Job Fair

Some angles don't work ... or do they?

Trash Talk

You know the economy is WAY out of wack when you can't even afford a trash can. These recycling/trash cans were on the sidewalk of a local Hagerstown used office furniture store.



$645 for the set? I think not.

Jeremy's Prom

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

The Other Elvis

This one took me back a ways. How can you not love Elvis Costello?
He has been around for decades and keeps cranking out great music.



Fast forward another 20 years...



Costello as Letterman and Himself

River Knot Jazz

I LOVE live music, I love jazz, and I have been meaning to catch a local jazz group River Knot for quite some time. Saturday night was the time, Bulls and Bears in downtown Hagerstown was the place. That's Lea in the photo below, this woman CAN SING.

Working nights and weekends, trying to spend more time with my wife and kids, and encouraging my wife to get out on a weekend night for a girls night out does not leave me much time to actually GO OUT and catch some live music. So with the kids at the grandparents house for two hours, and my wife sick in bed with the stomach flu, it was perfect timing to get out and shoot some jazz.

(Click on any image to VIEW IT LARGER, you'll thank yourself.)

The lighting in the bar area was low, i.e. 1/60 sec at 2.0 at 2000 asa, and then they decided the room needed some more MOOD, so they turned it down to 1/60 at 1.4 at 4000 asa. Yah, that low, not to mention backlit, which can actually be a good thing if you get a good angle on the right subject. Light can work for you, or against you.

Lesson #1 -When life gives you lemons, make lemonaide, and when life gives you LOW LIGHT, make LOW LIGHT PICS. A couple years ago digital cameras where not able to record images this well in light this low. Shooting available light vs. flash is so much less invasive, and in a live performance situation this is a GOOD THING.

I was only 2 to 8 feet away from the band at all times, so I was always between the band and some cash paying, beer drinking, hard working customer. Popping off a flash in a dark room would have lasted less than 30 seconds, tops. I was there for most of the first set, about 35-40 minutes.

Sidebar here - The multi-talented, multi=instrumentalist below on keys is Aaron Worthy. I photographed Aaron 10-12 years ago when he was a high school musician soloing on sax during a school performance. I was very impressed with his talent and knew he would take his music beyond high school. Every time I would see Aaron out I promised him I would catch River Knot. That only took me a year plus to do. (See note above about not having much free time)

River Knot Jazz is such a breath of fresh air. They play Jazz, Blues, Funk, and R&B music in a world full of DJs, POP music, and Techno computer BS. So it's really nice to see musicians that still practice their craft, and play the standards, newer tunes, and get this Mr DJ, ORIGINAL MUSIC!!!!! Turntables and drum loops will never squelch the human voice, 3/4 time, the dotted eighth note, triplets, an upright bass, or a saxophone.

So do yourself a favor and catch River Knot Jazz soon. You'll be very glad you did. Talent runs through this group like money runs through government... Non Stop! Hagerstown is lucky to have River Knot.

Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment or two in the box below.

10 Minutes, 8 Images, Not Bad!

Thursday afternoon I was cutting the grass, I looked over two yards and saw my oldest son Max playing basketball with his friend Marqus.

Marqus turned 14 Thursday so I turned off the mower, grabbed the camera and my OLD 28-85 f3.5- 4.5 first generation Nikon AF zoom lens (circa 1989) and headed over. I LOVE this lens. It's SHARP and compact. It's NOT a fast lens, but it's very sharp and very useful.

Marqus is a really cool, laid back, and mature 14 year old. We have worked together several times before and he is a great person to photograph.

I had the kids take a break from their game so I could make a few frames that I liked and then it was back to cutting the grass before our next inch of April rain. I tried to shoot all color images, but the B&W images just felt better. Maybe I should just shoot black and white exclusively. No color correction, no distraction. YES!

Marqus kept his cool as three other boys his age were constantly joking and trying to make him laugh.

I see the young adult breaking out of the boy in Marqus.

I see his father and at the same time I see his younger brother.

Oh yeah, here is the one color image I like.

So a nice little collection of images in less than 10 minutes, the kids went back to playing basketball, and I returned to the lawn. I am trying to shoot a portrait a day, Thanks Marqus.

Time To Return To The Basics

Photography is a constant change. New cameras, new lenses, new lighting techniques, new shooting styles, new software, and on and on and on. The industry may change every year or two, yet it revolves around the same basic photo principals and each photographer's interests. Part Math, Part Photographers Personality. PERIOD. We do this for the love of photography.

So there is no real wrong or right, just personal preference. The more personal, the better.

I am feeling a STRONG need to return to the most primal form of photography, portraiture.



Above is my good friend Autumn. She is an amazing young lady. One who has followed her own dreams and never looked back. She has been a tattoo artist in Chambersburg, PA for over 10 years, an artist, a photographer, and one of the nicest humans I have ever met. Cooler than cool, and down for anything in the name of art and creativity.

I was in town shooting an assignment, had 10 minutes to stop in, and I grabbed this very quick available light portrait of her inside her tattoo studio. Just an old $89 Nikkor 50 f1.8 that I love. It's FAST, it's LIGHT, and it takes up no room in my Domke bag. Can't beat shooting at 1.8.



The depth of field (DOF) is very minimal. One eye is sharp, one is way out of focus. Only part of the lips are in focus. You have to be RIGHT ON with the focus or forget it. But when you are RIGHT ON, it is magic.



If you look close in the reflection in her eye you can see my bald head and D3 death grip in effect.

So back to the basics, back to faces, faces and hands, full length, location, and details. I really need to shoot a personal portrait every day to push myself.

ViVa ThE FaSt 50mm LeNsEs!!

Hangin' With The Kids ...

Our good friend and 2nd favorite 2nd grader Savannah is the sweetest girl in the world.

... and my 50mm f1.8 on a cold winter's day. The other day my wife took our boys and their friend Savannah to Monkey Joe's for some recreational fun, and to give me some quiet time to work on weddings. So when they returned to the house out came the fast 50 and some high speed black and white portraits. All were shot in a few minutes time, the camera went away, and back to work I went. I just toned them up and posted a few. Some times the best pics are the ones right in front of you.

Jacob hard at work on the kitchen PC. Cruising the internet faster than a Google robot. 2nd grade and he types FAST.

Max taking music to a new level. Let's mic it and run it thru Dad's wa-wa pedal. BooM Chicka Wa Wa, Chicka Wa Wa!!!!

Willie Dixon, Blues Poet

I want to thank my friend Tom EB Borum for this link.



Willie Dixon was one of the greatest and most prolific artists ever to sing the blues, with more than 500 compositions to his credit. Dixon’s songs literally created the so-called “Chicago blues sound” and were recorded by such blues artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, Koko Taylor, and many others. Some of Dixon’s songs went on to reach an international audience in the 1960s, when they were popularized by such British groups as the Rolling Stones, Cream, the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, and Led Zeppelin.

So click here and check out the new OFFICIAL Willie Dixon website, full of photos, videos, and rich blues history.

J&B Bridals 2011 Bridal Show

Sunday was another typical newspaper assignment Sunday for me, four assignments in two states all within three or four hours of each other. So It becomes a DRIVE FAST, SHOOT REAL QUICK, DRIVE FAST, SHOOT REAL QUICK, and REPEAT kind of day. The flip side to an eleven hour day. But sometimes during all the chaos I still get a chance to make some photos for me. My first assignment was at noon covering the J&B Bridals 2011 Bridal show at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA.



Due to my assignment load I couldn't stay for the 1:30 pm fashion show featuring the work of NYC designer Madeline Gardner and three NYC models, but Richard Resh co owner of J&B Bridals did get me backstage and dressing room access to make some fashion show prep photos. I would love to have covered that show both in front and behind the stage. Great models, beautiful gowns, and nice light. But you have to move on to the next assignment.



Madeline, Yana, and the other models were enjoying their day out in the country, and the folks at Wilson College got a little taste of NYC.



Thanks Jim.

When The War Comes Home

New Year's Day, a time that we all look at as a way of starting over or getting another chance. But sometimes in life you dont get another chance.

Smithsburg, MD resident and U.S. Marine Lance Cpl Maung P. "Sam" Htaik was killed January 1, 2011 in the Helmand province of Afghanistan while he was conducting combat operations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. He was 20 years old. Below are Sam's parents Hla and Flory Shwe being presented with Sam's Purple Heart during the memorial service.


I was expecting a huge resistance from the funeral home to photograph the memorial service, even though we had written permission from the family. But just the opposite happened, I was given full access to the memorial service. The Shwe family saw the media not as a hinderance but as a source to broadcast what kind of hero their son was. They actually WELCOMED the media and both parents thanked me and the reporter afterwards for covering their son's memorial. That may NEVER happen again in my career.


Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley shown above attended, spoke, and stayed for the entire two hour plus memorial service. A great honor to Sam, his family, and all in attendance.

This was a memorial service not the funeral service. Sam will have a military graveside burial service January 18, 2011 at Arlington National Cemetery. His parents have welcomed The Herald-Mail's request to cover the service. Again, they want to celebrate their son and his good work and see the media as a way helping them to spread the word and good name of their son Sam.

While most of us look forward to New Year's Day as a day off filled with food, friends, and football Sam's family will always feel a bit empty for the loss of their son, brother, and soldier Sam.

A New Year, A New Me

2010 is in the history books, and 2011 gives us all the opportunity to make promises we probably will not keep. So here goes my list promises.

1 - Think Outside The Box More Often.

2 - Post more blogs.

3 - Shoot More Black & White.

4 - Shoot more images in a documentary style.