Just not November yet

You would not believe it was the last day of October. Not by the sun and the leaves and the fun ... we had in the Arboretum this afternoon. I had totally forgotten how wonderful the Arnold Arboretum is ... and the kids were there for the first time. Finding a big garter snake certainly added to the adventure.



A day later (It is November now)...
... I am still thinking about the fun we had:

• The cattail-fluff was everywhere, and I am sure I swallowed some. The light in the cattails was unbeatable for photos.


• The snake left quite an impression too. The biggest Garter snake I had seen so far. And the way it snuggled with Tristan was so cute. It pressed every bit of its body against his warm hands and started to sneak up his sleeve at some point.

Just found a piece of twig in my hair this morning while shampooing. I think that says it all. What a great day yesterday!
Will get to work on the book asap.

Strings

On Sunday I visited the Southend Open Studios for some major inspiration. I stopped at the studio building at 551 Tremont Street only to get stuck at the first open door, where Roosevelt Pires repairs all kinds of string instruments in a creative mess. Everywhere pieces of ukuleles, guitars, cellos and violins peak out of shelves, boxes, wraps like curious little creatures trying to catch a glimpse of the world.

It is not every day that someone plays the cello for you in the stairways of a an old brownstone. And as long as Agustin played the instrument that Roosevelt had made for him some years ago, I could not bare parting.

Memories

It was a busy weekend. On Saturday I covered a Phi Beta Alpha fraternity reunion for Northeastern University, which reminded me again of why I like photographing people: These guys were delighted to see each other again after who knows how many years.

Looking forward to ...

... an entire Saturday "shooting Anna". We're gonna have fun, fun, fun ...

I must have been crazy …

… to fly to the Netherlands for just one day to photograph a wedding. But what a wedding, what a trip it was! Due to volcanic activity it was a miracle that I made it there ... and back almost on schedule. Eyjafjallajokull seemed to have some kind of personal grunge against me as it made me almost miss the wedding due to its ash cloud and subsequent flight cancellations. It then behaved well all Saturday and sent another cloud to Schiphol Airport on Sunday. The airport was closed shortly after I had left on the plane back to Boston.



It turned out to be a wonderful day for everybody involved. The sun was shining a little bit ... not too much to spoil the perfect soft light for the outdoor photos. And just enough to supply light through the huge church windows in Deventer. The venue, the majestic pocket palace "Huis De Voorst", built in 1695 as a replica of the royal Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, and completely renovated in 2005, was the perfect backdrop for this romantic day.

Anke and Mike, I am so happy for you. I wish you all the best for the future and tons of fun on your honeymoon.

Because pregnant women are so beautiful

I just have to post another one from the Carola series.



No further comment.

John Robert - You did it again!

John Robert you did not disappoint!

Just like last year, and the year before, you literally dove into your birthday cake. The cake had so many wonderful colors, and yes, you are right, when you mix them all together you get pretty much black, or a very dark and dirty gray.
It was great to be part of your birthday party again - the third one so far.

Kids have to have fun and be messy, especially when it is their birthday. You understand that, and all your little friends appreciate it. (It is not making things easy for your mom, but that is a different story.)
This week I will get to work on a book so that you and your family can remember this great day, and add it to the little library that you have already accumulated.

It was more difficult to document your party this year than it was in previous years, just because the weather made us all stay inside for most of the day. But there were plenty of things we could do, like get our faces painted, sing songs, or enjoy Mickey’s visit.

Happy Birthday, John Robert!
… and hope to see you again next year.

Almost There

Carola, I am very touched by this image.

I can't believe we pulled this off in the short period of time we had after the kids went to bed and you fell asleep yourself. We shot this in 15 minutes. Figuring out how to get the swirls in the picture took me much longer.

I can't wait to see the little guy. He - and you - will have such a wonderful picture to remember this very special time.

"Elements of Water"

"Elements of Water" is the current exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography. I am excited to announce that one of my photographs was juried into the show.
The exhibition will be on display until March 11, 2010
The artist's and public reception is on March 5, 2010 from 6-9pm at the Center's main gallery.

For those of you who cannot visit the gallery in Fort Collins, CO you can see all photographs online.

My contribution to the show is number 45 (toward the end). But do not just skip there directly because you will be skipping over a lot of wonderful photographs.

Enjoy the Photos!

Three more weeks to go

I spent an entire afternoon last weekend with Lisa who has only three more weeks to go until the big day. I felt almost bad chasing her around from one ‘pose’ to the next … having her climb on to the bed … sit … kneel … lay on one side … then the other. Lisa had a couple of dresses that she wanted to try on … and I suggested jeans. I love the casual and relaxed feel of barefoot jeans and t-shirt … you just can’t beat that.

Together we came up with a more and more ideas where and how to photograph. We took our time and had a lot of fun. So we ended up with a variety of pictures that we are both very excited about.




… I wish I could see her daughter’s face the day she get the photos out … “Look! This is what Mommy looked like when you were still inside my tummy.”

It is cold in New York in February

This weekend was amazing!

We went to New York to drop off the print for the Krappy Kamera Show. The current exhibitions are wonderful too. We laughed so hard it hurt while looking at "My Potholes".

We stayed the night in the Chelsea Hotel, a wonderful weird place, a mixture of run down and luxury that is loaded with art and history.
And we met with some old friends.

... and a new one: M i r a.
Mira managed to distract the waiter at Le Pain Quotidien to a point where he was incapable of taking our orders. Like hypnotized he was just standing there, smiling at her, could not move his eyes away. Ahhh the power of a one year old!

Fashion Fun

I love venturing into fashion every now and then ... like I did tonight. I wish I had more time for this. I just got back from the studio, and once again I couldn't let it go. I had to edit and play with PhotoShop a little. Since my eyes are falling shut as I type I will just leave you with some impressions from this fun shoot ...

Krappy Kamera

A letter arrived from the SOHO PHOTO Gallery in New York City. I had entered some prints in a competition called "Krappy Kamera", an annual juried show for photos taken with minimal ("junky") cameras and lenses such as the Holga, pinhole cameras, or Lensbaby. (The Lensbaby is the lens my brother calls the "The Three Tequila Shot Lens" because of the blur you get from it.)

The Krappy Kamera competitions’s motto is: “In the hands of an artist, great photographs can be made with minimal equipment.” As if getting accepted to the show was not hard enough, the contest was opened for international participation in 2009. My first thought when I saw the envelope was: “Odd, I didn't think they would mail a rejection letter with the post.” [For the last couple of years I had checked their website for the list of accepted photographers just to find my name to be not on it.]

Only then did it dawn to me that maybe this time it was not a rejection. SOHO PHOTO had accepted one of my prints into the Krappy Kamera XII show for March of this year!

I am very excited to be part of it, having been selected as one of forty-eight artists from several hundred who submitted their work. To add to the excitement, the accepted print “Lydia & Ducky” is the signature photo for our blog and a foundation sample of the work we do at Creative Momentz.

The smell of chemicals

Ahhhh ... the color darkroom.
Ohhh ... the smell of chemicals.
Oohhh ... good old fashioned printing of color negatives.

And the wonderful memories that this picture brings back of a trip up to New Hampshire in the fall of last year ... on a rainy weekend day ...
To the charming little town of Effington - 50% in New Hampshire and 50% in Maine - but 100% wonderful for a road trip.