portraits
A-Mazing Garden
My grandson knows how to have fun. Pulling weeds and watering are not on Noah’s fun list. Besides, he’s too young for that sort of thing.
His sense of wonder makes him love to follow the paths between my garden’s rows. They’ve grown together enough to no longer resemble the two strips of lawn they were in spring. To Noah it must look like a wonderland of vines, enormous leaves and exotic vegetation that creates a maze-like path. Dodging tomatoes, prickly squash leaves and shiny peppers he twists around one obstacle after another. He carefully protects himself from threatening tendrils with an out-thrust elbow. Then he reverses it or decides to make the return trip down the next strip.
I don’t know what type of temperament turns a weedy, overgrown garden into a playground but I like Noah’s outlook on life.
Picked Ten Minutes Ago
These might be good with olive oil & garlic… maybe on the grill – Do you have any recipes?
Black Eyed Peas
With the Black Eyed Peas’ nomination for a Grammy award this evening it reminded me of a brief meeting with them a few years ago.
Because of my relationship with Ravinia Festival, I was asked by ABC/Disney to photograph two tapings of the Live With Regis and Kelly Show. The show was going to be shot at Ravinia’s pavillion. Although most guests were from Chicago, the Black Eyed Peas were the musical guests for the show.
My job was to document the taping. A few of the photos can be seen here but a more complete gallery can be found on our Facebook Fan page.
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa
Black Eyed Peas with Regis and Kelly
Gary Sinise with Regis and Kelly
Jessica Biel with Regis and Kelly
Scotty Pippen shoots a basket for Regis and Kelly
WGN's Dean Richards interviews Regis & Kelly between tapings at Ravinia Festival.
Kelly shows her improvisational skills with Second City group.
Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert discuss Chicago's role in film with Regis and Kelly.
Kelly and Regis answer questions from the audience after two tapings.
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Brielle
My friend, Mitzi continues a generations-old tradition of having her grandchildren photographed when they reach the age of three. Each photo includes the same chair which is as old as the tradition. The wonderful thing about this for me is that none of the children ever pose for me. They simply present themselves to the camera.
The goal is a single photo with very narrow guidelines. It requires a vertical photo of a child relating to a specific chair and shot against a dark, neutral background. This simplicity allowed me to concentrate on capturing Brielle’s movements, all of which were self directed.
The Mojo Man
When I was young I lived in a small town in the deep south. Occasionally my father would walk me down the long, winding path to a back-woods shack that served as the area’s juke joint. As I watched my father dance and drink his troubles away with his friends, it must have presented a funny picture to anyone that cared to look – a four-year-old white boy sitting in the corner watching his dad and a room full of black men & women dancing to a blues band. This may not exactly be Norman Rockwell’s picture of the early 1950’s, but it was my picture.
The reality of this is that I remember very little of it. Although my mother filled in the details many years later, my memories of those occasions were of the music itself.
Even to a four-year old the blues was as seductive as it was sad. This predictable and stylized American music form remains for me a source of optimism. I think this is its seduction. Its only purpose is to make people feel good by creating courage from helplessness.
In 1976 – more than twenty years after my juke joint experiences – I revisited the blues as I photographed Muddy Waters at one of his last concerts. He, Pinetop Perkins – currently the oldest performing bluesman at 96 – and their band at the time held a concert in a small park in Water’s hometown of Westmont, Illinois.
Although “The Mojo Man” needed the help of fans and friends to get off the stage after the concert, his voice was strong and clear as he sang most of the songs that made him an inspiration to not only several generations of rock & roll performers, but to a young photographer.
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Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters with his band
Muddy Waters and his band
Pinetop Perkins
Westmont, IL crowd enjoying Muddy Waters and his band
The Mojo Man, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters' hand and guitar
Muddy Waters
Crowd enjoying Muddy Waters in Westmont, IL
Getting help from friends and fans after Muddy Waters concert
Muddy Waters talks with friends and fans after concert
Holiday Inn
Pinetop Perkins
A Hindu Wedding
For 30 years wedding photography was never a part of my photo business. I managed to avoid it not because I disliked brides and grooms but because of the way they usually liked their weddings photographed. The photographic style for many years could only be described as cheesy.
Couples are now asking for a very nice blend of story telling and portraiture. Having discovered that my style of shooting for my corporate clients was exactly that, it made sense for brides and grooms to include me in their search for a wedding photographer.
The photos below of a Hindu wedding I photographed this year showed me the significance of hands as ceremonial instruments. They very nicely helped to tell the story of this couple’s life and and their family’s commitment to them.
This is a very good time for couples getting married in 2010 to find a photographer. Dates are filling but many are still available. A gallery of my wedding photography can be seen here and an informational PDF may be downloaded which includes pricing for photography, prints and coffee-table books.
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hands in Hindu wedding ceremony
the bride's sister
You and Me
Noah will be 13 months old tomorrow. The photo below was taken when he was three days old – literally a lifetime ago. I’ve pretty much filled up a hard drive with photos of him I’ve taken over those months.
I like this one because it shows not only the vulnerability of the son but of the father as well. Nose-to-nose is a posture that says “you and me.” Whether it’s football teams facing each other, a couple about to kiss, or a father cradling his son’s head, no one else matters at this moment.
You and Me
A Final Portrait
Not long before he died, Ken Taylor needed a new photograph of himself for a magazine. He apologized for the brevity of our time together and the lack of an “inspired” location – his office.
It was not unlike him to spend our time together worrying about how he should pose. This session, like most with him, was over before he thought it had begun. It was easy to capture images of this truly humble man.
I had photographed him a number of times over the years and I suspected that this would be our last shoot together. I could not feel badly that he didn’t wish to spend more moments of what little time he had having his picture taken.
This particular photo has not been published before and I like it because – although a silhouette – it reveals much about his personality and his life. As the author of the Living Bible he could have been a very proud man. Instead he remains a humble servant in the shadows of the God he represents.
Ken Taylor