Family Portrait.

First let me say thanks to the Sandor Family. They were great to work with for this shoot at the beach in Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Super relaxed and flexible, even if not everyone was quite up for pictures. Thanks also for letting me use you as an example.

Okay. Family portraits can be tough. I think they're one of the hardest genres of photography to do really well. Especially with little kids. It's a lot of factors to deal with all at once. Sometimes you get lucky and everyone looks the same way at the exact same moment and smiles their biggest, happiest smile and you get the photo and you're all set. But sometimes, no matter what you do, not everyone is on the same page. It happens. We all have those days (in fact, I might be having one right now, but that's a different story). That doesn't have to mean the shoot is a loss though; you can still come away with some great images. It just means you need to re-imagine the photos you planned to get. And that's the biggest challenge. Once you have a concept mapped out in your head it's hard to walk away from it, but sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes you have to step back and find another route to the same destination: great photos. For the shoot with the Sandor's that meant abandoning the formal family photo and changing to a less formal arrangement like the more candid images below. It's different, but in the end I think everyone was happier. Watch for more.

Holy Sh*t, it's September.

Can you believe this, people: it's September. This weekend is frickin' Labor Day. LABOR DAY. That's the end. Finito. Done. Summer=Over. What the hell happened? Wasn't it June 1st like three and half days ago or something? Where did it go? Rough estimate, I only did 2.83% of the things I wanted to do this summer. I'm no math-stronaut, but I can tell you those odds aren't very good. Here-to-fore, I am annexing September into the canon of summer months. June, July, August, September. There, more summer. That feels better. Your welcome, everyone. Enjoy.

P.S. The little fellow up top has been hanging out on our window screens the last couple nights. I like him. I've named him Renaldo. The photo was taken at night using two headlamps from opposing angles. Same thing with the wasps below. Except they don't have names. I don't like them.

 

Senior Portraits-Adam.

 

One of my favorites from a senior portrait shoot last week with Adam in Washburn. Headed to Michigan again at the end of this week, then I'm back for more shoots in the Chequamegon Bay Area. Lots more of these to come during the end of this month and the beginning of September. If you still need to book a senior portrait session for this season give me a call soon, the calendar is getting pretty full. Enjoy the last couple weeks of summer, it's going fast.

August. The first half.

Another crazy month, another random sampling of images from recent shoots. I've had a little more interest in some of my wildlife work lately, so I've been keeping an eye out for a few more opportunities in that category (i.e. Bald eagles carrying fish and that sort of thing, a "right place at the right time" kind of shot that I caught last week during lunch). This month has been insane though. All over the map literally and figuratively. In between shoots, I'm also pulling together a calendar for a handful of photography workshops that I'll be teaching in the fall. Watch for the schedule to be posted here in the next few weeks and sign up early, the classes fill really fast.

This shoot was a major flash back to working for newspapers, something I used to do more of a few years back. The client needed an environmental portrait of Dr. Nehring, a dentist in Mercer, Wisconsin, but he's super-busy this time of year and only had about 10 minutes in the middle of a day to give us a photo op. That's tight, but doable. So I got everything set up for a shoot in this operatory while he finished a root canal in the room next door. I even had someone else sit in for a few test shots to make sure everything was dialed in. Once Dr. Nehring was finished next door he popped in smiled and we got the shot in a few frames (turns out dentists are pretty good at turning on the smile, didn't need much direction on that). Nice and quick. He was already back in gloves and a mask before I was out the door with my lights. Surgical strike photography. It took about five times as long to get there and back as it did to shoot, and we came away with a great image. Thanks to Charmaine and Jess, who both helped put this one together.

And another shot from a night at the Big Top Chautauqua. This is from the house show "Ladies of the Canyon." Four lovely ladies and the Blue Canvas Orchestra performing the music of Joni Mitchell, Mama Cass, Carli Simon and others. Pretty amazing. Next up, senior portraits. Lots of 'em. Watch for more.

Back Home.

Wow. It's been a busy couple weeks. But I'm home again from shoots in Georgia and then Michigan. Here's a random sampling of images from the last couple weeks. Some catalogue photos, some portraits sessions, and finally some dive photos on a couple of shipwrecks in Lake Huron. All in all a pretty random assortment of shoots, but what is it that they say about variety being spicy? Or is it life that's spicy. I always forget. You get the idea. Either way, I love this job. Stay tuned for more.

Nori.

This post could also be called Breaking Sh*t...and then learning how to fix it. Okay, let me start by saying that I had two shoots scheduled yesterday. The first one early in the morning got rained out, which is fortunate because while I was setting up for it (pre-cancellation), I totally smoked an important piece of equipment on the ground and busticated the power switch. Bummer. This is where being a little handy pays off. (P.S. the top photo is from the second shoot yesterday, that's Nori, keep reading to find out more about her.)

So, this thing is the battery pack for a portable mono block light that I use pretty much all the time for outdoor portraits. It's not super expensive, but it's expensive enough that I don't really want to buy another one. Not to mention, I couldn't buy another one in to time for the evening shoot; It's not exactly a regularly stocked item. Case in point, when I brought it in to Radio Shack I had to first explain what it was before they could help me out. Explanation complete, there was some chin scratching and some rifling through drawers before they hooked me up with the switch that I needed and I started playing mad scientist for a little while.

Now, the new switch wasn't exactly the same size, shape, or orientation as the old one. In fact nothing about it was the same except the voltage/amperage something rating, but I set about fanoogling it all into working order. After a few blue flashes, some quiet cussing, and a little bit of quality time with a screwdriver, I managed to install the new switch. Is it pretty? No. Does it work? Yes. Did I need to cancel my second shoot for the day? No. Mission: Successful. Now I just need to remember not to drop it again. Here are the extra/broken parts I had left after I put it back together: (I don't even know what the zip tie was doing in there before I took it apart. Hopefully nothing important, cause it's not doing it anymore. Weird. But not bad considering I had no idea what I was doing.) I'll say it, I'm proud of me.

Okay, so Nori. Nori is a totally rockin' fiddle player from Ashland, Wisconsin. She's just starting to hit the regional music scene and she was needing a few head-shots. She's also working on a new album which will also need some photos and judging from what she was playing during the shoot, it's going to be awesome. So, we put together a little shoot down by the lake that gave us several different settings in one little area. Combined with a perfect evening it worked out great. Here are a few more:

Flowers.

I had a little time yesterday afternoon to get out the old camera, slap on a macro lens and putter around in the yard for a while. It's a pretty sweet time of year to be out, lots of great things in bloom, and this is probably my last chance to play around for a while. July (which for your information starts THIS Friday. Holy Crap) is shaping up to be a ridiculously busy month with shoots scheduled in Michigan and Georgia along with a couple really cool projects in the Washburn area. Watch for some sweet new posts mid-month. Now I'm not saying anything more. You can't make me. You'll just have to check back and see for yourself. Gooooo, Summer!

New shoes, old skateboard.

 

I did it. I got new shoes. For those of you that know me, this is a big move. Epic even. The planets finally aligned (sort of literally) and I went down to Solstice Outdoors Monday afternoon to get some sweet new kicks. I've had my eye on these Patagonia Boaris shoes pretty much since Solstice opened. I looked at these every time I was in there, but I held off...until Monday. Mostly, I was worried Katie would sell out of my size during their Solstice Sale yesterday. But there were also other factors at play.

You see, I've been needing some new long-boarding shoes for a long time (I know all you purists are shaking your heads and saying you shouldn't long-board in shoes, but I'm really bad at it and rocks really hurt, so mind your own frickin' business, huh?). And since June 21st was also "Go Skateboarding Day", I thought "the time has come." So I pulled the trigger and just got 'em. In celebration of the new shoes and the skater-holiday and the summer solstice and the fact that we now have a sweet outdoor shop where you can actually get stuff like this in Ashland, I had to put together this photo.

See a few more versions of the same concept and check out how I did it below:

**Disclaimer: Taking photos like this is a really efficient way to destroy expensive camera equipment in a fraction of a second. Trust me I have a box of mangled camera pieces from other stupid ideas to prove it. But the pay out on these kinds of gambles can be totally sweet photos. And isn't that the whole reason to have a camera anyway? If a cameras going to die, shouldn't it go out doing what it loves? Still, try this at your own risk.

Step Uno: Drill a hole in your long-board deck. What's that you say? You don't want to drill holes in your stuff? It takes guts to attack your personal possessions with a whirling power tool. Sadly, not everyone is cut out for this project. If you're feeling uncomfortable, maybe you should take up origami or checkers instead.

 

Step Deux: Mount a ball-head onto a bolt fed through the hole. Add washers to prevent potentially tragic loosening mid-skate. For the ultra-cheap version you can mount the camera directly to a 1/4-20 bolt through the hole (and tighten a stopper nut against the deck to stop if from twisting), but you sacrifice the range of motion.

Step Three: Mount camera with cable release to ball-head. Aim, manually focus and lock it in place with gaffers tape to prevent zoom-creep. Zoom-creep is when, due to vibration or gravity or both, the lens inadvertently changes focal length. Some lenses have a lock switch to prevent this, but a little tab of gaffers tape does the same thing.

 

Step IV: Set the exposure for desired depth of field and/or motion blur based on ambient light conditions. You may want to do this with a grey card as the black grip tape and dark asphalt may give you a misleading exposure reading. Take a few tests before you start rolling and check the histogram to make sure you're on the money (for example, as the histogram reveals the image shown below is not on the money, too dark.)

Step 5: Get to scootin'... and try really hard not to crash. Push the button. A lot. Process and serve with cold beer. Happy new shoes/Go Skateboarding Day, America.

Ochre Ghost Gallery, Duluth.

The {Body} series is getting hauled out of storage and polished up this week to make another public appearance (Thanks to Noah at StageNorth for some behind the scenes help). This time the show is going to hang at Ochre Ghost Gallery in Duluth, Minnnesota. I'll be there getting it all up ont he walls Thursday evening this week and the show will be up pretty much through the end of June (the 29th, I think). Everyone should stop in for the opening reception on Saturday, June 18 from 7-10 p.m. I'll be there and I might even get cleaned up for the occassion. We'll see, no promises. I'm pretty excited to get it in front of some more new eyes and see what people think. Duluth, here we come.

Just a reminder the whole show is also available as a print magazine here:

Exhibit 1

{Body} Issue 1: Exhibit 1

A collection of black & white photographs by Bob Gross.

Find out more on MagCloud

 

Related Posts: {Body} Photoshoot

 

Flyfishing.

 

Friend and fly-fishing guru Dave Gellatly took me out for an afternoon of fishing on the upper section of the Brule River yesterday. Let me be clear here: I am not what you would call a fly-fisherman. But Dave is. As I fed several flies to the bushes, he kept patiently setting me up with new ones and pointing me towards where there might actually be a fish if I could manage to get the line out of the trees and onto the water. By the end of the day I think was executing something close to fly-fishing and managed to bring in a nice sized rainbow (not picture here). Kudos to Dave on being an excellent teacher. It was an absolutely amazing float, the last section to the landing completed by moonlight as bats swooped around the canoe feeding on the hatch. It was a good day to be in the North Woods. Hurray Summer.

The Old Man.

That, my friends and dedicated readers, is the old man. My dad. He's a wily old rascal. And today is his last day of work. Ever. After careers as a teacher, a tech guy, and eventually as a tech guy for teachers, he's on to the next great adventure: retirement. Totally. Awesome. I must admit, I'm more than a little jealous. In between some serious uninterrupted swathes of tinkering time and pursuing his life-long hobby of attempting to sail literally anything that floats, he and Mom already have several trips planned. That's the big thing I suppose: it's not just the old man, they're both retired now. My mom retired a few years ago...sort of. She got antsy though and went back to work again part time, but this time I think they're both going to take it a little more seriously, really buckle down and be retired. And they ought to, they've earned it. Congratulations Mom and Dad.

 

 

 

Back to my roots.

Got to spend some time out in the yard this afternoon messing around with taking some macro shots. They weren't for a client or a potential client or anything else; they were just for me (and now, I guess, you if you're reading this). I was just looking at something that I thought was interesting and trying to capture it, freeze it so I can return to that moment time and again. I was doing a lot more of this kind of personal shooting a couple years ago and it was nice to get back to it, for an afternoon anyway. This is the kind of shooting that got me into photography in the first place. I've always loved shooting nature photos, wildlife, bugs, all that sort of thing. Especially macro shots like this. As I developed as a photographer I slowly started to like working with people more and more. And now I work with people almost exclusively. Not that working with people isn't great, I love it. But it's different. It's complex and rewarding and exhausting and stressful and inspiring (and it pays a whole lot better) all at the same time. But after a few chaotic weekends of weddings and small portrait assignments it's good to take a step back and remember why I started doing this in the first place: because it's fun. Here's to fun.

Spring. Again.

 

I was processing some photos this morning and it struck me when I came across this one from a couple days ago of blossoms on the apple tree in the yard that I took a similar set of images earlier this spring in Washington DC (see below). Sure different types of trees, but the point is that things were blossoming there in March and here they're just getting going. That was more than three months ago. Three months. That's a long time. It's crazy how far behind things are here. Anyway, just a quick thought this morning, before I take off for another round of wedding photos this afternoon and tomorrow. Watch for more.

Max & Lorraine.

Went down to Stillwater, MN this weekend to shoot my first wedding of the 2011 Season. Other than the tornado siren going off during their vows, the event was a smashing success. Great people, great party. Congratulations Max and Lorraine, I wish you a long and beautiful life together.

I also tried a new wedding photo experiment: a photo booth at the reception where people could snap their own portraits to give to the bride and groom. Two words: Frickin' Awesome. I started it out by just showing a couple people how to use it and asked them to show a couple more people. Word spread. By the end of the evening there were more than 300 priceless memories on the camera in the booth. Check out a couple below. I'm calling that experiment an unqualified success.

 

Random photos, random thoughts.

To all my regular readers (by which I mean my mother, Hey Mom, how's it going?), my apologies for the long gaps between posts lately. I've been shooting a ton of new work, but I haven't really had any time to show anyone. And what's the fun in that. So here's a random smattering of new photos with little to no explanation of who, what, or where. Take them as they are, just some pretty, new blotches of color to peep at.

But it hasn't been all work this week. I also had a birthday. 28. Jesus, I'm not ready to be 28. That's just 730 days (now 725.5 days) shy of the dirty thirty. And as anyone who's anyone knows, 30 is old. I'm not ready to be old. I really need to pack a lot into these next two years. "Make 'em count," as they say, before I begin the long, slow downward creep towards the grave.

Okay, to any of the post-30 crowd that's currently winding up for an epic rant in the comments section-- fingers twitching above the keys with early mid-lifed rage-- I'm just kidding. Not about the "making it count" part, that still seems like sort of a good idea. But I am kidding about the "30 is the end youth" part. Frankly, I think a lot of the 30-something crowd are still rockin' it harder than I am at this point, but I have been thinking a lot about the things I want to check off the list in the next few years. I'm not going to reveal my plan here. I don't want to jinx it. But I am going to start actively pursuing some of my whacker ideas. Why not, right? In the event that any of them pan out, you, my dedicated readers, will be the first to know (I'll also give you call, Mom). Check back for updates from the field. In the mean time, enjoy the weekend.

 

Colorado.

A few photos from an engagement session I shot while we were out in Colorado a week ago. These were shot outside of Boulder. We ended up with bad weather but made the best of it. I love the way the sky looks in these. Also got the chance to be a lame tourist in Boulder for the afternoon. As you can tell from the photos (taken by my lovely assistant Sarah), I really enjoy being a tourist. While tolerant, Sarah was not what you would call impressed. Can't win 'em all.

A New Boat.

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
-From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

A few photos from the launching of new boat by JW Swan Boatworks. Josh and I went down to one of the growing gaps in the ice to give this craft its first taste of the lake. This 14 ft. row boat, built for a customer in Chicago, is based on a classic design for small working boats in Norway. To conserve weight the hull is planked with special mahogany marine plywood rather than solid wood, but sealed with a traditional and non-toxic combination of pine tar and linseed oil, also affectionately known as "boat sauce." Pretty cool to see it slip into the water for the first time. This got me excited for boating season. Now all I need is a boat...