Camping in The Apostle Islands

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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...........