Winter Play

Winter has definitely arrived here in Portland. We've had the biggest storm in nearly 40 years, from what I understand from the news. Many major highways were shutdown over the past few days due to falling trees, white out conditions, jack-knifed tractor-trailor trucks, and just generally bad weather. My son and daughter-in-law, and more importantly, my granddaughter are on their way here from the coast were they were visiting her parents, but they've got to take a detour to get around an area of Highway 26 where the road is closed due to fallen trees.

There are people stuck all over. In Portland, only the main roads get any service during a storm. The residential sideroads are left alone and it's up to the ingenuity of the residents to determine how to cope with the conditions. Lots of people, like me, choose to walk to get anywhere. Others have chains, 4 wheel drives, studded snow tires, etc. and manage to get around reasonably well. Others just get stuck (like my granddaughter, Makayla).



The children were certainly having fun. My oldest daughter, Nikki, decided she had to have a snowman. So she badgered her mom until she got her to go out into the backyard and build a guardian snowperson to patrol the area:

Yes, that's one of my good hats, but I let them use it in hopes that it will survive a few days in the cold. As soon as it starts to thaw, though, my hat comes in to dry!

The kids next door had a sled, and as we live on a fairly steep hill, the big kids here managed to borrow the sled for a while (payment was a plate of home made cookies and chocolate covered pretzels).

That's Nikki above, and Wanda below:

Of course, it's a pretty good walk back up the hill:


But it's certainly lovely:



And it's certainly cute when little girls play in the snow:


And the littlest ones can only dream about playing outside:

Winter Weather Blues

We've been snowed in for the past week. We live on a hill and with the exception of Friday, the snow and ice have been bad enough that we didn't want to risk driving in it. We did manage to get out yesterday and over to the other side of Portland to pick up one daughter whoe was somewhat stranded there and to visit with two of our grandchildren and our other daughter. Also, our son, daughter-in-law and newest granddaughter flew in and met us there before heading to the coast to visit with the in-laws. For a brief period of about 20 minutes, we had all three of our grandchildren in the same room. It was delightful.

Unfortunately, we had to forgo dinner plans with some very good friends of ours whom we haven't seen in several weeks, but we're going to make every effort to see them in the next couple of weeks. We didn't get home until later in the evening, and slept in this morning. By the time we got up for the day, it was already snowing again and there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground here at the valley floor. Three inches isn't much really, especially since we lived in New England for several years before we moved to Oregon, but the snow removal capabilities of the county and cities in the area don't compare at all to those of the Northeast so the roads are quite treacherous. I did buy chains for the truck, but unless I have a real need to leave the house, I just can't see driving in this mess.

We had hoped it would warm up and all this would be gone by Christmas so we could have all our grandchildren and children here on Christmas Day, but it's looking iffy right now according to the latest weather forecast (which haven't been terribly accurate). We're keeping our fingers crossed, though.

One advantage of this nasty weather has been that it's given me some extra time to work on post-processing the images I've taken this past year. I usually shoot quite a lot during the warm months then work on the images over the winter months - and not being able to get out of the house has given me some extra incentive to work on the images. The two sets I've worked on most recently have been the River Fairy and the Sand Fairy. If the weather keeps up like it has been, I'm sure I'll get on to the Water Fall Fairy and the Spring Fairy as well.
Here's the Sand Fairy:


With any luck, I'll be able to shoot the Winter Fairy too. Wish me luck.

Current Work

Finished working on Danse Fae:



Started working on Bubble Fairy 2:

Vote 2008

I don't normally write about politics. My blog is primarily reserved for my photography projects and family events. This year, however, I feel that the state of our country requires me to speak out. Since my blog is where I share my opinions and comments, it seems most appropriate that I speak here.

Let me preface the remainder of my post by stating that I would never presume to tell anyone how to vote. That's an individual and very personal decision and depends greatly on your world view, your perception of what is needed to make your life, and the lives of those your care about, better. But, I will tell you what it is that has lead me to my vote in hope that it might persuade others to rethink their positions or at least to consider the options.

I'm sure that because of the banner above, you already know how I plan to vote, and many of you have immediately labeled me as a liberal. You may be correct from your perspective, but from my point of view, I'm both moderate and independent. And before you assign to me any particular stereotype, consider my background and my beliefs.

I retired from the US Navy after over 20 years of active duty service in the Submarine Force. I was trained as a Nuclear Reactor Operator and worked my way to the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer before I retired. My military background has reinforced my belief in a strong national defense, but certainly within limits, and I know the pain of long separation from my family on the orders of others. I understand the dedication of our nation's service men and women, but I also know the arrogance of many of our nation's leaders when it comes to using these men and women for their own agenda.

My years in nuclear engineering have shown me that nuclear power can be a safe and clean energy source, but it has also taught me how important it is to have strong regulations and control of the industry and the disposal of the hazardous waste.

I was born and raised in the rural south and began attending school before they were desegregated in my county. My family was not well off. Neither of my parents ever finished elementary school, much less high school, and they struggled to get ahead. Both of my parents worked, and my dad took on extra jobs during the holidays to provide for us. Eventually, life did get better, but only through my parent's hard work.

My father is a devout minister and my family is by and large devout Christians. So, I have seen first hand how faith can help people get through hard times. I've also seen the ugly side of religion when people start to believe they are better than those around them because they believe their particular dogma is superior to all others.

I have a strong belief in family, and I have been married to the same woman for over 30 years. We raised three children and now have three grandchildren who we adore. Family is important, but the "family values" espoused by the religious right have less to do with family and everything to do with political power and imposing their beliefs on others.

I'm an Independent. I've voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past, choosing to cast my vote for the person and not for the party. I still feel that way, but the modern Republican Party and its current affiliation with religious fundamentalists, xenophobes, and run by a small coterie of NeoCons frightens and disgusts me.

This is a party who policies of unilateral nationalism and corporate cronyism and enfranchisment have lead to:

1. A military stretched thin by two wars, repeated and extended deployments, and inadequate care for our veterans. The slogan "Support the Troops" meant nothing when it came time to vote for veterans health care, educational benefits, and body armor.

2. A squandered budget surplus and trillions of dollars in national debt. Corporations and CEO's have been enriched, while banks and stock markets have careened out of control with little or no oversight and predatory lenders have convince millions of otherwise smart people that they could afford more for less with "creative" financing schemes that have turned out to be deceptive and ruinous.

3. The Bush tax cuts that the Republicans want to make permanent have help to create the greatest gap between the rich and the poor in this country in history. The theory that tax cuts are a panacea for all our ills has been proven to be false and the concept of "trickle down economics" is simply silly.

4. An erosion of civil liberties and personal freedoms that should scare every American citizen to their core. American citizens have been arrested (on American soil) and imprisoned by the military with no access to a lawyer and no charges lodged against them on the mere assertion of the president that they were "unlawful combatants." The government, under the leadership of this Republican president, has tried to destroy the concept of habeas corpus, posse comitatus (through the 2007 Defense Authorization Act and via a signing statement on the 2008 Defense Authorization Act), and has authorized wiretaps on American citizens without warrant. Additionally, the integrity and moral authority of the Justice Department has been undermined by the appointment of Attorney Generals like Alberto Gonzales and the influence of polital appointees who have intervened in and circumvented the recommendation of non-politcal career lawyers. These troubling activities continue today under the tenure of the current AG who has done little to restore the independence and integrity of the Justice Department.

I could go on about other issues such as the erosion of the principle of Church/State separation, the underfunding of educational mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act, the use of torture and disdain of the Geneva Conventions, as well as the lack of a coherent and realistic foreign policy and the loss of America's respect among its allies and friends around the world.

What bothers me most, though, is the extreme partisanship, dirty tricks, dishonesty and arrogance of this current administration, and I just don't see that changing under a new president whose voting record supports that of the current president in all things that matter.

I believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. I swore an oath in 1975 to protect and defend this instrument of our freedom against all enemies foreign and domestic, and I renewed that oath several times during my subsequent 21 years in the military. This means I believe in the freedom of expression (not in free speech zones), the freedom of (and from) religion and the separation of Church and State. The right to privacy and the rule of law, and the right to be secure in my person and in home (not in warrantless searches wiretaps, searches, and seizures or in indefinite imprisonment without charge or a trial by a jury of my peers) are paramount liberties in my book.

It also means that I believe in the principle of checks and balances designed with great forethought by our Founding Fathers who personally experienced the capriciousness and arrogance of a "unitary executive" known as the King of England. Our Constitution was designed specifically to limit and balance the power of the executive branch with strong judiciary and legislative branches of government. The concept that a president, of any political stripe, could unilaterally declare war, imprison citizens, and override legislative acts through executive signing statements would be an anathema to the patriots that envisioned our democratic process.

For these reasons, and many more, I am voting for Senator Obama. I believe he will restore dignity and honor to the presidency by restoring the rule of law and the principles upon which this country was founded. And yes, my vote for Senator Obama is as much against the Republican Party as it is for him personally, but John McCain has shown by his voting record and by his choice of the divisive, and unqualified Sarah Palin (fundamentalist and supporter of the Alaskan Indendence Party), that he can't be trusted to right the American Ship of State. His erratic actions during the current financial crisis, his continued support for the war in Iraq, the Bush tax cuts, and his abrogation of previously stated principles to gain support of the fundamentalist base of the Republican Party give me no confidence in his ability govern or to bridge the partisan divide that currently strangles our country.

So vote how you will, but remember, one definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and yet expect different results.

Moving into Fall

It's getting cooler, wetter, and the leaves are slowly turning into the muted yellows and reds that herald the fall season in the Northwest. The Willamette Valley stays fairly green throughout the fall and winter. With so many evergreens in Oregon, that's not surprising. But the grass also stays pretty green, as do the ferns and many other plant species.

Usually this means it's time to move my photography indoors. This year, I'm going to try to do more outside shooting, including a great idea for glamour in the fog that a good friend of mine gave to me. I'm also hoping for a good snowfall in the valley this year, as I have a couple of ideas I'd like to try in the snow as well.

With the arrival of fall, and definitely with the arrival of grandchildren, we've enjoyed going out to Sauvie Island to visit the Pumpkin Patch to choose our pumpkins for carving to let our granddaughter play in fields and on the hay pyramid. This year, we got to take our grandson as well. The only thing that would have made it more fun, would have been to be able to take our other granddaughter along as well. Her mom and dad took her to a pumpkin patch in California where they live, though, and I'm sure they had fun too.

We're going to visit that granddaughter next week. Our son and daughter-in-law think we're coming to see the whole family, but Wanda assures me that we're going there to see the baby. We haven't seen her in about a month (except for on video sharing), and Wanda is getting itchy to hold her again. The period between this visit and Christmas is going to be very difficult for her. It's a good thing Ryker, (our 6 week old grandson) is around for her to cuddle. Of course, it's fun for me too...

Being a grandfather is great fun, and I really enjoy holding and playing with my grandkids. My maternal grandfather died before my mother was born, and my paternal grandfather had very little to do with me, so I've had to wing it. I'm going to try to be as much a part of my grandchildren's lives as they and their parents will allow. Fortunately, they've all been great.

Something to Consider

What is normal?

Last Shoot of the Summer

I have time for one more shoot before the weather turns gray here in the Pacific Northwest. I've been trying to find a model to shoot with me tomorrow. I thought I had a couple of prospects, but they have failed to follow up with me, so I don't know if I'll be able to pull off another outdoor shoot this week or not.

"My concept for this shoot would be to achieve a series of glamour and outdoor nude shots in a wooded and rural setting. The idea would be to compare and contrast the beauty of the nude female form with the beauty of nature for the nude images. For the outdoor glamour, I would want to shoot some images that used the smooth female skin juxtaposed with rougher materials such as weathered wood or stone."

These were the words in my last casting call posted a few hours ago. I wonder if I'll actually get anyone to join me for a shoot. As of late last night, I had no responses, and I also contacted a couple of models I have used in the past to see if they were interested, but got no responses. I do know the middle of the week is a hard time to schedule shoots, especially at the last minute, but I figured it was worth a shot.

The Tillamook Waterfall

Just off OR Hwy 6, about 22 miles southwest of the junction of Hwy 6 and 26, on the south side of the highway there is a little waterfall and a pool set back into the high hills along the highway. A large fallen log crosses the pool, and two large stumps stand on either side of the pool. It is not easily seen from the road, and therefore it's usually quite private and available for glamour photography.

I found these falls about 10 years ago, when my wife and I were regularly traveling to Tillamook for personal reasons. One day, on a trip back from the coast, we just happened to pull over into the large flat area along the highway and wandered back to find the falls. Since that day, I've used these falls to shoot various glamour and fantasy scenarios.

It's a dark, cool place, so you I have to shoot there during the middle of the day, when enough sunlight streams through the surrounding forest to light the area such that reasonable ISO settings can be used. And, because it's cool, it's best to shoot there during the warmest summer days, as the models can get cold quite quickly given the temperature of the water and the way the mist from the waterfall is trapped by the surrounding trees. Still, it is a beautiful place to shoot and one of my favorite locations.

I suspect I'll be shooting there for many more years to come, and if anyone else would like to use it, I'm sure you can find it from the directions I've provided about. So far, my models have loved shooting there, and it's always a fun place to shoot with lots of opportunities to experiment with light, water, and mist.

Shooting with Sierra

I'll be shooting with Sierra again next week. We're doing a glamour shoot in the Columbia River Gorge at some of the waterfalls. They will be mostly bikini and perhaps some wet t-shirt shots, as well as some simple barefoot glamour images.

The weather is looking pretty good for the shoot, and if it holds, we maybe shooting on Sauvie Island on Tuesday as well.

It should be a lot of fun.

2008 Portland Pirate Festival

The 3rd Annual Portland Pirate Festival started yesterday. I've been attending the festival since its inception (I covered it for the St. Johns Sentinel newspaper the first year), and have enjoyed attending ever since.

The event is very kid friendly. There are many booths and games set up to amuse the children (of all ages) and several of the bands that perform there play music that is specifically geared to the little ones. My granddaughter has attended with me for the last couple of years, and she loves the bands and the atmosphere of the event. She always has a great time.

The event is essentially a big costume party for Portland with a pirate theme. Many, if not most, of the attendees come in costume or at least in outfits that with some sort of pirate paraphernalia. Quite a few of the costumes are not only quite elaborate, but are historically accurate.

If you're so inclined, you can easily buy a pirate costume on site as many of the vendors that set up shop during the event sell all sorts of pirate wear. It's really a photographer's paradise with all of the elaborate costumes and events.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay for very long this year. My youngest daughter came along with our new grandson, Ryker, who is only 10 days old, and she was tired and he couldn't sleep with all the noise. So we made an early day of it. We plan to spend quite a bit more time there next year, though, as we're going to get the whole family to dress up and attend in mass.

If you haven't had a chance to visit, you should do so. The festival continues today, and is held every September in Cathedral Park beneath the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland. If you decide to go, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.

He's Here!

Ryker was born this morning after his mom was in 25 hours of labor. This is my first grandson and my 2nd grandchild this summer. Details will follow later after I have a chance to go to the hospital for a visit with my new boy!

Okay, more info:

He was 6 lbs, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long, and looks healthy and strong. He didn't breath right away when he was delivered, but the good doctor's and nurses took care of that and by the time I got to hold him in my arms yesterday, he was fine, if a bit hungry. His full name is Ryker Scott, but I already have a nickname for him.

His mom is doing fine as well. She didn't have to have a c-section this time, so she's very grateful for that. He and his mom should be leaving for home tomorrow and his big sister will get to spend some quality time with him. That should be interesting as she has been an only child and grandchild for most of her past 2 years.

Dancing in the Field

I had the distinct pleasure of shooting with K this past weekend. We had met several times planning this shoot, but it got delayed twice. First by her trip overseas, and then by a business trip of my own. But we finally pulled it altogether this weekend and completed the shoot.

K was a natural in front of the lens, and was a willing trooper throughout the shoot. She danced barefoot in a mown circle of thick grass and scotch thistle with a smile on her face and with commendable grace. She also climbed onto a makeshift platform designed to raise her into the air without complaint and still managed to balance carefully on the two planks while striking a graceful pose.

I was quite surprised to learn on the drive back to her apartment that this particular shoot was actually her first nude or semi-nude shoot. Given her composure and willingness to comply with my directions, I would never have believed it until she told me so.

I do hope to be able to shoot with her again in the near future, especially when I begin my pin-up project anew this fall. I think she would make a lovely pin-up model in the 1940's & 1950's pin-up style.

I have another shoot with a different model on Saturday, and I do hope the next model works out as well as K did in her shoot. On that note, here's another image to share:

Technological Frustration

My LG phone died yesterday. It had been having some trouble for a while. It all started when it took a bath with my granddaughter. I thought it was going to last until my next upgrade cycle, but it didn't make it. I had insurance on it, and it would have been covered for the loss, but I decided I wanted to upgrade to a phone that would be not only useful for calls, but that would be able to synch with my computer and help me manage my calendar and contact data.

My son and daughter-in-law have both been using Blackberry Pearls and loved them, so I decided I would try a Blackberry device. I chose the Blackberry Curve 8330 as my upgrade choice and paid all the additional fees and signed all the additional contracts needed to get the upgrade (what a racket the cell phone companies have going here). The Blackberry was able to take my current mini-SD card so all my images were moved, and my contact data was quickly transferred and I was on my way with a new phone and a simpler and more versatile way of contacting people....or so I thought.

Don't get me wrong. The Blackberry is a fine phone. It is not, however, an intuitive device when it comes to settings and the user interface. You would think that Blackberry would provide a comprehensive user guide with the phone so make up for this shortcoming, but all that comes in the box is a Tips, hints and shortcuts booklet (very lame) and a couple of CD's, neither of which contain a pdf file of the users guide.

I'm pretty technologically savvy though. I operated and maintained nuclear reactors for the Navy for 20 years, before retiring and starting work for a computer chip company. I've also owned all sorts of complicated electronic devices and had a home computer many, many years before they were popular. I was fairly certain I could figure things out.

My first stop was the Blackberry website where I downloaded a pdf file of the user manual. That was simple enough. The problem is that the manual doesn't match up with anything on the phone. For example, I wanted to set speed dials for each of my contacts. The manual told me to press the menu button, choose the speed dial list, and add the contact to the list. Guess what? You can't choose the speed dial list from the main menu, and lets not even get into the instructions for adding a custom rings tone (so I know which if my family members is calling when I choose to ignore them).

I did manage to get the damn thing to synch with my computer calendar and contacts - once! Since then, none of the updates I've made have synched at all. I've tried two different programs in an attempt to make it work and one of them cost an additional $40. At one point, I got so frustrated, I packed the phone and accessories up and went back to the store to exchange it for a different device. Once there though, one of the techs showed me how to access the correct menus for what I wanted to do, so I decided to keep it for a while longer to see if I can get it to work for me.

I still haven't figured out call waiting or call forwarding though, and I'll probably spend most of my evening trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to sych with my computer again. I think I'd rather be starting up a reactor.

Life Goes On

I got to finally meet my new granddaughter this past weekend. Jocelyn is a little cutie as you can see. She's quite small too, at only a little over 5 pounds in this image. My son and daughter-in-law live in California and weren't scheduled to visit until the end of September, but we couldn't take that, so I bought them tickets to come up for a visit as soon as the baby was okay to travel. It was money well spent.

Now that Makayla is two years old, I realize that I had forgotten how small newborns actually are. You can see how well Jocelyn fits into the crook of her Papa's arm. I had a lot of fun shooting with her and I consider her my latest female model.

Unfortunately, she left yesterday and it will be the end of September before I see her again. It will be interesting to see how much she grows in that short interval of time. Fortunately, we have a web cam set up on the PS3 so we can "see" her occasionally between visits.

We won't get too lonely for little babies, though. We have a grandson due in the next couple of weeks - and it could be any day now. His mom and dad still haven't named him though, so I'm calling him Rumplestiltskin (Rumpie for short) until they do in an effort to get them to make up their minds. It's not working, and I think the nickname, Rumpie, is going to stick.

Makayla did quite well with her little cousin, though she did want her own attention as well. I think she'll be fine with her new little brother as well when he finally arrives, though it's quite possible there will be some jealousy at first.

My son is quite the doting father and both he and his wife are going through that giddiness of being first time parents. It certainly screws a bit with their perspective, but that's true of all new parents.

I do now realize how hard it must have been for the grandparents of my children. When our children were born, we lived more than 1200 miles away from them and during most of their lives, we never lived any closer than 500 miles away (Charleston, SC to Atlanta, GA). We tried to visit often, but it's not the same thing as having your grandchildren close by so you can see them often.

Of course, technology shrinks the world a bit for us - we can see her on the webcam, call just about anytime we want, and we can hope on a flight down to Oakland whenever it gets just too unbearable for us. Still, it would be nice if all our grandchildren were close by home.

In Memorium

Granny, as my mother was called for the last 28 years of her life, passed away a year ago today. I miss her as much now as I did on the day of her funeral. I used to call her every Sunday morning and while I had my coffee, we would chat for at least an hour about the family, our lives, politics and a myriad of other subjects. She loved jokes and always had a new one to tell me every week.

Granny was frank to a fault, but loved with all her heart. She was definitely not a perfect person, but she loved her kids and her grandkids and would have done anything to make us happy. She used to spend hours and hours down in the floor playing with my kids, and they always loved it when she came to visit us, even after we moved to Oregon and they grew up.

She gave me my love of books and classic movies. When I was young, I can remember sitting in her lap and watching old movies on a small B&W TV while she explained the plot to me.

I was standing beside her as she was ironing clothes on the day that JFK was shot, and I remember asking her why she was crying...and she told me someone was trying to kill hope.

She was the artistic person in our family. She could sew, paint, and she loved to handcraft decorations for all her children's homes. Once she got onto a kick of making stuffed rabbits in cute outfits and sent so many to my house that I swore the things were breeding when I wasn't looking. She painted a mural on the whole side of my aunt's shed and though she didn't start painting until very late in her too short life, she had a great flair for color and a wonderful sense of perspective.

The last time I saw her, she called me her angel and told me she would meet in the next life. She was my mother, my friend, and I miss her.

Writing and Blogging

I enjoy writing articles about photography and events. I've written several lens reviews, a series of articles on composition, and some reviews of various events around Oregon and Washington. I've been so busy this summer, though, that I've fallen behind on the list of articles I've been meaning to write, but I'm sure as soon as the winter rains set in, I'll be able to catch up pretty quickly.

I have review articles on the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS, the EF 16-35 f/2.8L and the 24-70 f/2.8L lenses pending, as well as a review of the Canon 40D and the Canon 1DsMK III camera bodies in the works. As I've never reviewed a camera before, that should be a fun challenge.

I'm also planning to write an article about Crater Lake (if I can ever get back down there to shoot), an article on Barefoot Glamour, and maybe a basic studio lighting primer.

Other plans for the year are a potential Glamour Workshop, some pin-up shoots in the fall and winter, and at least one fair or festival. I might also hook up with my friend, Jim, and see if I can do some band venue shooting. That's quite challenging and he's been practicing for a few years now and seems to have it down to an art. I want to learn some new tricks from him.

I'm also open to suggestions about new writings. If any of my readers (all 3 of you) have any ideas of what you'd like to see me write about, please, by all mean, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas and concepts.

A Little Break

I've been taking a bit of a break from my photography projects. I shot quite a lot in March, June and again in July completing several shoots in those months. But I had so many images I needed to process, that I decided it would be best if I worked on those instead of shooting new material.

My plans were to begin shooting again this weekend, but I was unable to schedule a shoot with one model and I had to cancel a shoot with another as I had an unexpected business trip out of town that left me with no opportunity to adequately plan the shoot. It was probably fortunately that I rescheduled as the weather this weekend has been quite hot and humid and I'm sure the model would have wilted during a two hour shoot. She was very gracious about rescheduling and aware that I only did it to make sure we would get the best images possible from our shoot.

I did manage to make it to the POTN (Photography-on-the-Net) shoot in the Columbia River Gorge yesterday. It had been planned for several weeks and it was quite fun to meet some of the people with whom I've been chatting with online for so many years. There was 8 of us total from across the Northwest and we met at 7 am at the Vista House at Crown Point State Park. From there we had a wonderful view of the Columbia River Gorge. Our next stop was Latrourell Falls and then we made our way down the Gorge to Sheppard's Dell, Bridal Veil and Wahkeena Falls before heading out to Hood River for lunch and what we hoped would be some kiteboard shooting. In the image above you can see all of us (well, except me) shooting at Latourell Falls. I also got to experience the thilling adventures of the "Boring Boys" and their no holds barred approach to photography. I think they managed to dunk a good bit of themselves and their accessories (though not their cameras or lenses by sheer luck) before the shooting day ended.

The image to the left gives a bit of insight into the Boring Boys' approach to waterfall photography (wetter is better).

Lunch was good, but alas, there was no wind so our time together ended after lunch and we went our separate ways. although it seems I've been asked to host a glamour and nude workshop for some of the guys sometime this September. That should be fun to plan and execute.

In the meantime, I'm trying to schedule at least three more shoots before the end of the year for this year's projects while at the same time, planning lots of time to spend with my current and future grandchildren! Wish me luck.

Past Glamour

I've been seriously shooting for about 30 years now. I bought my first SLR camera, a Canon AT-1, in late 1978. I have always been interested in photography, though. I can remember running around my neighborhood as a kid and shooting images with a small camera given to me for a birthday. Of course, back then it was all black and white and I doubt any of the images have survived the intervening years. In the late 70's, before the birth of my first child, I got very serious with my photography.

I can't say I was any good back then, but I sure enjoyed it. I bought all the books I could find that explained the basics of photography. I took courses from the New York Institute of Photography, and though I had a young family to support, I managed to acquire a decent set of lenses and a 2nd body.

Even back then I primarily enjoyed shooting outdoor glamour and nudes, and I worked with quite few models over the years. I got my first break with models when I moved to Upstate New York and I was able to work with several young ladies from the local area. I was able to get a few of those images published, though the tear sheets are long gone from my portfolio.

I did have one advantage that helped me improve my photography. I had, and still have, a lovely wife who was alway willing to pose for me. In fact, the image you see here is from 1986 (well after our third child) and taken along a rural river in Georgia. She was 26 at the time and this was taken at about 7 am in the early morning light. Back then she didn't mind getting up very early and jumping in a river for me. She's not so keen on it these days, though if I beg enough she'll do it.

In any event, I still love shooting outdoor glamour and nudes, and I still love shooting with my wife. And here she is 20 years later:

Continuing the Project

The Fae project is continuing, although at a slower pace. I was supposed to meet with the next model yesterday, but had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency (all is under control, so no worries there). The next shoot should be quite fun as the model is both lovely and enthusiastic and the Dance Fairy is the concept we're planning to shoot.

I have two other models who have expressed interest in the project, but neither one have been available for setting up the final logistics, so I'm unsure with those images will be shot, but I'm hoping to get at least 3-6 more concepts shot before the end of summer, including a reshoot of the Spring Fairy.

The image to the left is from my Art Fairy shoot. I have quite a few more images to process from that series, but I'm quite pleased with the ones that I've processed so far. I've made several prints from that shoot for my portfolio and they work quite well as part of the series.

I think for the future images, I'll cast and interview for a specific concept, meet with the model at least twice before the shoot, and have a more detailed script and at least one assistant for the shoot. That will go a long way toward making the shoots more productive and easier to post process the images.

I'm a Grandpa (Again)!

My son, Jeremy, and his wife, Kristin, had their first child this afternoon. Jocelyn Serenity weighed in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces and is 17 inches long. She looks a lot like her daddy when he was her age, but only time will tell if she keeps the resemblance.

Her mommy went into labor early this morning, but managed to deliver after only 11 hours. Our youngest daughter, who spent 29 hours in labor with her first one, was quite envious, and she's quite proud to finally be an auntie.
She's due with our first grandson in a few weeks, so maybe she'll have a faster and easier labor this time. For her sake, we certainly hope she follows her sister-in-law's fine example.

Mother and daughter are doing fine, and there's a proud new daddy in our family. Of course, Papa and Grandmama are pretty delighted too and quite anxious to get our hands on the little one. That will have to wait a bit though as she is several hundred miles away in California.

They're all planning a visit to Oregon at the end of September, but we just might not be able to wait that long. I think there might just be a road trip in our near future.