After next week, I'll be sporting the same look as this kid. 

Unlike him, however I'm going bald voluntarily in an effort to raise money to support childhood cancer research. Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children in the US and Canada, and over 160,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year. Yet the National Cancer Institute only devotes about 4% of its budget to childhood cancers.


You can help. Since 2000, the St. Baldrick's Foundation has held more than 4200 events in dozens of countries and every US state, raising over $117,000,000 for life-saving childhood cancer research. for the price of a couple of lattes, a night at the movies or a manicure you can join the fight in this worthy cause. And if your employer has a matching-gift program, your generous donation will go even further. 


Just go to my sponsor page and click on the 'Donate' button. And please share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. Unlike the treatments these kids endure, donating is quick, easy and pain-free...


As you can see below, it's been a while since I've sat in a barber chair. In addition to raising money for St. Baldrick's, my hair will be donated to another wonderful organization called Locks of Love. They provide wigs to children who've lost their hair due to disease or medical treatments. And no, you won't see a bunch of silver-haired kids running around with my hair. Locks of Love keeps what they and use and sells gray hair to commercial wig makers, so it's a win either way!

At my virtual-daughter's wedding last November

Photo by Manny Dumont

Thank you!

breakfast shots

I'm heading out to the NRA show in a couple of weeks (restaurants, not guns) and I wanted to pump up the food shots in my portfolio before I go. So I decided to do a quick shoot with my breakfast this morning. Here are a few shots showing the process.

First, I set up a coffee table near a northern-facing window here at Studio W. It was late morning and the sky was still clear at the time so I had tons of soft light coming in. I decided to use my DIY tri-fold silver bounce (3/8" foam core with crinkled up aluminum foil duct taped to it) to fill the shadows. I normally use this for headshots but it's perfect for this kind of project, throwing a nice, bright light.

Before cooking anything, I wanted to play around with some placement. I was hungry and this wasn't a full-out food shoot (I studied to be a chef back in the day so I can cook, but I'm not a pro food stylist) so once I got something close I went with it.

I took yesterday's Sun-Times, glued the last couple pages together so they didn't flop over and then secured everything with a paper clip to keep it folded. I don't have alot of kitchen and dining props but I do stop by Goodwill occasionally to see if they have any interesting dishes or cutting boards. That's where I got the plate. I took an old dish towel to fill in as a placemat.

Well, that looks cheezy. Let's make it a napkin instead.

That's better. A little more geometric and better contrast with the dark table. How about a different napkin? A dark one...

Naaah...go with white. Let's go cook something up!

On the menu today is sausage gravy and biscuits, sunny-side up eggs, pork-n-beans and coffee. I was distracted by the gravy and the yolks got a little over-cooked. The overall color palette is pretty neutral so losing that pop from the yolks detracts, I think. They were my last two eggs, though, so I couldn't redo them to get the more orange color for better contrast.

So, except for having my foot in the shot, I like the composition - squares, circles and diagonals... Let's see what it looks like without my shoe...

Much better. The tighter crop not only eliminated the extraneous crap, but it puts the viewer's focus right on the food where it belongs. I like cutting things off in food photos - breaking up the literal-ness (is that a word?) of the circles and squares is less distracting from the main subject, I think. But on closer inspection zooming in this frame looked a little soft. I was leaning over the table with a fairly long shutter speed and probably had some camera shake, even with the IS turned on.

So after playing around with various angles and comps, I went with this one:

It was a bit cold when I finally got around to eating it but it was delicious even so. I make really tasty gravy, if I do say so myself....

Comments and critiques are welcome and appreciated...

April Fool's 2012

The guys over at PetaPixel gathered up some cool photo-related April Fool's gags. Too bad some of them are just gags... Angry Birds for your Canon, anyone?? I'm in...

Stick your money where the sun doesn't shine...

And the sun hasn't shone on my scalp for many years...

I'll be shaving my head on April 29 as a participant in the St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraising event at Buffalo Wild Wings in Warrenville, IL. Please lend your support to this worthwhile cause by sponsoring me. Unlike childhood cancer, donating is quick, easy and painless.

My goal is a modest $3000 and I'm already more than 10% of the way there after only a few days, so I hope to exceed even that. A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. If your company or employer has a matching gift program, your donation can go even further.

My hair is pretty long so I'll also be donating it to the Locks of Love organization after this event. They produce wigs for children who've lost their hair due to illness. In my case, they'll likely sell most of my gray hair to raise cash.

Please pass the word and join with me to strike back at this killer of innocents. Thanks so much...

St. Baldrick's

Believe it or not, I haven't always had long hair. Some people who've met me only in the last several years know me no other way. In fact, several years ago I cut off a 27" ponytail because it was a pain when I swam laps (a too short-lived attempt to get back in shape) and all the chlorine was playing hell with it. I sent that ponytail to Locks of Love.

Well, to those uninitiated, you're about to get your chance! I'll be trading in the silver tresses for a chrome dome by joining the buzzing festivities at the St Baldrick's Foundation event to be held at Buffalo Wild Wings on Diehl Rd in Warrenville, IL.

Please visit my sponsorship page and consider making a donation. In addition to raising money for SBF, I'll be donating my hair once again to the Locks of Love organization. I'm told they sell all the gray hair they receive for cash so it's a double win.

Thanks you.

Kiss me, I'm a photographer!

Whenever Naperville has a parade, it always begins about a block from my shop so it'd be silly for me to miss it, right?

This time last year we still had a couple feet of white stuff left over from the 2011 "Snowmageddon" and I don't remember a parade coming through. The 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade happened last Saturday on a gorgeous, sunny and unseasonably warm morning that could've been mistaken for June. Bizarre, but I'll take it....

Here are a few pics I took of the festivities -

St. Patrick and Mayor George Pradel

2012 Parade Queen, Maureen Elizabeth Levy and Court

McNulty Irish Dancers

Dublin Fire Brigade

Babies don't need cheezy "kiss me, I'm Irish" paraphernalia...

Naperville Chorus

Naperville Chorus

What St. Paddy's day parade would be complete without an Irish Wolfhound? Or three...

Or 4?

Lots of dogs in the parade this year...

Knights of Columbus

Another K of C. Didn't catch his name but he must be the Grand Poobah because he rated riding in the convertible instead of walking.

Piper from the Tunes of Glory Pipes and Drums, of Warrenville.

Medinah Highlanders

Another Medinah Highlander

This singer from the disco-themed Boys and Girls Clubs float was killin' "I Will Survive"!

"Sure and beggorah! Those WERE the droids we were looking for..."

Now THAT'S a view camera!

My friend Hans turned me on to this story earlier today. I've shot large format film before but this isn't even in the same league. Maybe this should be ginormous format!

Chicago photographer Dennis Manarchy constructed this monster view camera with portability in mind. He'll be packing it up for a 50 state tour of the US to "celebrate and pay tribute to the history of American cultures that have shaped the nation." The image below shows his mocked-up (but working) prototype. The real deal will have traditional view camera controls, but on a Bromdingnagian scale, I'm sure.


 

There's nothing small about this setup - 35 feet long and 12 feet high, it produces 4.5 x 6 foot negatives. Ordinarily, I'd say those would make for some outstanding contact prints. But Mr. Manarchy has plans for 24 foot enlargements.






Vanishing Cultures: An American Portrait by Dennis Manarchy from Distortion Design on Vimeo.