see a trend toward urbanization.

The suburbs are dead. Long live the city.

Borderlands

2008-12-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

Somewhere between love and hate, order and chaos, sanity and madness, the United States and Mexico- lies a thin line.
It maintains the dichotomies, but it is surely one of the most tempting forces known to man. It's right up there with the Red Button. It is the border.

I visited this line in the sand today. Most international borders are invisible, but we've put a skirt along America's southern bits. There is a physical fence designed to deter those desiring to travel to better circumstances.

I visited its westernmost incarnation which used to extend well out into the water, but time and tide saw fit to break it down. Mexicans can dance to and fro, taunting the border patrol on the hill above as they cartwheel along the sand onto another nation's sovereign territory.

I watched this couple as they slowly made their way to the line of demarcation, stopping to touch the pillars and then walking beyond into the sea.

Hey Baby

2008-11-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

I figured it was time for a photo update of my Niece. The last time I posted pictures of her, she was much smaller and far less cute. She's turned into a beautiful baby and at 11 months, she's started walking and babbling. This makes her more fun to hang out with than anyone else I know. Almost makes me want one of my own. Almost.

Obama-Rama

2008-11-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well, folks- American democracy worked beautifully the other day and we had another bloodless coup. It's a truly magical thing to see the electorate turn out to exercise their ultimate right as citizens. The election of Barack Obama is a wonderful, historic milestone in the nation's evolution. I'm sure the founding fathers are nodding approvingly in their graves.

The picture above was from a stakeout at Obama's office in the Hart building before he was scheduled to fly into DC to vote on the bailout bill.

I waited patiently for 3 hours only to have him sneak in the back way. His office is on the 7th floor, but he can get in through the 8th floor and chose to do so that day. When some other photographers and I realized the elevator wasn't stopping at 7, we sprinted up the stairs. We arrived on the landing to see Obama was already ahead of us so we sprinted ahead. I was trying not to run into anyone, so I was pretty much shooting from the hip while I ran, praying I'd get something usable. Obama turns to me and with a huge smile on his face says "What are you doing? Are you shooting pictures of my torso or something?"

He came out the same way, but this time I was ready and I was the only photographer there. He smiled, walked straight toward me, and with a serious expression, reached out and grabbed the front of my camera and gave it a good shake. "You're killing me, Senator!" I said, and he laughed and I laughed, and we all laughed.

This was the picture I shot of him as he reached for my camera. Nothing is in focus and there's nothing good about the picture, technically but I get a good feeling from it. Fundamentally, I think the best pictures aren't about technical perfection, but about visceral reactions. Obama elicits visceral reactions of all types from all sorts of people. He photographs well. The next four years will be interesting to watch unfold. Don't think for a moment though that I think the press should cut him any slack, though. He needs to be held just as accountable as any leader. I hope to do my part and document this interesting new presidency.

Inside the RNC

2008-10-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

My week in the Twin Cities was all work and no play. I didn't get to bed most nights before 4 a.m. because I had to select, tone, caption and transmit so many photos. I was credentialed for the Republican National Convention, so instead of being outside with all the zany protesters, I was inside rubbing elbows with Republican bigwigs. The protests were a lot more exciting at the RNC, but I'd been burned out on them in Denver, so I was happy to stay inside and avoid the teargas, mace, and concussion bombs.

McCain makes an entrance on the final night. Surprisingly, he accepted the nomination. I thought he was going to pass it off to Palin.

Governor Sarah Palin peers out into the abyss with this look of wonder. It's kind of beautifully child-like. It reminds me of when the goonies first see the pirate ship. She's seeing the pirate ship.
Lady McCain watches the proceedings from the VIP area.

Fred Thompson's tie is dwarfed by a much larger, redder tie.

Sen. Joe Lieberman continues to bewilder folks on both sides of the aisle. I love this picture because every time I see it, I hear him making a funny sound in my head.

I got real up close and personal with Turd Blossom, aka Karl Rove. He was wandering the floor like a rockstar. An aging rockstar with old-lady groupies.
This delegate from Missouri is Abraham Lincoln incarnate- if Lincoln came back with totally unrecognizable politics.

This is John McCain waving to the crowd. He can only lift his arms as high as you see in this picture due to injuries sustained while a POW. I actually feel for him a little. I took my shoulders for granted my whole life until I tore my rotator cuff and couldn't lift my arm any higher than John McCain's. It was terrible.

This was my first balloon drop. I count it in the top ten tactile experiences of my life. If I had to pick a way to die, being smothered by tens of thousands of balloons would be ok with me.
The Republicans have fancy confetti. I took some home.

MG at the DNC

2008-10-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post. I really must make some attempt to remain consistent. At least I'm remaining chronological. Here are some scenes from the Democratic National Convention. I covered it from the streets and was surprised at the vitriol of some of the protests in the face of the unity message the Democratic party is currently preaching. Of course, the protesters reserved their strongest words for the RNC, but that's another post. It was my first trip to Denver and I stayed with some lovely people, ate lovely food, drank lovely microbrews and had an all around good time.

The state of the Constitution.

One of the louder protesters in Denver. There was a group called "Recreate '68" because violence is swell and all.

Mounted police protected the Denver Mint during a protest with the specific intent to levitate the mint through meditation and positive thoughts to shake all the money out. If only it had worked... Darn mounted police.
More protesters.
Anarchists don't like their picture taken. They're against the two party system, but they don't offer any alternatives... probably because they're anarchists.

Lots of graffiti and anti-authority ugliness. The cops were, for the most part, surprisingly chill.

This was the scene at the entrance to the Pepsi Center where the DNC festivities took place. Rage Against the Machine played a show earlier that day and 8,000 people marched the 3 or 4 miles from the Denver Coliseum to this spot. The cops were outnumbered, but did look intimidating as hell. Tensions were high and I later learned that we were herded into a canyon of sorts (dead end with high walls- no way out) where we were to be gassed. The order was rescinded at the last minute, but I was pretty angry since the police led the peaceful protest into the canyon and the first casualties would have been every member of the press that had been keeping ahead of the group, including yours truly. The situation diffused after a member of Obama's crew agreed to meet with a liaison from the anti-war group Iraq Veterans Against the War, who wanted to air some grievances and deliver a letter. If the campaign had not agreed to meet with them, a shit storm of epic proportions would have ensued. These were my favorite people all week. Two adorable sisters begging with all their hearts for tickets to see Obama at Invesco Field. I don't think they got in. People were scalping the tickets for megabucks.I shot a watch party in downtown Denver.

The Youth of America turned out to watch Obama's acceptance speech.

Fay

2008-09-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Right after I got home from Grandfather Mountain, I got a phone call from the Red Cross asking me if I could head down to Florida to shoot Tropical Storm Fay. I'm not one to turn down travel, so I spent the day packing and was on a flight out that evening. The storm hit Florida 4 times and it was the soggiest week of my life.

The primary damage was from flooding. Crazy people like this guy and me attempted to drive through the flooded roads. I do not recommend this.

I have another picture to add to my "Mailbox Disasters of America" series.

This resident of one of the most severely flooded areas in the state watched us go by as we passed in what I can only describe as a monster truck-boat.

This is a parking lot at Target. They blocked off a flooded area with shopping carts. It was strangely beautiful.

This dummy decided to play in the floodwaters. Floodwaters in Florida mean gators, snakes and sewage. It made for a good picture, though.

There was some tornado damage at, you guessed it, a trailer park. There are actually scientists studying why tornadoes tend to hit trailer parks more than anything else. Something about negative ions...
This was my favorite couple from one of the Red Cross shelters. They were newlyweds who were flooded out of their home. They met on the internet.

Grandfather Mountain

2008-09-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

I've been seriously neglecting this blog, so sorry to all my adoring fans. All two of you.

The past month was pretty intense. I went from North Carolina to Florida to Colorado to Minnesota to DC to New York and I'm just catching my breath now. I'll make separate blog posts for each stop, starting with North Carolina.

I was asked by my favorite boss of all time, the Macon Telegraph's Woody Marshall, to speak at the Grandfather Mountain Camera Clinic. I was honored to accept and I drove down to NC's mountainous west for a weekend of camera talk.

At the end of the first day, we drove to the top of Grandfather mountain to shoot the sunset. The mountain, which is privately owned, is the tallest peak in the entire Appalachian chain. The view was lovely, but I, being the voyeur that I am, got more of a kick out of the other photographers shooting the sunset.

Short Trip Down the Midway

2008-08-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have an undying passion for shooting county fairs and carnivals. It's likely to be the subject matter of my first book. It's going to have a title like Hot Carny Love and they're totally gonna sell it in Urban Outfitters.
I went out with my friend to the Prince William Co. Fair the other night and spent an hour or two scouting it out to see if it was worth another visit. Short answer: maybe.

New England Holiday

2008-08-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

I went to Boston for a vacation, which is silly because my life is a vacation. I saw this fine dining establishment outside Kennebunk, ME.

This is a beautiful, beautiful dog.

These are Italian pastries from the North End. Notice the half-eaten status.

There was some sort of Catholic holy day with this cool shrine.

Just a scene from a public space in Boston.

I saw this at the beach in Maine.

This picture is pretty much what Maine looks like. Patched-up canoes, stone walls and fields of green. I'd live there.

This is also what Maine looks like. Rainbows of beach-people.

California Dreaming

2008-07-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, on impulse, I booked a flight out to California. The state was once again catching fire and since I'd put the month of July aside for special projects, shooting wildfires looked like a swell working vacation to me. I'd never shot a fire before. I even did a 24-hour ridealong with a fire crew in Florida and nothing caught fire. I always miss the action.

The thing is, I'm a huge pyro. I love to watch shit burn. As a kid, I'd light up anything I thought would catch and managed to set fire to things that do not burn under normal circumstances. It was my way of bringing science to life- it was all for the sake of education. I learned that Oreos make great fuel logs and that it's best not to set fire to the moving school bus in which you are riding.
So yeah, for me to have never photographed a fire is like a confectioner who has never tasted sugar.
I self-assigned and crossed the country to get a piece of the action. Once the flight was booked, I started sweating about the certain doom that awaited me on the left coast.

But it was truth and beauty and with that understanding I relaxed knowing that if I died here, I'd die at the hands of an exquisite force beyond reckoning. I was ok with that.

This was mid-day maybe 30 miles outside the burn zone. The smoke was the worst part of this shoot and my gear still smells like a campfire. I've been making people smell my camera strap and guess what the smell is. They shrug and I go "California!"

I walked through enchanted woods.

I pity the mailman who tries to deliver to this address.

These next three shots are by my good friend Eric Thayer, the inspiration for this trip. That guy just picks up and goes where the wind blows. I recently realized I can get away with that too. Hooray for my life.
Me all gussied up in makeshift fire-gear. The jacket is Nomex, though, so that's legit.
Yes. This is me in a wetsuit with a surfboard. I came closer to dying during this little experiment than I did traipsing through blazing forests. Go figure.

3 Looks from LOOK3

2008-06-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

We were promised 3 days of peace, love and photography and LOOK3 delivered the goods. It was my photo vacation away from my camera. I took it out one night and decided I needed to leave it in the hotel room after that.-Smokers and drinkers on the back deck of David Allan Harvey's Charlottesville rental. That's William Albert Allard with his signature hat in the center. I got pretty tongue-tied with all the damned 3-name photographers, so I abbreviated them to D-Harv' and B-Al'.
I gave him ample warning, but Jay was so engrossed with his iphone that he stepped in a big pile of shit. He had to hold his shoe out the window of his car as he drove us back to our hotel.
Allison Shelly of the Washington Times emerges from the blackness unlike the rest of us who were descending into our own private blackouts that weekend.

Dana

2008-06-17T23:00:00.001-07:00

This is Dana- an old family friend. I vaguely remember the announcement of her birth and I do recall her as a baby and a young child. I hadn't seen her in years, so imagine my surprise to discover she was all grown up. She's in college with a brain full of movie history knowledge and manners that would put Emily Post to shame.

She's also very pretty. I grabbed my camera when we went for a walk in the woods near my house. I kept putting her in shafts of summer sunset streaming through the trees. Wow. That last sentence had a lot of alliteration.

So yeah. This baby grew up leaving me to wonder if I've grown old.

I Piss On Your Red Carpet

2008-05-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

I got roped into shooting a red carpet event a little while ago.
I initially agreed to cover a big party with some newsworthy folks (not merely celebrity C-list scum) in attendance. I found out later that means standing in one place in high heels (I was dressed for the black tie affair, unlike the other photogs) for 3 hours staring at the same background while all sorts of exciting things are going on behind you.

I know a lot of entertainment photographers consider red carpet events to be their bread and butter and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I, however, am a news photographer and consider the red carpet photo-op to be the height of artifice.

Thankfully, I was able to get away and sneak into the party to make far more interesting pictures later in the night.

This is a FOX news anchor, I think. She's smiling a vacuous smile and reveling in her moment in front of the paparazzi. Little did she know I was there too.

The venue was fantastic.

Smiles all around.

Pete Wentz, who is famous for being an Ashley Simpson baby-putter-inner, went all surfs up on the crowd of DC's elite.

And this. This is my favorite picture from the evening. Why? It's a genuine scene of over-consumption, solitude and impatience. I've been there before.

Raleigh

2008-05-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

I went to Raleigh, NC for a portrait shoot only to remember once I'd gotten there that the primary was the next day. That was some serious serendipity. It looks like NC marked the real turning point in Obama's campaign, when it started to appear he'd outlast Clinton after all. I'm glad I was there to cover it.

Oh my- the sign at the polling place says to vote to the left. I'm sure that's against some electoral rules.
In case you forgot which country you're electing politicians for, there's a flag there to remind you. It does serve as an excellent point of reference for the foreign readers, though- so I can't be too snarky about it. God bless the bold, primary design of the American flag.

I love inserting my foot fetish into daily news. This picture actually got picked up by a lot of outlets.
Folks at the Obama rally watch the results come in after the polls close in NC.

Folks reach for Obama signs like they're pieces of the one true cross and can cure what ails them.
This white balance check at the podium was a farce. The lights in this venue shifted color every half second or so. No point in setting a custom white balance like I usually do and I took way more pictures than I would have otherwise that night because I had to lay on the shutter in the hopes of getting Obama not only in the right moment, but right color as well.

And here they are- Camelot part deux. Michelle resembles a pumpkin, though. They need to get her a stylist.

The Indignity of Being a Statue

2008-04-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Some dream of making an impact and having a historical legacy- the kind that warrants biographies and epic poems and statues. I used to dream of such a fate. After leading the glorious revolution, they'd erect a thousand statues of me, sing my praises and rename airports in my honor.
After seeing this today, I finally realized how sad I would be as a statue. I'd be a bird toilet and I'd be cold in the winter and tourists would take pictures with me while picking my nose or cupping my breasts. Any pride or ideal the sculptor may capture in my face and body language would be reduced to absurdity as the birds laugh and relieve themselves and fly away.
No more dreams of statues.

More scenes from NYC

2008-04-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

This little man is riding a late-night L train after a long night at the circus.
The Upper West Side is so fancy, they hang chandeliers outside.
I love firefighters and everyone knows the NYFD is the creme de la creme. These guys were coming back from a call and if you look closely, you can see a dinosaur skull on the front of the truck. RADICAL!

In NYC

2008-03-18T15:09:00.001-07:00

This is part of the view from my friend Kevin's apartment. I think he is a lucky man to wake up to such sights.This is dog-art. Notice the subtle dribbling of the urine onto the pavement- and see also how the form is almost comet-like. Perhaps the dog's name is comet and he is making a statement about his feelings on being named so. Or maybe he started off in one place, but was forced to expand the work across a broader canvas as his owner dragged him ever onward.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about certain popular photographic aesthetics in this town.

Rhinestones

2008-02-29T20:22:00.001-08:00

I went to the Arnold Classic today. It's a fitness expo featuring body building and MMA and gymnastics and uh, archery and all sorts of fun things.
There were a lot of vendors at the expo plying their wares and this of course means lots of trade show models.
There are actually professional models who travel all over the country from boat show to home show to expo who are paid to stand next to things or hand out fliers. They're beautiful and buxom and if they didn't already have legs that went all the way up, they wear six-inch heels all day. According to Jessica Durden, whose chest you see above, their feet are horribly bruised at the end of the day.
Buuut.... that's about the extent of the "abuse." They seem to genuinely enjoy what they're doing. I talked with them half expecting to hear tales of indentured servitude or pimp-like trade show masters. They get to travel, stay in decent hotels and meet interesting people. Whoda thunk it?

Lots of men stop to have their pictures taken with the ladies. A little boy handed me a camera while I was talking with them and got his picture taken with the ladies. He was about boob-high and lovin' it.

Now, I photographed Jessica's chest, but not because I wanted a picture of her hooters. I have my own and the novelty wore off long ago. I photographed them because of the very shiny, very mysterious cross emblazoned on her midriff-baring top. The product she was promoting didn't have the cross anywhere on it and she didn't know what it meant- it was just there in all its rhinestone glory. It's not like you need to draw any more attention to that area, but I'll be damned if that isn't exactly what it does. There are hundreds of women at the Arnold Classic wearing similar skin-tight blouses, but this is the one that made me stop and stare.

If Jesus walked by this booth, he'd probably stop to have his picture taken with the girls too.

Releasing the Swans

2008-02-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

In a fit of domesticity I was cleaning out a drawer today and stumbled upon this picture of me. Notice, if you will, the teeth, glasses, hair and dress. I'm about 8 here- before braces, contacts, salons and Banana Republic.
I was an ugly and angry child. The other kids were pretty mean to me and I didn't have many friends. My traumatic childhood as the ugly duckling went a long way toward shaping who I am today. As I exited my awkward phase and boys started asking me out, I was extremely dubious of their good intentions after years of cruel jokes. I still don't trust attractive people.
All of this is beside the point. The point is, if I could find the photographer who took this picture, I would throttle him.
I know picture day is a little overwhelming for a studio shooter and I was clearly set up for failure here, but c'mon, man. Don't take the kind of picture that leads to eating disorders and years of therapy, even if you have a "hall of shame" to add to back at the office.
I vow never to take a bad picture of any awkward little girls. I've been there, I feel the pain, and I know there's a swan inside begging to be let out. I shall release the Swans.

Bye Bye Bangkok

2008-02-17T07:04:00.001-08:00

I'm back in the states. Two weeks early.
Long story short?
ok.
I got fairly sick. It must've been something I ate- possibly the grasshoppers. I haven't been able to eat for a few days, but my illness is some sort of sick joke where my stomach pains feel like severe hunger pains, so I really, really want to eat everything in sight, but if I do I'll be sorry.
I was bedridden for my last 4 days in Bangkok. I was just eating up resources and not taking any pictures- plus, I'd already decided at that point I didn't want to move to Bangkok after all.
So I did some calculations and decided to cut my losses. I booked a pricey flight home (I wasn't allowed to change my previous flight and had to get a separate one on a different airline) and decided to come home to recover before going to Ohio at the end of the month to shoot more primary action.
All in all, I'm looking to break even. I'm not considering the Bangkok trip a loss or failure in any sense. The whole point in me moving to Asia is to live in a great city with amazing mass transit, a big airport and good food. Bangkok only fits half that bill. The transit is terrible and it's not such a great place to live. I wouldn't wake up smiling if I lived there. Now that I know that for sure, I can focus on my move to my true place in the sun.
Hong Kong just so happens to fit all my major criteria. I love the city, the people, the transportation options, the airport and the food. It's centrally located, is full of stories unto itself and is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Why the hell didn't I just move there to begin with? Well, I thought it was out of my price range and that Bangkok might provide a cheaper, dirtier alternative. It turns out prices are going up in Bangkok and if I treat Hong Kong like the major city housing market it is, all I have to do to make it affordable is have a roommate or two. I can live with that. The cost of living otherwise is pretty low.

In other words, the future is still bright to the point of me needing to wear shades and now it's Hong Kong or bust.

Black Hearts

2008-02-13T23:47:00.000-08:00

A special post for VD- black hearts hanging from a tree in Bangkok.

I'm so goth.

All the Pretty Flowers

2008-02-11T03:40:00.000-08:00

A flower market vendor sitting in the back of a pickup truck full of marigolds.

I can't escape her, she waves at me from flowers wrapped in Thai newspaper.

Thai skater boys can't really shred, but they look pretty good on a skateboard, all shiny and lanky.

Me in a tuk tuk- the transport of choice for tourists. It's a motorized tricycle with a tin roof. I usually take taxis, but someone else was paying and wanted to go "native." The red lights are brake lights. Bangkok is a city of brake lights.

Patpong, Ping Pong, Ding Dong?

2008-02-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

What do you think? Boy or girl?

Window shopping.

In the Japanese sector of the Silom redlight area, Godzilla is a selling point.

Just throwing in some motorcycle taxi-driver bottle-cap checkers for good measure.

This may be the greatest name for a gay bar, ever.

This is allegedly the cleanest cop in Bangkok. He's also the coolest.

Last night was Friday night and I decided this was probably a good time to explore the red light district of Patpong. I don't know why they call it Patpong... maybe it's because there are so many touts trying to lure in tourists to see a ping pong show. They're rather aggressive and I thought that maybe because of my gender, I'd be excluded from their pitches, but no such luck. They followed me down the street trying to get me to come in to see the "shows"- only 700baht for the show and a drink. You can't photograph inside any of these clubs, and I didn't feel like drinking, and the idea of a ping pong show suddenly became very sad, so I declined all offers.

Patpong is divided into sectors. From what I can tell, there's the gay sector, the Japanese sector, where the clubs only allow Japanese nationals to enter, and then of course the straight stuff like the Go Go clubs. They have some rather creative names like Pussy Collection and Super Pussy. Ok, that's not really creative at all, but it looks funny in neon.

It was in the gay sector of al places that I got accosted by dozens of gigolos trying to bag me for the night or perhaps a green card. They'd grab my hands and my arms and say things like "you like me? I like you." but not in a cute Borat accent. No offense to the sex workers of Thailand, but I may as well mainline a vial of AIDS infected blood soon as sleep with them. I guess enough foreign women come to Thailand looking for a good time that the niche exists, but I didn't see any other un-escorted western women.

I wasn't un-escorted for long. I met a tout who spoke English well enough that I hired him to be my fixer for the night. He was almost perfect. He knew everyone and everywhere of interest. The only problem was that he failed to grasp the professional nature of our relationship and felt the need to parade me around as some sort of prize. After the first couple of side trips to meet his various friends, I had to get him back on track. My mission for the night was to find, interview and photograph ladyboys.

Unfortunately, he spent so much time leading me on a wild goose chase, that we didn't meet any ladyboys until late in the evening. We went into a bar called the Golden Flower (anything with my name on it is always a good sign) where he proceeded to explain to the manager what I was doing. The manager miraculously gave the go-ahead for me to photograph freely. There were two ladyboys there at that point in the night. Apparently, a whole flock of them showed up afterhours to drink and dance, but I'd long since passed out.

It was a gay bar, so when I first went in, there was some obnoxious European dude who kept sneering and cursing at me. I think perhaps he was furious that some estrogen had dared to enter his little foreign gay utopia. It was amazingly gay, too. All these little Thai boys running around in their tighty whiteys- so adorable outside the context of neo-colonial sex slavery. The European guy soon left and it was just me, the boys and the ladyboys. Way more laid back, way less squicky.

I did some interviews and took some pictures, but I decided to go back out into the street after a while. My fixer and I grabbed a bite to eat and then I had to call it a night. I'd been up since 7am, and I just couldn't stay up for the after-hours ladyboy extravaganza. The fixer tried to get me to come home with him and I just rolled my eyes and told him I had a hotel room with internet- did his place have internet? No? Then forget it.

So here I am, thanks to the power of the internet telling y'all about my red-light adventures. Not particularly exciting, but I must say, the novelty wore off almost instantly. I'm going to focus on the elephant story I have brewing.

More about that later.

Can I hack it?

2008-02-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon a mannequin wholesaler- 'tis the stuff nightmares are made of.

Lord knows, I can't resist children or bright colors. Too bad I shot this one from the hip- it's not quite the photo I want it to be.
These guys stopped me as I was leaving the park this morning after breakfast. I thought they were police and I was in trouble. Turns out they're just park security and wanted to practice their English on me. Nice guys, cool uniforms. Lame picture.

I'm going to admit something I'd rather never admit-
I'm scared to take pictures here. I feel like I've been time-warped back to Photojournalism101 and my first assignment, 36 faces. The exercise has you taking mugshots of 36 strangers. It was terrifying at the time. I mean, how the hell was I supposed to approach 36 complete strangers to ask for their picture? I had a hard enough time calling people on the phone or knocking on a door because I was so fearful of being intrusive.

I got over that feeling real quick and was soon barging my way into other people's lives with a sense of entitlement that was rather thrilling to a life-long introvert.
The realization that this was a privilege and not an entitlement came later, as did the finesse.
Point being, I thought I had this whole photographing strangers thing down to a science.

The math in my science is completely different over here. Both the language barrier and the fact that it seems as though I'm very likely to offend the Thais (no foot-showing, head-touching, king-bashing, loud-talking, etc..) have been pretty off-putting. I hardly took any pictures today, and honestly, they're bush-league snapshots.

I've only been here two days attempting to acclimate to the environment. I'm no longer jet-lagged, I've learned how to get around in a taxi, order food from street vendors (lots of trial and error) and how to greet, thank and praise a meal. Minor accomplishments, all, and definitely conducive to getting around and along with folks, but the photographer in me is still rather afraid to come out of its shell.

I'd better get over it soon and get to work.

One Night in Bangkok...

2008-02-04T21:08:00.002-08:00

I flew to Bangkok the other day. Here are some pretty pictures from out my window : (above, LA, below, approaching Bangkok)It rained when I got here, but it was the most pleasant rain I can recall. I enjoyed walking in it.
This dude is hauling a cart. Not sure what's in it. At this point, my jetlag was in full-effect. I was wearing the same clothes I was wearing when I left DC because my luggage got lost, and was deliriously sleepy. Walking through the streets was like walking through one of my wildest fever-dreams. I didn't do it justice with my camera last night, but I'll have many more nights to try to capture it.The out of focus gentleman below is the man, the legend, Adrees Latif. I have other pictures of him that are in-focus, however, I think this one preserves the aura of mystery about him. And of course, by mystery, I mean awesomeness. He helped me book my hotel, get a cell phone, sim card and new power cord for my macbook because I left yet another one at Dulles. This guy personifies the community spirit of the photojournalism world. If at some point, I can do for another what he went out on a limb and did for me (as a relative stranger, no less) I'll be happy.And of course, here I am. Not sure what I'm doing. Not sure who took my picture. I think I'm holding the seventh of my whiskey and sodas. It's my new drink of the year. Very refreshing in the tropics. At this point I'd been up for 22 hours straight. Gotta fight the lag, dontchyaknow?

On the Eve of the End of All Things

2008-01-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

Man... I was all geared up to shoot the Clinton returns party here in SC. Now I'm sitting in a sports bar/Edwards party HQ waiting for night to fall and wondering where it all went wrong. Was it something I did, Hill? Is that why you're fleeing the great state of South Carolina and leaving me in a lurch? I like taking your picture- you have very.... expressive eyes. Now I'm stuck with The Blinker.
I don't know how such a handsome and accomplished man like Edwards made it this far walking through life with his eyes closed. I'm not talking figuratively, I'm being quite literal. Even in motor drive, 85% of all Edwards pictures will feature the man with in mid-blink. It's imperceptible to the human eye but it's science, man, and you can't fight science- even at 8 frames/second.

Anyhow, it's my last night on the campaign trail. Quite the ride, I must say. I should do this more often.

Bad Moon Rising?

2008-01-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

While I am still in SC and still shooting politics, this isn't a political post. I wanted to share the spectacular moonrise over the water last night. No colors were altered while toning this picture. The moon was really bright orange. Also, while it might be difficult to tell in this picture since it's been downsized for the web, but there are hundreds of birds on the beach.

The funny thing about it is that in a room full of photographers, I was the only one who thought it might be a good idea to take a picture. Usually I'm the one calling "geek" on my friends who shoot everything they see.

After I took this picture, I went over to Myrtle Beach High School to take pictures of Bill Clinton. The moon was definitely the highlight of the night.

Chuck Norris puts the "laughter" in "manslaughter"

2008-01-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce our future Secretary of Defense*, Chuck "Can Kill Two Stones with One Bird" Norris.

*if Huckabee makes it to the White House on his aww-shucks charm, amusing homilies, and traditional marriage platform.

Intelligent Design

2008-01-16T13:08:00.001-08:00

From the McCain Michigan primary returns party last night. I wonder if he feels like this stairway.

South Carolina Red, White and Blues

2008-01-14T19:31:00.001-08:00

I'm on the primary trail in SC with a ragtag band of photographers. We're holed up in a room on the 17th floor of a hotel overlooking the ocean in Myrtle Beach. It's all driving and shooting and filing.
At the end of the day, we get to come home to the sound of waves crashing on the shore and a fridge full of cold beer. Life is beautiful.

The candidates are in prime form and my camera is doing its best to keep two steps ahead of the pageantry.

The picture above is from an Edwards event I shot today in a small, florescent-lit room here in Myrtle Beach. If his handlers were smart, they'd have him speak at a sunrise rally on the beach.

Melissa and the Mountain

2007-12-26T08:28:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year, I decided to do something a little different. Since Emerson the baby postponed the gift-giving until the following week, I needed something to take my mind off of all that shiny wrapping paper I should have been shredding.

My man Jay called me up x-mas eve to inquire as to my disposition on mountain climbing. I'd only ever hiked up one mountain with my father a few years back. We walked down the other side where I promptly sat down by a lake to read a book while he hiked back to the other side to get the car to come pick me up. I don't do mountains unless I'm skiing down them.

Given the chance, though, I thought maybe I should overcome, nay, transcend my laziness and flabby, out of shape body to climb a mountain as a Christmas gift to myself.

Jay and I set out early Christmas morning for Old Rag Mountain, a man-eating monster in the Appalachian chain which several hiking sites list as a "strenuous" hike. Little did I know what strenuous would entail. It was a 7.5 mile loop of rock and ice.

I did it- with a lot of encouragement from Jay who had to keep shouting at me to keep moving. For the first 2 miles, I had to stop every 100 feet to take a breather. I'm in terrible shape and my body is punishing me today, but I did it.

We got to the top, looked around, and walked back down the mountain.
Story of my life.

Introducing Emerson, aka "Ralph Waldo" aka "Eggy"

2007-12-23T21:01:00.001-08:00

My niece was born in the wee hours of the 22nd on the cusp of both the seasons and astrological signs. That makes her some sort of magic baby.

In the pictures above, she's about 12 hours old and according to my friend, looks like "a 90-year-old Irish boxer."

She'll be just as beautiful as her parents: blond hair, blue eyes, athletic and smart- which is how she'll be able to pull off a name like Emerson.

I can't wait to take more pictures of her. She's only going to get cuter.

Fakin' It

2007-12-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

So I'm testing the waters of the art world. It's really more of a toe-dipping than a dive and it's hardly fine art. To be honest, I have no idea what fine art is. I think you can put dried poop in a shadow box with some rusty metal bits you found by the side of the road and call it fine art.

From what I can gather, all you need is an "artist's statement," which is a paragraph or two about what the art means.

That's the part that throws me. I'm not quite sure what any of it actually means.
I'm a documentarian. I shoot what I see and let other people decide what it means to them.

If I tried to write a statement explaining what my art means, I'd be making it up.

This is not to say I lack vision or a style. It's just not driven by a conscious effort to shape what I see. I don't know why I shoot what I shoot how I shoot it. It's reflexive, instinctual.

When I'm working, I'm guided by a kind of internal sonar. I wouldn't call it my heart or my soul or anything as trite as all that. I'd call it intuition.

Perhaps the best art is the bastard child of passion and intuition. There's nothing contrived about it. It just comes into being and exists for its own sake. When it's seen by the people, it provokes thought and discussion.

I can dig that.

I Got Strobed

2007-11-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

I'll admit. I shoot weddings sometimes. It helps pay the bills. At first it was a little uncomfortable for me with all the staged elements- but as I shot more weddings and grew more comfortable, I found that despite what I see most wedding photographers do, I don't have to compromise my documentary roots. For keepin' it real, I am rewarded with pictures like this.

The only thing babies are good for

2007-11-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

Babies were put on this earth for comic relief.
A crying baby makes me want to hulk smash something, but a baby with killer comedic timing makes me glad to be alive.

Nobody likes a surly baby.*

*the quickest way to turn an unfunny baby into the height of hilarity is to feed it a lemon. Seriously. Do a search on youtube for lemon baby.

The (mostly) Greatest Generation

2007-11-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

I shot an assignment Saturday at the National WWII Memorial. Over 120 veterans from SC came to see it for the first time.
Out of that bunch, there were four women (marines) and one black man (navy).
From what I could gather, a good number of the vets weren't actually from SC, but had instead just retired there.
Over the course of my name-gathering, I met one geezer who had a stately Carolinian accent. I commented to him that there seemed to be a lot of yankees in his group. His reply was "You're tellin' me? I sat between a yankee and a n****r on the plane ride up."

I thought I left the south, but it keeps finding me. I'm sure I'll get to Bangkok and run into crazy old racist white men left and right. It wouldn't surprise me if they go there for the children.

Anyhow, I was enthralled with the lady marines and the one black vet. The military was still segregated during WWII and both these groups had to put up with some serious shit while fighting for their beloved country. They, along with the gentleman I met who survived the Bataan Death March only to be held prisoner of war for 3 years, make me swell with some major American pride.

Lemon-scented Misery.

2007-11-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

Maybe they should just call this stuff "Sorrow."

Wheeee!

2007-11-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

I passed by these astonishingly beautiful kiddie rides in New York's Chinatown last month. They made me feel sad to be a grownup.
I figured if I can't ride, at least I can take pictures.
I think perhaps I live life vicariously through my camera.

Someday soon I'm going to do a portrait series that incorporates these machines, but I'm pretty sure they'd outshine the people. Perhaps the portraits should be of the machines themselves.