If you thought only Southern Baptists are against the sins of drinking alcohol, head out to Portland, OR and have a gander at the Benson Bubblers.  The bubblers were added to the city sidewalks after Simon Benson donated $10,000 to the city of Portland for their installation.  Benson, a complete non-drinker, was tired of his workers having alcoholic beverages during the middle of the workday, so decided to donate the money to the city of Portland for bubblers to be installed.  History says that alcohol consumption decreased by 25% after the initial 20 bubblers were installed.

The photo above is a single photo with a bit of post-processing to get the HDR-ish look I wanted when I took the photo originally.  I can also attest that the water that comes from these bubblers is cool, and on a hot summer day, a welcome relief after downing a couple beers.  Thanks, Simon!

“Sportraits” aren’t something I shoot much these days, but back when I did, i enjoyed it.  Each session presented its own challenge, especially when dealing with revenue sports.  A revenue coach’s time is managed about like the President’s time, varsity athletes usually come with handlers to make sure they don’t say something that shouldn’t be made public, facilities are always a commodity, and no matter when you schedule the shoot, you better be ready to start early, but plan to stay late.  Non-revenue sports are so much easier.  The athletes are giddy to be given attention, and everyone else is more laid back.

Of course, the shot above brings in two revenue sports at NC State, men’s & women’s basketball.  I arrived early for the shoot, worked with my assistant to get the lights set up and props in place, then waited… and waited… and waited…  Finally, about 25-30 minutes after the scheduled time, the athletes and their Media Relations handlers walked in.  Ilian was shocked I had gone through so much effort to get a good photo, and their handlers (one for each of them) were just ready to leave.  “You’re not going to ask them any questions they might give stupid answers to, are you?” one of the handlers asked.  “Nope.  Don’t know what to ask, don’t care what they say, I’m here to make a photo and leave.”  I guess that was good enough, we were left alone, the four of us in Reynold’s Coliseum to finish the shoot.

Once we were left alone, everything was much more relaxed.  Ilian laughed that he couldn’t palm a men’s basketball, so we used women’s basketballs to get the effect.  My assistant, Rob, adjusted lights to make sure everything was aligned right because I forgot to set the height to be taller than Rob… he’s about 5’9… not quite up to Ilian’s height.

In the end, I was happy with the photo, as was everyone else, but I would have moved the light behind Ilian higher to get more definition on his hair so he doesn’t fade to black.  I’d have also spent more time making sure the center-court line was running directly through the middle of the photo.    I won’t mention my other nit-picks, I think two is enough.

Several years ago when I took this photo, I had no idea I would ever wind up living in New York City.  If you’ve been to the city, you know that during the morning hours these breakfast carts are everywhere.  They seem to pop up from nowhere (which is my perception since they’re operating before I am out and walking) and then disappear just as quickly (which is my perception since they’re gone by the time I get back from work).  For a quick bagel, coffee, or oatmeal on the go, these vendor carts can’t be beat.

Time, and nature, can be truly relentless.  I spotted this car sitting in someone’s front yard in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia several years ago.  Since the first day it was shown in public, it has been one of my most popular sellers.  I always enjoy watching the looks people give when they see what at first appears to be a car photo.  Then they realize there’s a tree growing through the car.  THEN the realization that there were, at one point, two trees growing through the car.  That’s a lot of neglect going on there.

The photo above is from the shore of the Vltava river, looking back at the Old Town in Prague.  It’s an HDR photo, and I’m lucky to have gotten it.  Before I left for the trip, I purchased a small imitation Gorillapod that wouldn’t even hold my Canon G9 stable.  It was shaky, and the weight of the camera caused it to slouch. I donated it to a hostel in Rome.  Regardless, the best part of having the bittypod was as I was taking this photo, a group of teenagers walked by and had quite the laugh at my expense for using such a small tripod.  “It’s so tiny!” and “look how small it is!” did nothing for my confidence.  The shot, however, worked out… who’s laughing now kids?

When we talked about where we were going with some people, I heard a lot of comments about our first stop, Prague.  Prague, they said, had been too westernized.  It was a tourist trap now on the scale of Venice, Italy or France.  Having spent a few days in Prague, not nearly enough mind you, I beg to differ with that assertion.

Yes, there were a lot of Americans and western type folk there.  But the Old Town in Prague was beautiful, and to get away from the tourists all you have to do is walk a block away from the main square and main roads.  The buildings and architecture are beautiful, and the people beyond friendly.  The last thing you want to do in Prague, however, is try to cross the street when you don’t have the “walk” sign.  You might as well just put a gun to your head.  The citizens of Prague do not mess around when it comes to driving.

There are plenty of “trash the dress” photos out there, and I’m not going to pretend that mine is better than all the others out there, even though I probably should think mine is the best.  However, each photographer can only have one first trash the dress photo, and this one is mine.

John and Desiree were fun to work with throughout the process of planning, the whole wedding day, and throughout the reception.  At the end of the reception, the guests were all gone, John and Desiree were talking about how great it was going to be to put on some more comfortable clothes, and get some real food.  As I always do before I leave, I walked over to them and asked “Before I leave, is there anything else you want?”  John was pretty quick to say no.  Desiree, however, had a ready-made (or so it seemed) reply:  “I want to go to the beach, run through the surf, get wet, and make the cleaning bill that I’m going to have for this dress worth it!”  Not being one to argue with a bride who wants to go out and make photos, I led the way.

John and Desiree ran, as you can see, just as she had wanted to.  In the end, I had several photos in which both John and Desiree were looking at the camera, or were concentrating on not falling, but this is my favorite.  They’re both clearly having a good time, and enjoying being together, and when it comes down to it, that’s what a marriage is all about.

There were a lot of things I really enjoyed about my time living in Spokane, WA.  The people were friendly for the most part, the seasons were great (four of them, each uniquely different), it was a haven for an outdoor lover, but most of all Spokane, and the area around Spokane, is beautiful and perfect for photography.

The river above is the Spokane River, and you may have guessed that the city beyond the river is Spokane, WA.  The great and interesting thing about this river is how variable the flow is. During peak snow runoff which is usually sometime in early May, the water flow is so severe they actually close down the bridges across the river because the spray from the waterfalls makes crossing treacherous.  Come back just 3 months later in August, and the river you see above is barely flowing enough to be considered a creek.

During the spring, with flowers in bloom and high clouds to accent the sky, water flowing in the river, and the still cool evenings, you would be hard pressed to find a better area to find beautiful photographs waiting to be made, all within an easy drive from Spokane, WA.