It's in the Details

This little point-and-shoot camera - my trusty G-9 - continues to amaze me. Here are three images taken during my week long stay in a cabin on the New River is southern Virginia. All taken in different types of light, they show the G-9's ability to capture detail in the earliest morning light (photo of tree), the fog coming off the New River and a spider's web (using the macro setting). All images were taken straight from the camera with only minimal Photoshop work (some levels and curves) and no sharpening.
I think it's pretty amazing for a small point-and-shoot!

The Ladder

We have a huge 20ft ladder in the studio that I have been itching to use. I would love to take it to a open field and take photos of it, but it's so large I can't put in on top of my car (I would surely get stopped by the police).
So I took it just outside my studio and had my trusting intern Hanna climb up. It was a beautiful day - clouds were great and there was a slight breeze. Making it absolutely perfect for what I wanted to do. Got some great images for stock use.

A Different Take on a Foot Massage

Earlier today I had a photo shoot with John Ho and Yvonne Le. You've probably not heard of them, but I bet you've heard of what they offer - Dr. Fish Massage. Through their day spa (visit here) they offer the opportunity for you to soak your feet in a few gallons of water as little fish (imported from Turkey) nibble on your toes. They are not, as some think,
piranhas but little inch long silver fish that gently nibble on your feet. Now the big question is whether they get full. After a long day of "working" (at least 20-30 people per day try the 15-30 minute massage) I would assume that they get tired and somewhat bloated. Heck, after a big meal all I want to do is sleep. I can't imagine how they feel. But all kidding aside, this is very popular. People from as far away as Sweden have come to try this. They've been featured on NPR, CNN and numerous morning shows and it doesn't look like the ride is going to stop soon. They are even thinking about adding a full-body Dr Fish Massage and I would imagine that they will be lining out the door to try it.

I haven't had the pleasure yet to try this - they said I can come back anytime. I plan to take them up on it.

All Fun & Games

Here are some more outtakes from the Olympian photo shoot.

Michael Weiss doing some flips. I was so close I could feel the vibrations on the ice as he landed. After being that close, TV just doesn't do it for me any more.


Want to feel like a giddy 12 year old again - skate with Dorothy Hamill. And there was no way I was going to try the one legged thing...so don't ask.


Dominique Dawes asked me if I needed help getting up on the balance beam...I ask her where the spring board was. No she is NOT holding me up! Okay, I did need some help though.


Here's a collage of the individual shoots I took of each athlete. This was taken during the group photo session.

The Olympic Spirit

The Washington Post just published my story about local Olympic athletes in their Sunday magazine. This is something I have been working on for a year now. I thought I would share some insight and photos that were not published.

First here are some of my favorite photos that were not used. I have no misgivings at all - just wanted to show some outtakes.






This project was first envisioned in June 2007 when I met Crissy Perham (the Olympian above with the American flag, standing next to the pool). She won two golds and a silver in the '92 games and I was fascinated to know how it felt to be the Very Best at something - something I know very little about. We chatted about other athletes in the area and if they kept in touch. I was amazed to learn how many former Olympians were living here. Some of them I had heard of (Tom Dolan, Dominique Dawes, Michale Weiss) and other I had not (Lacey O'Neal, Arlene Limas, Charles Jenkins). I wanted to find out what they were doing now. So a project was born - Portraits of local Olympic athletes called "Glory Days".

Arlene Limas, it turns out, is the DC Olympic Chapter president. I contacted her, told her about my idea, and asked for help in locating athletes. We made a list of about 12 athletes that were willing to participate in my personal project. I took some photos of Crissy, Wendy Weil and Lacey O'Neal and went knocking on doors to see who might be interested in publishing the project. Not as easy as it seems...
First stop, The Washingtonian Magazine. They loved the idea, but after they found out that not all the athletes I had contacted were medal winners, declined the project. Now, even though I can, somewhat, understand their position I thought it was a little shortsighted (which I told them). I guess it's just not good enough to be in the Olympics... I told them there were some amazing stories that needed to be told - ie: Lacey's experience in the '72 Munich Olympics (read it here), or Michael Weiss's battle with injuries (read it here). But they were not convinced.

So I asked the Washington Post Magazine if they were interested. They loved the idea, but were also a little worried that not all were medal winners. After hearing some of the stories they became convinced that this would be a perfect piece and lead in to the summer games in China. They assigned a writer, Christina Antonaides, and off we went. I can't tell you how important it was for Christina to be a part of this project. She did loads of research, contacted Dorothy Hamill (who I had not known was in the DC area), but most importantly it gave me credibility when I called either the athletes or their agents. Try calling Dominique Dawes and tell her you are a photographer and would like to take their photo - you won't get far. Once the ground work was set everyone was more than happy to participate. The only one we could not take photos of was Michael Phelps. He agreed to the interview but did not have the time to get photos taken - completely understandable. Maybe we could do a follow up with him after the Olympics.

Taking the photo of these athletes was a truly amazing experience. Honestly not a prima donna in the bunch. Everyone gave more of their time than I asked, were very open about their experiences and even gave me some personal time - skating with Dorothy Hamill after our shoot, being able to walk on a balance beam with Dominique Dawes and taking some photos of her with her two dogs, having Michael Weiss perform some flips for me (at his insistence). I'll show some of those photos in my next posting.

In the meantime, enjoy the article in the magazine and take a look at the time-lapsed video of me while photographing the group shot in my studio.

The "B" Side

Do you remember when we could buy albums? I don't mean the large ones, I'm talking about the 45's. Two songs - one on the "A" side and one on the "B". What a great way to listen to new and inventive music (yes and sometimes - maybe often - bad music). The artist would record their "best" song and place it on the "A" side, and because they had to fill the other side, record a song that was just filler. How many great songs can you remember that came off the "B" side? Just for starters did you know that "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley was a "B" song?

In a round about way this brings me to photography. I just re-did my portfolio -including my web site (with a lot of help from Amanda Sosa-Stone). I gave her a few dozen images from which to choose. Now, what I've learned over the years is that never send what you think is the very best. Always send a variety of images - more than you think is needed and definitely more than the ones you love. It is amazing to me what gets chosen. Many of the images that Amanda chose are from the "B" side of my shoots, or list. Above are some examples. The first is from a shoot at Flint Hill School. This recycling photo was taken in the hallway of the school and a complete after thought. "Hey you're the recycling queen - lets have you sit on a bin". The image next to it is of Dominique Dawes. This was taken after a photo shoot for the Washington Post Magazine. She had her dogs with her and I asked if I could get some shots of her with them. She agreed...

The other two are outtakes from some model shoots. I was just trying to be a little arty, knowing they weren't going to beuse, or liked. But I just had to take them.
And guess what - they turned out to be in my portfolio.

Never forget the force of the "B" side. You WILL be surprised.

A New Perspective

Trying something new. On a recent visit to New York City Kate and I took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. - my first time doing so. With my trusty Canon G-9 I decided to take a time-lapsed video of my walk from Brooklyn to New York City. Walking slowly, trying to keep the camera steady and avoiding both pedestrians and bikers - it all wasn't as easy as it first seemed. Got yelled at by a biker; which was going so fast you can't see him in the video - I won't repeat here what he said (there might be some youngsters reading). As you can see I did keep within my boundaries - welcome to NYC...

Enjoy!!

My Favorite City

I am not one to go on vacation where there is more people than where I live. I am not a big beach person during the summer months - especially in the Outer Banks where you have to shop at 2am just to avoid the crowds. That to me is not a vacation.
But I have to say, one of my favorite spots to visit is New York City - eight million people and counting. The variety of people, sights, restaurants and diners just completely fascinates me. For a photographer it is heaven on earth (yes I know you could argue that). The architecture alone can consume a photographer. The fact is that it has just about everything one needs - even open spaces. Central Park is a great place to relax and "get away from it all". Now all that being said, I don't think I could live there. Way too much cement and the noise can be a little too much.
But for a visit...I love it.

The photos above were taken at Balthazar and Pastis. Two beautiful restaurants: Balthazar is in Soho and Pastis is in the Meat Packing District. After spending about and hour taking photos from my table I was told the there was no photography allowed in the restaurant. Oh well - got some great shots regardless. It pays to be discrete.

Why I Love What I do

Just wanted to share with you one, of the many, reasons why I love what I do.
This past week saw quite a variety of assignments. First was still-life shots forGianna Rose, a company that makes very nice soap products. The second was of three Olympians - Dominique Dawes, Tom Dolan and Wendy Weil. These images are part of a story for The Washington Post Magazine about local Olympians due out on July 27th. The third was of Bruna Genovese, a model who wanted some portfolio shots. And the forth was portraits of a goat for a story about Pocket Meadow Farm.

God I love what I do.
Where can one meet and take photos of such a variety of subjects - and have FUN doing it!!

Boy it is so nice to get up in the morning looking forward to the day - really makes it all worth living.

Summer Adventures

It has been exactly one month since my last posting. That's very hard to believe!
I just had my first "free" weekend since and took advantage by going to New York City. Not a huge trip, but it was nice to get away and see friends!

It reminded me that, even though summer just began, it is way too short and we should take the time to relax and enjoy it. But sometimes that's hard to do. I will never complain about being too busy - but will always complain anyway.

All of this reminded me of two neighbors who are traveling this summer. One is moving, taking their Airstream up to Maine and then across country to Arizona. The other is spending three months in Ecuador. What an adventure for both families.

I'll have some "fun" photos from New York City in the next few days.