The Interview

I hate covering an assignment when there is a video team present. For some reason they feel their time is more valuable than the photographer's. Maybe it is because they have a "team" shooting. Really, they just get in my way. And of course they redo each shot ten or fifteen times.

I must say though, a good interview usually results in good lighting. Kye R. Lee at The Dallas Morning News has mastered the ability to get good lighting out of an interview.

But really, what is a photographer to do while the interview is going and the real action is three hours away?

I shoot. Then I watch. Then I shoot again.

The "Almost Portrait"

Often I take portraits. Not so often I get a good one. I think my execution has gotten much better...but there is always room for improvement and I still have a lot of improving to do. I have recently spent time looking for new techniques. No doubt new techniques means new equipment. I am looking to build my own pretty soon. Hopefully I will get some good results in the end which will inspire new directions for my portfolio. Recent inspirations have been Michael Rubenstein, Bob Croslin, and Brigitte Lacombe.

In the mean time, I am having fun getting the "Almost Portrait." These are the pictures that look OK. Not great, but OK. Often these photos rely on too heavily on technique and completely miss connection with the subject, leave readers bored, and lack emotion. Sometimes there is simply bad execution and poor direction.

Regardless, they are photos I like but wish were better. That is why you will find them on my blog and not in my portfolio.

I Likes v.2

Grandma...You will Be Missed

Grandma--

I still remember your treats. The Jello with canned fruit mixed in at the bottom. Always red Jello. I also remember your etched glass cat in the living room. It was scary. One of my first memories of visiting you was when you still lived in New York City. I remember the trains screaming by and a couch. Was it green and suede? Probably not. I was quite young. You used to shave the carrots into the salad with chick peas and make your own special dressing.

I remember when you came to watch over us when mom and dad went to Belize. You called in to get me out of school. You called me Marc by mistake. It was funny. During that same trip I had to give you directions to the supermarket. I got us lost...but I remember it being fun anyway.

I remember walking past the pool with grandpa and watching you wade through the water with your floaty raft. I remember you sitting in a perfect circle with the girls, wearing sun visors and playing Mah-Jongg in a way that was so classic it should have been in a movie.

I remember we used to sit on your porch and look onto the lake behind the screen. We would see the ducks. That was nice.

I remember grandma. Thanks for the memories. You will be missed.

Airports & Me

Many people don't like to fly. I do. I always thought it was fun.

I was the kid who didn't fake a big smile while being pinned with my very own set of plastic Golden wings.

Even long flights are fun. And when you leave the country you get free alcohol. When I went to Italy this past summer I had two mini bottles of wine. Then I saw a young girl from Switzerland order a vodka. I had to get a bottle of whiskey, and then, yes, another bottle of wine.

Of course there are usually no more meals while flying. At least not on a domestic flight anyway. Even a dissatisfying meal is better then the "snack" of peanuts they kindly give us now. I like raisins better and would rather have a second helping of Bloody Mary mix.

But it's not all about the flights. Airports can be fun too. Some people have terrible luck. My sister for example. Every flight she takes turns into a delay. And not just the two hour kind. We're talking 12-20 hour delays. Snow, crying baby, and smoking engine delays. Floor sleeping, 1000 page book reading, three cycles of CNN on those TV delays. Not me though. Hehehe. Usually my time is smooth and hassle free (knock on wood.)

In fact, if I can find and extra 30 minutes I am glad to have it. There are so many photos to take in airports. It is the one place where there is a forced integration of ALL people. No way around that one. People also do weird things at airports. Just think how fun it was to run around with your siblings. Now think how fun that was for your parents. People are weird. And flying seems to bring out the weirdness. I even like the business man with his Wall Street Journal.

Here are a few photos from the sky and in the airport. I just came home from a recent trip to Dallas.

I Likes v.1

This is the first post for a series I will call "I Likes."

They are nothing more than that. Simply photos I like. No reason. No words.

Just photos.