SKM PHOTO

Portrait of Dad

2012-02-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is a photo I took of my father some time ago in the kitchen of my parents house. I have always wanted to capture an image of my father showing the strength and fragility of a man that has lived quite a life.

My father was in the military, serving in both the Air Force and the Army as a helicopter mechanic and as a pilot. He served five tours in the Vietnam War, flying Huey helicopters dropping and picking up troops...a pretty dangerous endeavor. This image was taken at about 7:00 in the morning sitting at the kitchen table, as he often did smoking his ever present Pall Malls, shirtless and cross-legged drinking a can of Hamm's.

I took paper from a black sweep, crumpled it up and then taped it to the kitchen cupboards letting in some ambient light with a little off camera fill flash. I decided to use Kodak Tri-X to get some grain peaking through the skin tones and some contrast in the lines of his face. The result is a portrait with the subject staring you down, an almost Popeye look with nothing to hide. What you see is what you get, the essence of my father.

Prints for Sale!

2011-11-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

Photograph: ©Steven Karl Metzer2011/"Tooth Extraction"

So I have decided to start selling some prints on Etsy. I have been recently doing a little bit of still life work breaking away from the human form for a bit and just start doing little still lifes. Everyone seems to like this print so I put it up for sale. http://www.etsy.com/listing/86721014/photographic-print-tooth-extraction-2011

The image is of my first tooth extraction from about a week ago. It was a surreal process with all of the high end x-ray machines and digital print outs on wall mounted monitors, with state of the art blood pressure machines and dental tools. In the end the dentist just came at me with a pair of pliers. It went from being super high tech to straight up mid-evil. The dentist was very good and talked me through the whole process. I even felt safe as he put me in a head lock trying to pull the wisdom tooth from the
clinches of my gums and jaw.

So this is the first bandage they put in my mouth after the extraction. I went to change it and started staring at it and it became more intriguing with all of the cross patterns of the actual cotton mixed
with the redness of the blood. So I photographed it on a white sweep

I have more images that I will add to my Etsy Portfolio but for now its just this one. This is a 15x17 image on 16x20 paper. It's a signed digital print using Kodak Endura Lustre Paper.

A Man and His Motorcycle.............

2011-11-15T07:09:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I hung out with my friend Jeremiah and photographed him in front of his Shovelhead (that's a Harley Davidson motorcycle) at a garage space he shares with some friends. I had been there before just hanging out talking about motorcycles and having a beer or two. I have always been pretty fond of that place and have always wanted to do a portrait there and well this was my chance. I used a good amount of studio lighting, a smoke machine (which is always a good time) and a great assistant, Zack Johnston. I pretty much shot on all Speedotron with a hidden ring light in the shot all in all we were in and out of that place with in 2 hours or so. You can see the final image on my website (www.stevenkarlmetzer.com) under the New Work Gallery.

Camping in The Apostle Islands

2011-09-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well I actually got a remarkable camping trip in this year. The destination of choice was the Apostle Islands near Bayfield, Wisconsin (http://www.nps.gov/apis/index.htm). I had been there before a about five years ago on a kayaking trip exploring all of the islands. It left quite an impact on me and I told myself I would return at some point, and I did five years later. Adrienne and I planned a great trip staying on Stockton Island for three days then exploring the sea caves in Cornucopia about 20 miles northwest of Bayfield for a day. We really love to cook when we camp so we had all the kitchen wear and we ate extremely well as we watched the sun fall right into the lake each night..........

Film........ a breath of fresh air in a digital world.

2011-07-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

I have always been fond of shooting film, for some reason it just feels a bit different than digital. I shoot a lot of digital captures but film will always have a place in my heart. I suppose there is something tactile about it that I just love. Also not having the instant gratification is quite a splendid thing (unless your shooting type 55 but that film is amazing, instant gratification and all), it sort of makes you think about light a little more. As your waiting for the the film to get processed you think of all sorts of things, shutter speed, ambient light, f/ stops, diffusion,color balance,ect........

Digital capture is definitely the way to go for commercial jobs, its less time consuming and a cheaper cost than having film processed. I'm not here to say that film is better than digital capture I'm just merely expressing my excitement I still have for film, it is a sweet breath of fresh air. I try and shoot as much film as I possibly can and my choice is a large format camera. I am the proud owner of a Toyo 4x5 Sakai Series Field Camera. This is the best camera I have ever owned and every time I look through the ground glass and put the dark cloth over my head, my eyes light up with wonderment. I'm still intrigued by this glowing reversed image coming to life dancing across the ground glass......... I feel this will intrigue me my whole life.

Pulaski International School of Chicago

2011-06-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

I recently was asked to shoot a pro bono project for Pulaski International School of Chicago (PISC). This is a neighborhood school that has recently changed its curriculum to International Baccalaureate (IB). IB aims to develop inquiring,knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through inter-culture understanding and respect. PISC also has made a few changes to their staff they have a new principle Dr. Pat Baccillieri. PISC has also hired a few new teachers and in one years time the discipline problems have plummeted. Math and reading scores are on the rise,the percentage of kids who exceed expectations has risen and all kindergartners are reading and writing. Many kindergartners have exceeded expectations and are reading at the 2nd or 3rd grade level! I had a wonderful time photographing at Pulaski International School of Chicago. The staff was wonderful and all of the kids were terrific. It always feels good to do a project knowing that this is helping create an impact on kids and their education.

Welder Shoot/Millers Eureka Inc/Chicago,Il

2011-06-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a bracket built for my motorcycle and I went to my friend Eugene's welding shop. As I strolled in I started walking around the shop and quickly forgot about my bracket and started focusing on the individuals and equipment there. I instantly wanted to capture some portraits in the shop. So after meeting with the owner and discussing my idea with Eugene we made it happen. I decided to use my 4x5 camera and shoot film along with some digital capture. So this is some of the first imagery of my photo project on Welders and Mechanics.

I had a really great time shooting everyone at this shop everyone was really receptive to my big clunky 4x5 and my assistant Shawn was great. I hope to go back and finish my portrait session in the next week. I'm really excited to see my 4x5 film and see the beauty that is 4x5 film. I should be posting new imagery of the welder shots in the coming weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

Mulhern School Of Irish Dance

2010-12-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

I shot a recent assignment of some dancers from the Mulhern School of Irish Dance. This was a really fun project to work on, we ended up having 2 sets, 4 dancers and lots of fake smoke.It was a great shoot and all of the models/dancers were an absolute pleasure to work with. Images to follow on the website very soon so keep an eye out! But for now here are a few snap shots from the set. Thanks again to Zack Johnston for taking a few photos on set, one of the best photo assistants I have ever worked with!

Minbal Recording Studio

2010-12-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

I recently shot a job for Benjamin Balcom of Minbal Recording Studios. Benjamin gave me a ring and asked if I would do the photographs for Minbal Recording Studio's website. I was very excited to work with Benjamin on this project. The images were to be very moody while showing the space, plus there is a surplus of vintage instruments and recording equipment.It was great to work with Benjamin as we tweaked lights, got the angles and the mood just right, here is the end result..........

http://minbal.com/

Sting in South America

2010-12-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

Here are a few images from a few months ago. I was on tour with Sting through out South America and Mexico. I was shooting for Buchanan's Whiskey and we

spent a few days in Cartagena, Colombia, Bogota, Columbia and Mexico City, Mexico. We spent an afternoon in Pasacaballos a small town just outside of Cartagena. Buchanan's is doing some community work there and I tagged along to walk the streets with the man himself. After that it was a week and a half of shooting all night long jumping on planes on no sleep off to the next country to do it all over again. Here are a few images from that tour...........

IPhone images Part 2......

2010-12-06T12:39:00.001-08:00

iPhone images......

2010-12-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

I often take images with my iPhone I usually like to tweak them out a little bit

with all the great photo apps you can make some sweet images. Here a few selections from my iPhone........

Ya Gotta Play To Win......

2010-12-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

While looking on the PDN website I noticed a contest that caught my eye. Now I don't usually enter photo contests but I thought why not? I have only entered a few contest and I actually won one, it was in 2002 and it was sponsored by Fuji film. I ended sending in a 5x7 image and won a 6 day trip to Cancun, Mexico. If it happened once it could happen again......right? Well in any event they give you a pretty sweet online portfolio and a lot of the images are from my time in Patzcuaro Mexico and in Port Au Prince, Haiti along with some portrait work. Take a look and wish me luck!

My Gallery: http://www.onelifephotos.com/portfolioView.php?artist=STVR

Battle Creek, Michigan/Enbridge Oil Spill

2010-07-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today a friend and I decided to take our biweekly trip of aimlessly wandering the country side in search of portraits. We headed towards Kalamazoo, Michigan to bear witness firsthand of the tragedy that is unfolding there, an oil spill. Yes it does seem that spilling astronomical amounts of that black bubbly crude into an ecosystem has become all the rage as of late. Not to make light of this matter it really just makes me seriously angry. So we packed up the Tahoe and drove about 3 hours into Michigan (we like to take the country roads thus taking our time) in search of a catastrophe.

We finally hit our destination not knowing what to expect we arrived into the seemingly sleepy town of Battle Creek,Michigan. Constantly searching for information on my iPhone we started our search and with a good tip from a gas station attendant we were headed straight for Kalamazoo River. As I was asking where the spill sight was a local told me that it was pretty bad ,crews cleaning the 850,000 barrels that have poisoned this beautiful meandering river. After about 40 minutes of driving around we finally found a road going over the river and right next to the metal barrier was a placard on a stick. It was about three feet high that simply stated, "Recent contamination as a result of the Enbridge Oil Spill has recently made this river unsafe to use." So there it was a simple little sign basically stating 850,000 barrels of oil have poisoned an entire waterway and contaminated a town, in not so many words. The sign was pretty small low to the ground very indiscreet, hummmm I wonder who put those signs there. As Jeff and I peered over the edge there we saw the spectacular colors, colors that only hydrocarbons can produce with their silver,purple,yellow and blue toxic ribbons glimmering in the sunlight.

This was a sad sight to see all of this crude oil swirling about mixing with the water and flowing down stream at a pace of about 8 miles a day. I had my camera and I made my way down to the rivers edge, a bit compelled by the stench of the oil I traversed down the rocky slope to catch a few images. As I got near the water I noticed all the oils that has infiltrated the vegetation along the bank, then I looked up and noticed that both sides of the river were like this as far as the eye could see, I instantly thought, "ohhh man this is bad,real bad." We eventually found the crews that were cleaning up parts of the river, it was hard to get close as no one wanted there photographs taken and most of the roads were closed. We headed up stream to get closer to the actual spill site and that was a task in itself it seems Enbridge had hired an industrial clean up crew and they had blocked a lot of roads close to the actual site of the ruptured pipeline. We did find a road eventually that went right over the river it was a small road that was heavy with traffic and people stopping to see firsthand the oil that everyone was talking about. As we were taking images people would walk up and just look down at the water shaking their heads almost like it wasn't all that shocking.

I remember thinking to myself I wonder how this will affect these people and this river and for how long. I was talking with an older couple and they had told me that Enbridge had evacuated an entire town that was closer to the actual spill sight, this couple had also told me that their grand daughter and the employees at the bank she works at all had to go to the hospital as everyone was getting ill from exposure to the oil, the oil you could smell in the air and see in the river. I remember I had asked how this spill has been affecting her personally and this women had told me it breaks her heart and her face just sort of became expressionless and she sort of just sunk her head down and watched the oil floating past her. I went back up to the road and found about 5 strangers just standing on the bridge looking down into the water, everyone silent and the sounds of cars speeding past.

Shoot at Minbal Sound Studios.

2010-07-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

I received a call from Benjamin Balcom over at Minbal Sound Studios. Benjamin is a talented musician, sound engineer, music producer and Minbal Studios is his baby. He wanted me to take some interior shots of the main recording room,the isolation booth and the control room. Benjamin really wanted to convey a sense of mood in his studio,often bands will come into record and the studio will be lit with low wattage flood bulbs with an amber gel. So we decided to light the studio in the same way using a lot of tungsten lighting mixed with a little strobe and theater gels. There is a great collection of vintage instruments with a state of the art control room, with pieces of vintage recording gear tucked away here and there. I really had a terrific time working with Benjamin, he knows exactly what he wants and really looks at every possible situation with a keen eye. I am very excited to see the website for Minbal Studios featuring my images it should be up in a couple of weeks so I will keep my eyes open for it and put it on the blog once it becomes live!

Summer Time in Chicago.......

2010-07-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well as most of you may or may not know I made my move back to Chicago. I made some pretty great friends in Miami and look forward to heading back soon for a visit. Awww summertime in Chicago such a great experience. Since I have been back I have been working, skateboarding and riding my bike all over town. I headed to the beach on the 4th with Daniel and Adam,we took a dip in the chilling waters of lake Michigan and then rode motorcycles all over town. I took a few shots through out the day with the old trusty iPhone. Its great to be back in the city that I love, I'm sure I will change my tune once winter starts!

Plush Photo Shoot

2010-05-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

I recently photographed an interior for Tonisha Agard owner of Plush Interior Designs based in Miami, Fl. The job was photographing an interior space that Tonisha had created. We were in Boca Raton and had three models. It was a really great shoot we all worked very well together, the job entailed 2 rooms with different variations. Here is a shot from the day and a few more are on my website under the "Portraits II" gallery. Thanks to everyone who was apart of a very successful day I look forward to working with this crew again!

Port Au Prince, Haiti 2010

2010-04-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

I was assigned another Learning For Life project and I was both enormously excited for it and slightly weary but all the while knowing this would be an awesome experience. This was Project Entrepreneur in Haiti. Learning for Life in Haiti is implementing its Project Entrepreneur program, designed to give participants practical knowledge and skills in construction to help rebuild and further develop their local communities after massive damage from the earthquake that killed 230,000 people. Again this was very exciting to go and actually see first hand the enormity of this catastrophe and to try and somehow document it. Then there was another part of me that was a bit afraid to see the reality of it, I suppose its one thing to sit in your comfortable home sipping a nice cold beer or snacking on food and hearing about this massive earthquake and while being constantly exposed to the horrific images we all witnessed. Its quite another feeling to be on a 7:00am flight headed to Port Au Prince in search of pockets of hope in this complete hellish situation. I really didn't know what to expect, would there be bodies still around or people in utter desperation clinging and begging to every car with a white person and charity magnet on the side ? I had no idea about the scene on the ground the only thing I knew that I would see was a city full of crumbled buildings and people trying to make sense of it all.

Our arrival in Port Au Prince was like most other airports except when we got off the airplane nervous with excitement and awaiting our transport to our luggage pick up there was some amazing music being played by 5 Haitians, welcoming everyone that was arriving. The fact of the matter is that everyone arriving was there to help in some sort of way, lets face it there aren't many people going on holiday in Port Au Prince. So there I was standing in a line of do gooders hearing this great music,and being reminded of Etolie De Dakar but without the horns. I suppose this was Haiti's way of thanking everyone for coming to Haiti to lend a hand, a bit of music for the soul, as these souls listening were helping those most affected by this disaster.We all crammed into the the auto bus to take us to customs, after arriving getting doing the usual song and dance at customs after being stamped through there we were waiting for our luggage in a sea of people in a make shift baggage claim that seemed more like a suitcase obsessed uncle's garage. After a bit of congestion and aggressive baggage watch we retrieved all of our bags and headed out to meet our driver. As we exited the airport on to the street I was told by Patrick, the Diageo person in charge of the Haiti projects, not to let anyone grab my bag and to only go with the person he tells me and to keep moving! As I lifted my head up I began to realize why, it reminded me of a market day on Sunday in any third world country people aggressively selling their services trying to grab your bags to help you in hopes of getting a tip. I looked up pushing and pulling my way past a couple of dozen people, cars honking from what seemed like every direction. It was a frantic energetic feeling and I instantly liked it, it kept you on your toes, listening to every word someone is yelling or reading the expressions on the faces of your future temporary employees. In the midst of all of this confusion there was our guide Isnell, a tall skinny lanky spectacle wearing Haitian that instantly made you feel at ease with his calm, confidant knowingly smile and his quick action an intelligent young man with the face of a sophomore constantly on top of his game.

Isnell works for Idejen (http://idejen.edc.org/) a charity program in Haiti that has been working with Diageo through Project Entrepreneur. He was our guide through his country that has literally been torn apart. Also we had a big wig from Diageo with us to take a tour of the devastation and then later speak at a graduation that Diageo and Idejen arranged for its first graduating class. As we sped through the streets of Port Au Prince we began to see the damage, complete buildings just violently collapsed, grocery stores, gas stations,schools, daycares, hair salons,restaurants, apartment buildings and houses completely demolished and all of us realizing all the people that must have been in those places during that frightful time, we all rode in complete silence eyes glued to the evidence. One of our stops was The Presidential Palace completely toppled over and folded with rubble everywhere. Just across the street was a make shift town of tents and temporary structures all a result of displaced people around 1,000,000 homeless people through out Haiti. Well this was our first location to interview our big wig, with the Presidential Palace in ruin as our backdrop, a slight nauseating feeling came over me. Just before we conducted our interview we came across the UN in their tanks, these troopers were French and looking super tuff and somehow fashionable in camo with their machine guns on their Hummer on steroids all the while flexing the muscles of the world military force. After that we walked into the tent city to do an interview with our big wig, as we walked through people were a bit confused as way we where there but flashing me with occasional smiles, I remember one women sitting down as I looked at her with a smurked half grin and she throwing one back at me. I lifted my camera looking on she pulled the blanket ,that was actually the door to her house ,half over her face exuding a shy laugh. This had a great effect on me being where I was at the time and who I was with she could have easily been angry as we intruded but through all of that horror just outside her makeshift walls, she laughed like a child in adolescent embarrassment.

After that we headed to a few more places witnessing the damage we finally arrived to our destination a city park that had sugarcane and rum history. It use to be an old distillery in the 1930's and still had the machinery in the park with giant gear houses for thrashing the sugarcane. This was an absolute oasis in the midst of all the destruction and fallen concrete. This graduation was quite a big deal the first class graduation not only that but the sense of hope and pride it must have instilled I can't even begin to imagine. Everyone was dressed to the gills as they say, there were 150 graduating students and around 300 people in attendance. In this program the graduates learn the essential skills of construction everything to demolition,building foundations, framing,repair and painting. Something Haiti desperately needs and these kids had a fire in their eyes all of them knowing the present state their country is in and the excitement and honor they had in graduating all eager to get started rebuilding their city this was amazing given the context. The ceremony was like a typical graduation ceremony very nice and very formal after a couple of hours we were done shooting all of us looking forward to an ice cold beer which our big wig had awaiting us near the bar, he too had the love for the hops and was impressed by our performance we all sat in amazement and wonder over the past 5 hours sipping our beers we made typical small talk and soon we began packing our gear ready to head to our hotel.

A Day At The Beach

2010-04-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well I spent a day at the beach recently and decided to bring my Polaroid Land camera

along. I went to South Beach you know where all the collage kids go to get wasted and make terrible decisions. Its a beach that has some characters no doubt, everywhere you look there is some thing happening. I looked over and I saw this guy, I really wish it could have been some amazingly beautiful exotic women slowly whisking the salt water from her hair. Instead I got a slightly chubby gay cuban man on his cell phone, hey you work with what you got! I proceeded to take some snaps of him lurker style instantly making me the creepiest person on the beach. It was well worth it as these 2 shots together will make a nice diptych.

At Last!

2010-04-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

Well I ordered this sweet thing about a week ago it finally arrived today. As my dear friend Grant would say "I'm hella stoked" and that I was! I proceeded to scramble to unleash my wooden savior from its cardboard prison. I maniacally took of my trucks from my former board, tattered, beaten, chipped, bruised and stomped, it gave in quietly

and with honor. There is nothing like the feeling of getting a new deck when the one you've been riding has been beat to hell.......I suppose its like having a child or

getting married..........no no that surely must feel better........I suppose its kind of like getting a new car with out that new car smell......yes thats it!

I Shot A Latin Pop Star!

2010-04-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

So this guy is hot stuff in Latin America the chickas go bonkers over

this guy, he name is Beto Cuevas. I shot him in Bogota, Colombia

nice guy great attitude easy to shoot!

Kingston, Jamaica A Day in The Life........

2010-03-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Kingston, Jamaica in January of 2010 on assignment to photograph a day in the life of Andre Fairclough Project Artist student. This is a program sponsored by Red Stripe and Diageo as part of their larger initiative, Learning For Life. I was given access to a young musicians life for an entire day, needless to say I was very excited to photograph this assignment. I first met Andre as I was stepping out of a van at about 7:00 am on bright, crisp beautiful day in Kingston. The first thing I noticed was Andre's excitement about the project and his infectious smile. I was privileged to meet his family and friends and spend some quality time just experiencing and photographing his life for an entire day. In the pages of this book you will see what I experienced meeting his family, having breakfast with his friends, taking his daughter to school and finally ending with Andre's graduation from the program. I was honored to meet this talented young man I wish him well and look forward to hearing his name in the music world.

San Salvador,El Salvador

2009-12-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't been on here in a long long time. A lot of things have been happening since the last time I posted something on my blog, the world it taking shape and opportunities are revealing themselves. I recently was offered a full time job to shoot for Luminosity Creative in Miami, Fl. This postion consist of traveling through out South America and some travel in Europe to photograph for Diageo, a company of Johnny Walker. I also am able to shoot my own photography under my company when time allows so I can continue servicing my current and potential clients. For this job I was recently sent to San Salvador, El Salvador to photograph the damage done by hurricane Ida and to photograph relief aid provided by Diageo.

My first impression of El Salvador was a poverty stricken place with an amazing natural beauty sprouting from its land and its people. Sadly the city of San Salvador is a very polluted place, with exhaust billowing from every tail pipe forming in a hazy layer of carbon monoxide through out the city. The city its self is a barricaded and guarded place, with security on most nice homes and places of substantial business. The security consists of one guy sitting in a chair holding an automatic shotgun just waiting for some action and they most likely see action from time to time, as San Salvador is home to some notorious gangs like Mara Salvatrucha aka MS-13. Most homes have German razor wire nestled atop a cinder block wall surrounding the entire home.

This is a very small country consisting of 7.2 million people, the most populated country in Central America with 1.5 million people in San Salvador with a majority residing in poverty. I suppose in times of desperation people take desperate measures hence having guards with shotguns and razor wire everywhere. I kept thinking as we drove around the city, how bad would it have to get before I resorted to breaking in to peoples homes? I'm positive I would never take that measure I would like to think I would be more resourceful than that,but I have never and probably never will experience poverty like that other than from the window of a rented car.

As I stated before I was there to photograph the destruction that hurricane Ida left behind, during this particular storm 200 people lost their lives and 15,000 families were affected. We traveled ( the video team and I) into these affected areas. We pulled into a small town hit by the hurricane, roads were washed out, debris everywhere with branches and garbage strewn about ,it reminded me of a dried up dirty river bed but the river bed was the actual road into town. We pulled up to a small cluster of houses nestled in the forest right next to a 150 ft hill, a perfect place for a landslide. I photographed a house in which a man had died. This house was butted right up next to the hill, awaiting for the careening earth from above, an unstoppable river of soil and rock ripped right through his house and took his life. It was a bit strange photographing the personal items of man who had died in the very room I was standing in only a few short weeks ago, knowing his family was somewhere near. As I climbed the landslide and stood at the top looking down it was a painful reminder of how we are at the mercy of mother nature and we are helpless when she is in full force. After photographing for a while we continued to down the road to the community center we I was to photograph relief aid being handed out to this community.

Arriving to the location it was a scene that gave me a feeling of hope and sadness. It was a great thing to see people getting aid in the form of food,medicine, bedding and on-site medical aid and being a part of a company like Diageo. Actually having a part in it made me feel quite good I must say. I also felt a kind of sadness knowing that these people have lost everything they own and in some cases lost those closest to them. I saw two women break down and cry explaining their situation, one of these women being the wife of the man that was killed in the house I was photographing earlier. That was an incredible thing to experience , I wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be alright. Perhaps I should have but I had work to do and kept my distance I figured that would be the best for both of us. I also noticed a great resilience in this community, these people have been through so much and yet everyone found a way to keep a smile on their faces despite their dark times.

2009-08-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

An experiment with video

Video: Steven Karl Metzer

Music: Lights, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

American Bar Association Annual Meeting 2009

2009-08-07T11:43:00.001-07:00

Well the good old ABA gave me a call last week and wanted me to shoot the annual meeting this year. This is as you would guess a lot of people attending meetings, finding shots is a little harder but they are there to be had! It's a bit like hunting , you have to walk around inconspicuously and wait for your prey to reveal its self then at the right moment you strike! Everyone was really great to work with, an absolute pleasure! This year the ABA had the honorable Cameron F. Kerry from the General Counsel, United States Department of Commerce as the keynote speaker.

More Editorial!

2009-07-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

I was called to shoot another editorial assignment. Editorial assignments are great they allow you to really think quickly and adjust to your environment. This assignment is for the October issue of CS,this is not the photo that will running in the magazine. I had seen this guy walking around set with his dog so I asked if I could take his portrait. His name is Dino and he is a Ju-Jitsu instructor,and this is his dog Nola.

Shoot for CS Magazine

2009-06-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

I recently received a call from CS editor Greg Gillis for a quick editorial assignment. The shoot, a portrait of Laurent Gras a world famous french chef and owner L2O restaurant in Chicago. Laurent is a serious bicyclist with a carbon fiber bike that cost as much as a nice car. CS was sending one of their writers to take a bike ride with Laurent and interview him along the way. The shot is coming out in CS Magazine in the first week of July 2009. This was a really fun shoot with really great subjects, thanks Laurent and Mark! I also had two of my favorite assistants on this one Zach Johnston and Ely Philips thanks for all your hard work!

Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina

2009-06-23T14:48:00.001-07:00

Well I have not updated this blog in a very long time! In the last couple of months I traveled to South America once again to do some digital post production and shooting this time in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Mendoza, Argentina. The job...... shooting wineries. I got the call from my friend Mark and had to decide that day if I could do it, it was a little rushed but spontaneity is exciting! We made our arrangements and in a couple of days I was at O'hare heading south. It was nice a flight at 3:00pm no lines at the airport.........awesome. My connecting flight was in Miami so it was pretty easy I had the same experience about 5 months ago traveling to Bogota and Carracas on a job with Diageo. I arrived at the gate and they had just started boarding 1st class, perfect enough time to run to the bar and order a long island iced tea! The theory here was to get a nice stiff drink and sleep through the 8 hour flight as it turns out it was just a theory. I landed in Argentina around noon got through customs grabbed my bags and went to look for Pedro, the driver Mark had sent to pick me up. Sure enough there he was standing with a print out of my name. Pedro was very cool, there was a language barrier that basically I had built from neglecting to really learn Spanish.....I want to change that. Pedro is a middle aged man that always has a smile and talks very very fast and very loud......I instantly liked him. I managed to get a fragment of a conversation going as we sped down the highway on our way to Palermo, an awesome neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

I stayed in Buenos Aires for about 9 days until Mark came back from Bogota,Colombia then we flew to Mendoza, Argentina. From there we dumped our suitcases in our hotel room then jumped on a bus with all of our gear heading towards the Andes. Along the way we passed many wineries and took a lot of winding narrow roads and just took in the beauty of Argentina. Our job was to hang with a group from Diageo and photograph our adventures, the food and wine consumed along the way..........not a bad gig.

Our first day we went horseback riding in the foothills of the Andes mountains, we also had an amazing lunch with a few wine tastings. Soon we headed to Cavas a hotel in the middle of an enormous vineyard with pueblo style rooms scattered through out the vineyard ,we checked out the the hotel had some food and of course more wine! On our 2nd day we headed to the vineyards of Navarro Correas to pick grapes, photograph the workers in the vineyards and tour the winery. The winery itself is a work of art, a canvas of concrete and steel. We basically went through the entire process of wine making from the harvest of the grapes to the barreling of the wine. We spent about 4 days in Mendoza mostly traveling via bus and photographing the art of wine making, what an assignment!

The Printed Blog Cover Shots

2009-03-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

I recently was introduced to website that a friend had sent me. We had been talking about blogging and the benefits and pitfalls of it. He sent me a link so I checked it out. I thought it was a cool idea, taking the information from a blog and making it a tangible item in the form of a newspaper or magazine. I ended up getting in contact with the photo editor and they happen to be looking for images.

I gladly sent them about 5 images in all. I thought, hey this is a cool idea and it's free exposure, not bad if they chose your images. About a week later I went to their website and was very happy to see they had picked three of my images for the Chicago, New York and Los Angles cover shots for issue #8. This is the current issue and they should be at new stands and downloadable as PDF's on their website, www.theprintedblog.com

Shooting Stills for Polish Bar

2009-03-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting in bed one night icing my ankle from a skateboard injury I got a call from none other than Ben Redgrave. Ben is a good friend who use to live in Chicago then moved to

LA to pursue his film writing and directing career. Ben Redgrave teamed up with Ben Berkowitz some time ago in Chicago and they have made some really great films together. As it turns out Hollywood has become interested in their scripts so they are back in Chicago filming their latest feature film Polish Bar. Check out their website www.benzfilm.com . Ben called me up and asked if I would like to shoot stills for Polish Bar and I was more than happy to do so. I took this image in between shots as the crew was changing location, one of the actors was on his cell phone. It was morning sun so I knew this would be a perfect silhouette shot and the added flare from the sun running across the word America is nice. You can read more about Polish bar in The Chicago Reader @ http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/090319/

Orpheus and Euridice

2009-02-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

So while staying my last nights in the over luxurious "W" hotel I got a phone call from a friend of mine Rob Funderburk (http://robfunderburk.blogspot.com/). Rob is a very talented artist and an over all awesome guy. I actually met Rob on a shoot with a photographer Stuart Mullenberg, another talented all around great person. Rob had offered some work to me which I gladly took, a little pro bono project. Rob had created a mural for Chicago Opera Vanguard (http://www.4ringcircus.net/COV/season/orpheus.htm) , a theater group in Chicago. The piece was called Orpheus and Euridice, Orpheus was the son of Apollo was presented with a lyre and taught to play. He played it with such skill that no man,woman,child nor beast could withstand the charm of his notes. In the play the lyre was changed to a clarinet. The production was wonderful, great music, great choreography and in a great space! Rob had created the mural, it had very organic lines and he said he was trying to mimic the lines the actors were creating. I really enjoyed working with Rob and everyone at the Chicago Opera Vanguard.

Mexico City/Day 3

2009-02-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

Its now time to do some serious post producing. Mark and I have been putting in some overtime processing all of these files. We have to edit and tweak something like 6000 files! We have already put in a couple of 16 hour days and it looked like we had another long night a head of us! We usually start at around 8:30 and work all day until around midnight hit the sack then wake up and start all over again. We had decided to go out once we had things under control and let our machines do some batch processing while we enjoyed Mexico City. Mark,Rene and I decided to go to the Zocalo and walk around check out some stores and go check out the new archeological find uncovered about 8 months ago downtown. Mexico city is pretty amazing with the Constitution Square, the Metropolitan Cathedral,Presidential Palace and all of the wonderful Mexican people! We decided that it was time to find a nice out door restaurant and get some tequila,beer and food. We found a wonderful place right next to the Metropolitan Cathedral, what a backdrop! Its funny to think that this time yesterday I was drinking in downtown Mexico City right next to a church that was built in the 1500's! Mark,Rene and I sat around for a while finishing off our food and drink and soon it was time to go, after all we still had editing to do! We eventually got back to the hotel drunk on beer,food and the beauty of the city. We were immediately regretting the last two shots of tequila once we got back to the hotel, its really hard to concentrate on editing photos once you got your buzz on. We prevailed, some how we fought off the pleasant warmness of being drunk and flipped our drunk switch off and got back to work. We worked until about 1:30 in the morning we finally finished everything and now we had to start packing , we were leaving for the airport at 7:00am. Gabe had actually met a girl at the show in Mexico City so he was on a hot date and didn't get in until around 4:30 in the morning.......lucky dog. Soon enough the phone was ringing at 6 in the morning giving me a near fatal heart attack as I desperately tried to remember where the hell I was. Oh yes Mexico City damn I have to go back to Chicago today!! I really was not looking forward to the frigid temperatures and the dirty hard snow. We all met in the hotel restaurant for one last breakfast, I felt a bit sad I had really gotten along with Gabe ,Rene and of course Mark. I enjoyed everyone's company everyday of this job ,it was an absolute pleasure and in a few hours the family would be broken up and displaced. I really enjoyed visiting these countries some of them where not the safest and some of their politics I don't agree with but the people I came across and met were wonderful, extremely friendly and warm.

Mexico City/Day 2

2009-02-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

The shows are finally finished! Now we have about 30 hours of post production to do hopefully we can knock that out in two days. Kirby, the head of Buchanan's decided that we should take a day off to go and check out Mexico City, I love that guy. So I decided that this would be a perfect time to go skateboarding! How perfect its January and I can skate outside with a short sleeved shirt on. I looked up the Fransisco L Medero Skatepark, a park I have seen in plenty of skate videos. We looked up the address and had a driver take us from the hotel, I felt a little silly rolling up to the park in a Lincoln Towncar. The ride to the park took about 30 minutes and we went through some gnarley parts of town. It was a great way to see Mexico City I really enjoyed the car ride plus I had the excitement of skating a park in another country! As we drove through the mean streets of Mexico City I was fixated on the people,traffic, and street vendors. Almost every inch of all the store fronts in Mexico City are filled with bad graffitti, a taggers paradise. I love the colors in Mexico vibrant colors on everything and great signage everywhere. We pulled into the park and paid 10 pesos to get in it was a huge park with soccer fields and playgrounds and of course the skatepark. It seems no matter what park I go to I always getter butterflies in my stomach,not from nervousness but from excitement. The park was sort of crowded with kids I threw down my skateboard and headed for the bowls,at last I am skating Mexico City! I checked out the bowls there are two medium bowls that are really fun, and there are 4 huge bowls that are pretty gnarly. The kids there were like kids at any other skate park hanging out with their bros, skating and having fun. Although my Spanish is terrible all of the kids I came in contact with were really cool ,we just communicated through skateboarding. Everyone was really cool the bowls are a little rough but really fun and I loved the fact that I saw so many girls skating. My friend Elyse is studying in Mexico City for a semester and we had planned on meeting up at the skate park a couple of weeks before. I didn't have her cell in Mexico so I tried sending an email in hopes that she would check it and we could meet up. As it turns out she didn't check her email but ended up going to the park anyway, I was skating looked up and saw her skating and I yelled "ELYSE!!!" She looked up in amazement, it was really nice to see a familiar face in a foreign land. We were pretty stoked to be skating in Mexico City together,we hit the medium bowls for most of the day. Gabe came along with me he busted out his video camera and got some footage. It was really funny I think these kids thought I was a pro skateboarder and they wanted to take a picture with me, it was weird and really funny. Soon we had to split so we asked Elyse if she wanted a ride home since we had a driver. Her place was near our hotel so we dropped her off, I got a quick portrait of her in front of her house and we said goodbye. Gabe and I decided to take our driver out for dinner we found a taco joint and ordered some grub and headed to back to our hotel. I felt great! What a day skating in Mexico City, the only thing I needed was an ice cold beer which was awaiting me at the hotel bar!

Mexico City/Day 1

2009-02-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Mexico City..... a mass of humanity a sprawling and never ending. There are so many cars here its unbelievable and everyone drives like a maniac. My first impression of Mexico City is over crowded, dirty, poor and bad graffiti everywhere. We finally pulled up to the W Hotel ,we have been staying at 5 star hotels in every city. I feel that when working like we are non stop, you almost have to have a really nice hotel to ease the weariness of travel and work. The show was actually the next day so we had our usual preparations,then we went out for steaks and whiskey. We are staying in Palanco, which is a section of Mexico City thats very very nice. Time flew as always and before I knew it we where on our way to the venue. The show was held at an old school in the zocalo of Mexico City. Driving thru the zocolo was amazing people everywhere and the streets and sidewalks are filthy in a good way .This place was amazing, stone work like I have never seen before, really great masonry it almost looked like a spanish castle from the 1800's. The roof of this place was gone and they had put a steel and canvas structure over the top , the sunlight was diffused by the canvas and really was beautiful light. The building is two stories with archways around the whole venue at each floor with the stage in the center. Elton John was playing with James Blunt at this show so I got to sit and take photos of James Blunt at the press conference. This was crazy paparazzi everywhere I felt sorry for the guy,he seems like a really thoughtful and caring person but part of me was thinking he was laying it on a little thick. The show finally ended and we found our rides headed back to the hotel to drop of our gear, grab a drink and head to The Four Seasons hotel for the after party. We pulled up and headed upstairs where The Edge, a production company we have been working with were partying along with Buchanan's executives, James Blunt and other random people. I drank about 3 whiskey and cokes and proceeded to dance my ass off to some of the worst house music ever, but it was fun and our crew was ruling the floor. Soon we left got back to the hotel Gabe, Rene and I decided to go to the sweat lodge at 4 in the morning. I brought a beer with me as the elevator doors opened I cracked it open and the sound was deafening it scarred the shit out of the hotel guard. He told us the sweat lodge was closed so we decided it was a good time to call it a night.

Bogota,Columbia Day #3/Elton John Show

2009-01-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

After the bomb scare we all eventually went to bed to wake up and start another day, business as usual. I was really excited about the day before, checking out Bogota and getting some good photos I really want to come back to Bogota. But now I had to spend much of the day post producing files of the show from Caracas, so spending the entire day in a hotel in Bogota was .....well.........work. Mark and I accomplished a lot and soon it was time to get ready for the show in Bogota. We made our usual routine of packing gear, checking all of the computers and so on. We ate at an italian restaurant right next to out hotel to save time. Everything is very well coordinated so you have to be on time or you risk having to find your own way there which can be dangerous. Since this trip 2 people have been robbed and a bomb exploded near our hotel. We all piled in the van and drove about 30 minutes to the venue. We got there and people were already waiting for Elton John, and when you pull up in a van with press passes people seem to wonder if you are associated with him in any way. The venue was amazing, really big with great colors, video projections, lots of space and a huge stage. Elton John has been playing with this guy Fonseca, apparently he is hot shit in Latin America I have been staring at this guys face for like 3 days now! The show went fine much better than in Caracas we got the final selects for Elton John and Fonseca and showed the images to their PR people.......job done. We packed up and got the hell out of there headed back to the hotel, we were all eager to get back being that we had to get up a 5 am only a few hours away. BHHHAAA BHHHAAAA BHHHAAAA!!!!! Shit its 5:15 already time to get up and fly to Mexico City. I haven't slept too much on this trip I always have a hard time when its not my bed. I rolled out of bed showered and before I knew it I was back in the van headed to a private airport where we took a chartered flight to Mexico City. We made a pit stop in southern Mexico to refuel take care of immigration then we were back in the air. About an hour later we were descending upon Mexico City ready for landing. Arriving in Mexico City was kind of a blur I have been really tired and not sleeping much. Mexico City is huge with a ton of cars and apparently the police are extremely feared in this town. It is always advised to carry cash with you so you have something to give your thief, 50 bucks could save your life in this town. We got out luggage and of course the cops started asking me for my passport, im convinced they are taken aback by my extreme good looks ;) I gave him my passport and he looked at me and just gave it back to me. We got back in the van and drove to the W hotel in Mexico City, I should actually say we sat in traffic for an hour and twenty minutes. Finally after 13 hours of traveling we made our destination! Tomorrow is the last show and the line up is Elton John and James Blunt......I'm pretty sure after this I will not be listening to Elton John for a good long while.

Bogota,Columbia Day #2

2009-01-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

Well I actually had the day off yesterday.So Gabe,Rene,Andrea,Natalia and I went to check out Bogota. Andrea and Natalia do PR work for Buchannan's ,Andrea is from Brazil and Natalia is from Argentina. We started off by going to the laundry mat to drop of our dirty clothes. After that we went to Cerro de Monserrate, this is a mountain that has a church,a restaurant and a market at the top. Its 3.125 meters to the top and extremely steep and you get to the top via a tram. On the way up you can see all of Bogota its very beautiful,Bogota is a huge city. As you near the top, the city seems to be a mirage and then suddenly you find your self in one of the most beautiful places ever! On top of a mountain thats surrounded by more mountains in South America! After taking in the scene of the mountains and the city below we decided to walk around the market then have lunch in this old rustic restaurant. It was very dim lighting and concrete walls it and all natural wood every where, it was quite nice. For lunch I had a lobster bisque and a glass of Argentinean red wine. I was taking photographs all day of local people and got some very good shots I was quite pleased. Soon it was time to go and for me the scariest part the long descent to the bottom. I'm pretty sure everyone on the tram quietly had the same fear I had but alas we made it down safe. After that we headed to the old town square of Bogota,this place is great old world buildings and street everywhere! Upon walking to the square you pass lots of street vendors making plantains and other street food,then you hit the square a huge open area filled with people and pigeons with some of the most beautiful old world buildings I have ever seen. Natalia decided to feed the pigeons and they came in droves flying everywhere. I really love Bogota its a great city the people are very nice and it has quite a cosmopolitan feel. The downtown are of the city has gotten to be safe,kidnappings have gone down drastically although there was a bombing a block and a half away from my hotel. I was actually in the lobby and felt the entire building shake. Apparently a Block buster was bombed in some sort of extortion attempt.........Crazy.

Bogota,Columbia Day #1

2009-01-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

Check out time was 10:30am I ended up getting about four hours of sleep. I awoke to a dry tongue welded to the roof of my mouth. Gabe my roommate had asked me if I would like to go to

breakfast with him but I declined sleeping seemed a better option. I eventually woke up showered and headed to the lobby. In the lobby everyone associated with the Elton John Buchannans tour was checking out. We had about four euro vans for passengers and four regular vans for luggage. From the Eurobuilding Hotel in Caracas we headed north to the airport located in Maiquentia. The drive out of Caracas was pretty amazing lots of graffitti and shanties piled on top of each other. Caracas is like a concrete jungle with the weight of the populous literally above the city. Driving here is crazy everyone is in such a hurry and people love honking there horns, they make New Yorkers seem like senior citizens at the wheel. There are a lot of older motor cyles in this city dodging in between cars at speeds up to 50 mph! After about 20 minutes we where making our way out of the city we started to hit the mountains. What a beautiful sight lush green mountains that seem to meander in every possible outward direction. Maiquentia is a small town on the coast of Venezuale the town is not much to speak of, the airport is the stability of that town. We got inside the airport and visually its pretty clean and simple with lots of military guards around. After getting thru customs and immigration we finally took off. The ascent was absolutely beautiful the Venezuelan coast line is really spectacular and the country from what I have seen is really breath taking. An hour and a half later we are descending on Bogota like some sort metallic bird of prey desperate to get back to its nest. We came in pretty hot,a blazing speed even for an airplane but the actually landing was very smooth. Eventually I stepped outside of the airport and had noticed that Bogota was chilly around 55 degrees,a natural effect of high elevation. We met our Bogota contacts got the crew together and headed to the hotel. Driving thru the city I noticed Bogota is really a progressive and sophisticated city ,its very lush here and I also noticed a lot of old Ford cars everywhere. After checking in and showering we went to diner at a Ceviche restaurant with 4 of our co-workers from Brazil. Dinner was amazing I had Camarones es au Punto in chipolte with some grilled Pesciado and a glass of white wine. Soon after dinner we all went back to our hotel rooms to retire from an exhausting day of travel.

Caracas,Venezuela Day #4

2009-01-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Last night is over! One down two to go! I was actually stationed right across from Elton Johns

dressing room. Our home base was outside but it was nice and cool and a lot of action outside.

There were people running around like crazy! We were on a tight deadline we had to get artist managment approval on our images so we had to have everything ready as fast as possible! I actually saw Sir Elton quite a few times back stage,this was sort of a big event so there was a lot of security everywhere as you can imagine. Eventually the night ended we got our images approved and went back to the hotel. Gabe,Rene,Mark and I went back to the room to do some editing and tweaking on some final files to show Stuart, head of Buchannan marketing our boss.

Stuart is a really funny guy he knows exactly what he wants and he tells a hell of a story. I have noticed Stuart always seems to have some sort of cocktail in his hand a lot of the time. We ended showing him the final selects he loved them then we proceeded to drink whiskey till about 5 in the morning. (Brett, you would have been proud no mixer for me just ice!) I hit the sack around 5:30am and woke up this morning around 10:00am. We are now headed to the next city via a private jet to Bogota, Colombia. As far as the photo up top I was doing a self portrait and didn't notice the person in the backround!

Caracas,Venezuela Day #3/ Elton John performs!

2009-01-25T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well sleeping here has been a bit tough for me,I'm a litesleeper. Yesterday was a bunch of pre-production, stuck in a hotel on such gorgeous day. We got everything in check so we would be ready for today. We did however get to spend a little time at the pool (see photo above) about 20 minutes then back to work. We eventually went to a plush Caracas restaurant we were driven there in speeding all black Lincoln Continentals I felt like James bond. Today was a bunch of meeting and walk thoughts of the venue its like Fort Knox here. Everyone famous from Caracas is here media magazines everything this is a huge deal. I would like to write more but need to set up for the show!

Caracas,Venezuela Day #2

2009-01-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well today started off a little bit groggy. I ended up drinking my fill at the hotel bar last night and woke up a bit hung over this morning. The phone was screaming like a drill pressed up against my temple. We got the call for the meet time, a workflow meeting on how we are going to photograph this gig. Gabe and I eventually woke up took our showers and met in Mark and Rene's room. We printed some stuff off in the business center and all agreed that the best place to conduct our meeting was on the rooftop of the hotel. Opening the door to the roof top we were all greeted by the sunshine the warm breeze and bustling hum of the city below. Caracas is beautiful, crowded and constantly moving city. This is actually a very dangerous city. The Venezuelan National Counter Kidnapping Commission was created in 2006 and since then ,official statistics have shown an alarming 78 percent increase in the number of reported kidnappings. It is a wide known fact that if you go out in this city at night your chances of getting robbed or kidnapped increase dramatically. As side from the horror stories I love the look and feel of this city. From the rooftop you see the buildings towering above the shanties and the mountains towering over the buildings in the distance. There always seems to be a heavy blanket of clouds resting just atop the foothills that gradually turn into mountains. The buildings are all a very rough concrete color some darker than others and all grouped together like some city scape from a cubist painting.

After going over equipment and getting our workflow down Mark, Rene,Gabe and I decided it was time to eat and experience a bit of Caracas. We called our Caracas contact David and arranged to have a driver take us to a restaurant and drop us off so we could explore a little. We ended up going to a restaurant about a mile and a half from our hotel our driver would pick us back up in two hours. We took a seat outside of the restuaraunt under a balcony and proceeded to watch the motorists and pedestrians in a raging war, one that rivals hyenas and lions. The cars here are constantly on the move with only one pace... fast and with out hesitation. You don't want to wander too long while crossing the street you must get your business done in an instant or be consumed by the unleashed fury of a 84' Toyota Celica . You must be an aggressive driver in this city, hesitation behind the wheel is not an option here. You also have to be an aggressive pedestrian alert at all times. After watching the happenings of the city our waiter arrives and asks if we are Americans, between our broken spanish and his broken english we a agree that he will order for us a little of everything. About 2o minutes later our first course arrives its a simple dish black beans,rice and pink tender pieces of pork, absolutely delicious. Then a waiter comes out with the steaks and sausage. The beef here tastes amazing very tender with a taste that any carnivore would kill for. Another 10 minutes later the same waiter brings us the sausage that looks like a red candy coating and tastes like an italian sausage. The last course arrives and it is another plate full of steakes. We also ordered some beers, there are only a few beers in Venezuela they are light and all tasting pretty much same.

We decide to get our bill and go explore a little. Now when the bill comes you have to do a little math. The currency here is called bolivar and the exchange rate is 2.5 bolivar to 1 us dollar. This town is really really expensive. We pay our bill and start walking I decided to lead the group into the streets of Caracas as we wonder around. Most of the women here like to show everyone how beautiful they are or think they are,granted many are beautiful. Strutting around with clothing that seems to be tattooed on their skin. I have also noticed that most of the women tend to enhance their figures with push up bras and plastic surgery. I recently asked my friend Maurin who was born and raised in Caracas and she tells me that a lot of the women here have had breast enhancement surgery because it is extremely cheap. Looking absolutely sexy all of the time seems to be a great concern for the women here. We walked around a bit then had to get back to the pickup point so we could get back to the hotel. We meet our driver and he races thru the busy congested streets with instinct of a stock car driver how he deals with this traffic on a day to day basis is beyond me. We get back directly go to Marks room and continue cleaning equipment and getting our software up to date. A few hours later we go and get dinner at the hotel and retire to our rooms day number 2 comes to a close.

Caracas,Venezuela

2009-01-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well today started extremely early for me. I went to a bar in Chicago with a few dear friends too see me off. I got home around 11:oopm and took a drunken nap until 2:45am got up took a shower and grabbed my bags. I left the house and dragged my tired and utterly cold body to the train and sat with a tired blank look all the way to O'hare.I got to the airport checked in got on my flight and wished how I had the power to soundly sleep in a steel structure going over 500 mph. Sadly I couldn't so I opened a booked and dosed off with out closing my eyes, more of a loss of concentration than anything. I arrived at the Miami International airport around 9:45 AM this morning in a zombie state of mind . The airport itself was a little more dilapidated than I had expected. Letdown by the lack of stimulation from the interior , I instantly headed to the nearest sports bar that this fine mess of an airport had to offer.......The Home Turf Sports Bar.

I went to the bar and put my bags down and ordered a large Sam Adams from the manic russian lady behind the counter that went by the name of Marsila. I eventually ordered some food and talked a bit with Marslia when she wasn't trying to get me to drink shots for $3.00. Suddenly a girl walked up to the bar trying to order breakfast and was denied by Marsila. "Breakfest stops at 10:00 baby!" in her thick russian accent. Marsila called everyone baby. I befriended this lone traveler and learned her name, Michelle from Montreal. Michelle was attacked by a platoon of mosquitos in Puerto Rico and covered with bites she was headed home from her business trip. We talked a long while then it was time to fly. I eventually made my way to the gate to catch the flight heading to Caracas. The scene at the gate was very gentle a lot of really handsome and beautiful Venezuelans from what I could tell.

I made my way to the plane found my seat and awaited for my coworker whom I have never met. As I was stowing my belongings away I heard in a soft southern voice "You must be Steve!" Alas I have met the fabled Gabe. We shook hands and I could tell I would instantly like this person. Gabe is a photographer from New York City, originally from the south with a very sweet demeanor , stirring interest on world politics and a very well traveled person. We talked the entire flight to Caracas and he told me of his photo series on truck drivers he is doing. Gabe has actually become a truck driver to get the portraits for his series. He has started out west and is trying to cover the United States. Our conversation ends as we start to see the mountains of Venezuela. We have made it! We both share the same excitement both immersed in the beauty of the fog covered landscape.

We grab our luggage and walk off the plan next stop customs. As we are walking I notice how clean this airport is. Everything is white and polished and everything is very orderly. We get through customs get out luggage and await for the arrival of the second part of our team, Rene and Marko. We head out of the airport and find Isabella our contact in Caracus awaiting with a driver. Isabella is a breath of fresh air she is young ,beautiful and very smart. We all pile into the van and we make our 45 minute drive to our hotel away from the coast and into the foothills of Caracas. The sun has set and its dark and you can see the lights from the houses illuminating the hills. As we get closer the traffic is very bad everyone driving with aggression. I was told that in Caracas you don't have to take a driving test so anyone can get a license....anyone. Motorcycles are passing us on both-sides and at least four ambulances passed us. As we pass corners and billboards you start to see the shadowy side of the city, figures appearing out of thin air and dark places then disappearing again...everyone seems illusive in this city. As we turn the corner we pull up and arrive at the hotel.

As I get out of the van I look over and see my friend Brandon walk out of the hotel! Brandon is an ex coworker of mine that met a beautiful ,charming and intelligent girl from Venezuela by the name of Maurin. They met each other in Chicago fell in love and moved to Venezuela. Brandon is one of the nicest people I have ever met and I hope to be friends with him for a good long while......we instantly mesh he always feels like an old friend. We check in, get our rooms and drop off our luggage. We are all starving from a very early day of traveling we just want get drinks and food,so we go to restaurant which is outside. The weather at this point cooled off to a nice 70 F with a slight breeze incredibly gorgeous. We talk about Chavez and the the latest political uprising which is happening tomorrow. A protest of 400,000 students that are being denied the right to vote......another side note Chavez has also changed the time ahead in Caracas by a half an hour so when his children get up for school the sun will be over the horizon. We ended dinner with good conversation and everyone went to the sauna except for Brandon, Maurin and myself we went to the bar and had about four more drinks said our good byes and now here I sit sleep deprived and awake.

An Historic Day!

2009-01-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

History was made and I think we are all glad to be Americans today! I was relieved to see that helicopter flying away with the Bush family. I wondered today if Bush was sitting in that helicopter with any sort feeling of guilt about his administration. A blunder of an administration and an arrogant man-child in charge of a nation, somehow he slithered his way into the oval office for two terms. How pathetically amazing that an administration could dupe an entire continent of people. This year has also shown me how far we have come as a country. Who would have thought that an African American would ever be president? A breath of fresh air has come to Washington, to our nation and to the world, a spark of hope. Finally a person of intelligence is actually in charge of our nation and I couldn't be happier!

B Movie Madness at the Portage Theater

2009-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I attended the B Horror Movie Festival with my good friend Matt Carr a.k.a Putrid. Matt is an incredibly talented gore artist with a passion for horror movies. The festival was being held at The Portage Theater on the north side of Chicago. This movie theater is one of the biggest I have ever seen. The theater can pack in over 1300 people,when you first walk in its a bit overwhelming, an endless sea of vacant seats. There were only about 50 people in attendance for the movie festival so finding a seat was not an issue as you can imagine. While sitting back enjoying Driller Killers I snapped a few shots in the theater. I didn't really get the vastness of the space but did capture some of the intricate design in the ceiling.

Testing the new point and shoot!

2009-01-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well as some of you know I am off to South America and Mexico for 10 days! I'm doing some digital tech work on a shoot for Buchanan Whiskey. We will be photographing Elton John and James Blunt.I leave on January 22nd and will be flying to Miami and then on to Caracas, Venezuela! Then from there to Bogota, Colombia and the last stop on the tour will be Mexico City, Mexico. I bought a point and shoot for this trip,I bought the Panasonic LX3, its a wonderful little camera.