I’m Sorry Mrs. Merrill

This is an unexpected update to my last entry about my assistant winning the best overall picture in the APA Something Personal Exhibition. Apparently Emily sent her mother the link to my blog and Mrs. Merrill is none to happy with me. Here is the unedited response Emily received from her mother… And I couldn’t agree with her more:

Emily,

I am impressed, but he sounds like a cad…locking you in the car and humiliating you in front of clients. I hope someday you can review his resume and hire somebody else.

Love you,
Mom

It seems that Emily’s mother is the one with the common sense. She clearly sees that Emily can do much better than I, both as an employer and as a potential employee.

Here’s hoping you talk some sense in to her Mom!

The Soon To Be World Famous Emily Merrill

This is a shout out to my dear friend and assistant Emily Merrill. Emily entered the above picture into APA San Francisco’s Something Personal Exhibition and was notified that not only was she accepted, she has in fact won best image of the show! So suck on that all you big time San Francisco advertising photographers… my assistant can kick your assistant’s ass… and yours for that matter… and mine!Yeah, I had my entry accepted into the exhibition as well, but clearly the truly talented are the ones that get the recognition.Emily, I will be submitting my resume to you ASAP. I hope you will consider me for any assisting positions you may have open. It would be an honor and joy to work for you. And remember, all those times I mocked you in front of the clients and locked you in the car… I was totally kidding! (Why have you stopped returning my calls?)Congratulations Emily I am very proud of you. Can I tell people I discovered you?Here is a shot of Emily I took on a shoot last week. She often makes my life difficult because its next to impossible for the real subject to be as lovely and graceful as Emily is in the setup shots… you try sticking a grumpy business man in her place and comparing the results!

Dirty Dingle

Its been a while since my last entry. I’m hoping I’m providing quality and not just quantity. (although I realize its likely neither)

This weeks entry is in honor of Halloween. My friend Deirdre has what I consider to be one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever met. The dog’s name is Dingle (named for the port in Ireland, not the berry).  Dingle is a small Hungarian Puli.   As some (crazy) people like to do with their animals, Deirdre occasionally dresses Dingle up in strange costumes. Normally I find this practice annoying, but for some reason I enjoy seeing Dingle in her various outfits. Deirdre got the idea that Dingle should be dressed up as a Mexican in a sombrero and poncho for her Christmas cards… yes, Christmas cards.

I wanted a grimy border town feeling for the picture so we headed to a back alley in a not so savory section of The Mission.  The alley had exactly the look I wanted, so we set up shop and begin taking pictures.   During the shoot, we were approached by a “lady” who looked a little questionable.  She walked up to me, looking around suspiciously, and asked me if I had any crack. She was asking in a way you would think is only done in movies, as if I or someone near by just might be an undercover cop.  I had to let her down by telling her I in fact did not have any crack for her.  Disappointed, she walked away.

During our little shoot she returned quite a few more times to check back in, just in case my supply had changed.  It hadn’t. I’ll give her this much, she was very persistent… or she just didn’t remember having already asked me… I’m not sure which.  As we continued taking more pictures of the the siesta-esque Dingle we believe that the woman apparently found what she was after. Not thirty yards from where we were, we noticed her and some of her “friends” standing in a circle enjoying what we can only imagine to be what she previously was hoping to purchase from me.  It was at this point we thought it would be a good idea to pack up the gear, grab Dingle and move on.

Needless to say we were very happy to get out of there not only with what I think is a funny picture of Dingle, but also with our lives.   And you’ll be happy to know that Deirdre won “best Christmas card” among her friends and family with the “Dirty Dingle” picture.   Maybe I have a future in taking pictures for greeting cards… and with that thought, please excuse me while I go kill myself.

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween.

Travel

I just read a post over at Michael Surgre’s blog about traveling for work. This is something I think about all the time, but on the opposite side: personal travel. I find it hard to take photographs when I travel for myself. If I go somewhere for a job or a personal project I don’t have this problem. After all, that is why I am there. But if I am in a new location for personal travel I find I don’t take many photos. And I usually feel guilty about it. I feel like “Hey, I’m a photographer, I should be taking pictures!”I was in Prague on a shoot for Eleven Inc. The shoot only lasted a day, but I stayed in Prague for a couple extra days. My flight also took me through Paris, to which I had never been, so of course I stayed a few days in Paris as well. Outside of the photos taken on the shoot, I didn’t take many photographs of either city.Now, if I were sent to Paris or Prague on assignment to photograph the city things would be different. I wouldn’t be in tourist mode. I would be looking for locations, finding the right light in the right spot and going back to these locations at the right time for that light… even if it means getting up at 3am to get to the location and set up. But when I’m in a new place as a tourist, I want to take my time walking around, exploring, eating, seeing, and being a tourist… and I damn sure don’t want to get up at 3am (and in Prague, thanks to some of the client and crew and some Absinthe, we didn’t even get home until after 4am)Sure, on vacation I’ll take some pictures along the way. But to me, I have different mentalities when at a location for a job and at a location for a vacation. I don’t remember who it was, but I read a comment by a travel photographer who, when on personal vacation, doesn’t even take a camera. I don’t think I’d ever go that far because I do like taking pictures (I’d hope so, its what I do after all). But it’s nice to be at a location and not have to worry about getting the great shots and finding the perfect locations and being there at the perfect time.So, if someone wants to send me back to Paris for a job I would be more than happy to photograph the city for you and I won’t need to be a tourist this time. And if someone wants to send me to a city I’ve never been to, I’d happily forgo my personal itinerary to get the perfect shots for you.The photo above is one of the pictures I did take while in Paris.

Montana

I just got back from spending a few days in Montana visiting my Dad. I’ve lived in a big city of some type all my life, so visiting a place like Montana was a bit different for me. Nothing but space, space and more space between… well, everything. This is a shot of my dad on his “ranch.”