Fall Fashion Shoot

I had been wanting to do some fashion work for my portfolio and I absolutely love fall in Michigan. The wonderful actress and model Jaclyn Wells had friended me on Facebook through another actress/model that I had done some portraits with. We met and discussed some ideas before going out into the scenery of Detroit on a fine Sunday afternoon in November. You might think that Detroit is filled with buildings and apartments but the size of it really leaves some open spaces. We found some beautiful bushes, weeds, and trees along with a building or two. We both built stories in our mind and acted/directed them out. It was just the two of us, the camera, and her wardrobe. I think we nailed it.

Family Camping Trip 2010

Every year Catherine and I take our two children on a family camping trip for a week. We live out of a tent, use vault toilets, have no electricity, and cook over a fire or portable gas stove. This year’s trip we went to Paradise, MI and camped at the Rivermouth Campground of Tahquamenon Falls. We’re not a stranger there since we’ve been there three of the last six years. We went there the first year of family camping when Margaret was only five and Grant three. This year was the first year that we had a riverside site. The river takes on so many different masks depending on the weather. Click to see them larger.

The first year we found this wonderful beach that no one goes to. It ends up being ours entirely. The waters of Lake Superior are cold and the stones are beautiful. We always end up hauling back more stones than we should carry.

This year we hit the middle of blueberry season. Claims put Michigan at the largest blueberry producer in the world. I don’t know if it’s true but I’ll take pride in it. Driving a two track in our Jeep we found an untouched patch with the largest natural berries I’ve ever seen in my years of living in and visiting the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We ate and saved a bunch and some even ended up on breakfast.

There were a couple of firsts this year. We took our 1.5 year old shelter pup (pony) Phineas camping. He had a blast running up and down the beach. Also, we did some canoeing this year. Last year all four of us went out on the lake in New York. This year we split up in threes, twos, and even solos. Yes, the kids did some solo paddling. They did great!

There are a couple of standards every year too. We always hike. This year while hiking, driving, or canoeing, we saw an Osprey aerie, a bear cub, Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, and a band of killer snails. We did a fire picture too which you always have to do.

Last but not least, we took our Holiday Card portraits. We do this while camping every year. I’m not sure if this one will make the cut and go to print, but it was fun.

New Photo Blog.

New photo blog on a new site. Here’s hoping that this one works better!

Just a few recent things to get it going.

I recently shot some dentist tools for an instructional DVD. They kind of creep me out but I think the photos turned out well.

Dentist tool

Recently I produced and shot some personal work to add to my portfolio. The ideas are always flowing and I just have to get them out regardless if anyone wants them. I worked with an amazing model named Shannon, for the second time, and hairstylist Shaylin and make-up artist Hadeel. We shot at the Brewster Projects in Detroit. Details from this one soon.

Welcome home honey. Dinner will be ready soon.

Lastly, I’ve been photographing a lot of swimming stuff on the account of my daughter being on the team. Here’s an interesting shot. I’m fascinated by the fluid mechanics of water and the physics of the body necessary to swim.

Physics

More to come.

Winter in Detroit

I’ve seen the sun briefly over the last couple of weeks. Winter can be depressing, lonely, and beautiful. Here a few shots from an afternoon in Detroit.

To see more and larger views, visit my PhotoShelter page.

Adventure Racing

Adventure racing (AR) is a multi-hour competition that involves two or more disciplines with navigation/orienteering always being involved and includes at least one of the following: mountain biking, paddling, climbing, and trekking. Typically races are between two hours and two weeks. Teams consisting of one, two, or four members are provided with maps and race instructions. The maps contain check points (CPs), some of which are mandatory and some optional. The goal is to finish the race with the most check points, the fastest, under the time limit–one second over and you get a “Did Not Finish” (DNF). With that explained, I participated in a 15 hour adventure race this weekend called “Summer Groove” put on by Endurance Sports and I’m sure I was the only one to carry a camera, a Canon D10, the whole race. Yes, I know, it was on October 10th. It was supposed to be in July but it got bumped for various reasons. It adds a little humor to the race because it snowed. Yes, it snowed.

My AR partner is Matt. Last year he got me into running a few trail races put on by Watters Perfomance Enhancement of Motor City Boot Camp fame. That eventually led to adventure racing. We ran a couple of 6 hour races and an 8 hour race by Infiterra along with some mixed events and placed in the top 10 in class in all of them with a top three overall in the Smart Blast.

That led us to the 15-hour race this weekend. The race started at

3:00 a.m. and ended at 6:00 p.m. Yes, that’s 3 in the morning. The

pre-race meeting was at 8:30 p.m. on Friday which means by the time we finished plotting (Matt did the UTMs) and planning we had three hours to sleep before racing. We “slept” on cots in my awesome trailer while the rain played like a drum on the roof all night and the cold set in.

We started the race with a 6.5 mile bike race to the boat launch through a fog that was thick and heavy. We went from the front

third of the pack to the rear of the field after my chain fell off, twice, which has never happened before. After arriving at the launch, we dumped our bikes, which would be transported to another stage, and accessed our gear bag before hitting the paddling section.

The fog was so thick that I could barely see Matt in front of me in the canoe. We navigated and paddled 9 miles through the dark to

collect all five of the CPs which consisted of one mandatory and four optional CPs. Occasionally the fog broke and I used Orion’s belt to navigate, or at least that’s what I told Matt. Indians are

tricky that way.

Following the paddling portion, we set off on foot for a better than 14-mile run through the dark, collecting check points as we went. Somewhere along this run the sun came up. By this time we had been racing for over four hours and the light provided some hope to our wet and cold feet and hands. Reminders to each other to hydrate and eat snacks were frequent. You really have to take care of each other during these races. Someone forgetting to eat or drink in this environment can end the day for both with a trip to the ER. So far, we have managed to go into running comas at different times and one always pulls the other out.

We arrived at the next transition zone to find a beautiful site and

access to our gear bag for a change of shoes and replenishing of our hydration packs. We had to sign in and log our time which was around 9:00 a.m. I noticed that a few other teams had been there an hour before us. Figuring that they had skipped most of the optional CPs on the paddling course, we set a strategy that we thought could be a winning strategy. While physical capability is necessary during these races, a team can place high and win with the right strategy and first-rate orienteering.

We set out on our bikes again (by the way, this was the nice portion of the trail where I could take a hand of the bars and snap a picture) for a long stretch before getting to our first “O” course. “O” is for orienteering. Orienteering for these races consist of a large wooded area with CPs placed throughout. Hills, valleys, ridges, and swamps, are all in play. Basically we use the USGS maps provided, plot bearings, and run through the woods to find

the CPs. Our orienteering has become stellar throughout the year and we’ve been known to traverse swamps instead of circumventing them. Fortunately there weren’t any swamps on this run. By the way, this was the second to last photo that I took before we ended up in a van being shuttled back to base.

I ate a sandwich at the starting point for the first “O” course and noticed that my caloric intake was increasing. I had no desire to bonk out like I did in a race earlier in the year and carried more energy on this race than I thought I needed. We cleared the first “O” course with deft ability and biked the North Country Trail to the second “O” course as we had strategized. We got two less CPs on the second “O” course than we thought we needed to outright win the race before we pushed our time to the limit. We started our ride back to base around 3:30 p.m. and intended on picking up one more CP on the way, which would tie us with what we thought the

elite in the field were capable of. Unfortunately the worn out automatons in us took over on the bike ride back and we missed something, a turn, a trail, I still can’t figure it out, and ended up missing the last check point and it put us several miles west of where we needed to be. We weren’t the only ones though. We encountered several other teams doing the same thing while we desperately tried to back track and find the last CP. This was our mistake which resulted in our DNF (Did Not Finish).

We finally gave up on the CP and headed the way that the other lost teams had gone. Incomplete maps and twist and turns found us pedaling through the snow, yes snow, with nearly frost-bitten feet and hands. We met up with one of the elite four-person teams and watched as they pulled away from us, and failed to make a crucial turn. They too got a DNF.

Fifteen minutes after the cut-off a support van pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride. Several miles from base, freezing, sore, and nothing to gain we said, “Hell, yes!” I like to look at it as “we did bonus time. Only a few other teams were up to doing more than 15 hours like we did.” Oh, well. We traversed 9 miles paddling, 23 miles running and trekking (nearly a marathon), and 42 miles on bike for a grand total of 74 miles in 15 hours and 21 minutes. That’s not bad for a day. A few mistakes? Sure. But we went for it and as far as I’m concerned, succeeded. By the way, this last photo was taken 8 hours after the one before it. It had to be grueling for me to go that long without taking a photo.

Wedding Photography

You know what really makes a great wedding photographer? It’s getting that beautiful vista and making the bride and groom look incredible in front of it. For example, here is a photo from my most recent wedding. First, find a pretty lake, preferably with houses on the shore. Next, find yourself a good stump. Not any stump, but one that has been ripped up by a really powerful storm. Next, place your bride and groom in front of said sandy stump and photograph. Just to mix it up, add a can of beer for the groom, maybe a Miller Lite. And voila! Magic.