No. This post is not promoting incest. Though I did marry my brother too. In fact, Sarah and Dan asked if I might officiate their wedding, and I was honored to do so. A few weeks later this ordination confirmation from The United Life Church lands in my inbox. “Impress your friends, family, and peers with your new official status!” Needless to say, impress I did, and also managed to document a few moments along the way.
More wedding after the break. Continue reading
I sold myself short. At the end of Blackwelder St. Shapour sits outside at 3pm waiting for his driver. Rain or shine, torrid or tepid, he’s always out there. Dressed like a boss. One day I time it right and ask to take his portrait. Weeks go by, I print a few in the darkroom, and hope to give them to him the next time I see him. When I finally do, he asks “How much do I owe you?” What a sweet heart. I tell him nothing, and that it was a pleasure to take his photograph. He smiles and thumbs through the prints, stopping at the last one. It’s my favorite. An artsy little number that doesn’t include his face. “This one’s no good,” he says. I think to myself, “that’ll be $50.”
More CONTACT after the break. Continue reading
There’s lots of fun to be had in Vancouver. Walk Stanley park. Visit Granville Island. Watch the Canucks lose to the Kings. Yes, these are cool. But nothing compares to the skill and endurance required to land a penny in the narrow opening of a frozen swill pot. For this memory, and the many attempts at ultimate success, I will be forever grateful.
More Vancouver after the break. Continue reading
I have a confession. I almost didn’t march. Go ahead. Judge me. I’ll wait. In all honestly, I didn’t realize what the marches were about. Yes, I can read, so I knew it was for women. But I was turned off by the idea of protesting for protesting’s sake. Spontaneous rallies had broken out Downtown earlier in the week, and while I supported the cause I hated the goons who used the opportunity to close freeways, scream at cops, and twiddle up their T-Shirts into muggers masks. None of that was experience at the women’s march. Not in the slightest.
More march after the break. Continue reading
Now we can’t play ball no more. With the squad on bye week I thought it appropriate to post memories from our first two seasons. Hopefully it’ll encourage some, I’ll say shy, members of the team to get in front of the lens next time. Remember kids. There’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.
More softball after the break. Continue reading
A van rumbles down the Outback Scenic Byway collecting high desert dust. She flips through stations fighting static. No luck. The fellow travelers offer no distraction, their lifeless bodies slumped in sleep. It has been lonely these three hours. They’re almost there.
Lakeview, Oregon. A place of little fanfare and even less sparkling water. Gravel pops as they pull into the motel. Hot springs will have to wait.
More Oregon Trail after the break. Continue reading
I tend to agree with the photographic philosophy of letting your photos “sit.” I don’t lean them back the La-Z-Boy, peel open a TV dinner and work on their inner spudliness. But i like to let time pass between shooting my images and editing them. In theory the practice removes the excitement of “the moment” and allows for a more objective assessment of the “goodies.” You become lean, mean, and focused on nixing everything in between. Rationale aside, my family would say it’s just an excuse to be lazy. Case in point, Cuba, a killer trip that’s now surfacing after a year of “sitting.” Blame it on the embargo.
More Cuba after the break. Continue reading
I’d seen these two around the park before and always surrounded by a crowd (deservedly so, that’s a freaking cockatoo riding a bicycle). But I’m more of a one-on-one guy, so when I saw Ronny in a rare moment of peace, I decided to change that.
More Ronny (and if you stick around, my new favorite portrait) after the break. Continue reading
Oliver is a city boy, but you’d never know it from the way he loves the beach! On our last trip home to California, we made sure to maximize sand time, and even brought a few weenies for some companionship. I had a few shots pre-visualized that I wanted try in the field, and had a blast making them happen with the Xpan. Looking back, it would have been nice to have had color film (how quickly I forget the beauty of west coast golden hour!) Then again the high speed black and white helped with pre-focusing, a factor not to be overlooked when you’re capturing a speeding French Weinerdog.
More Frenchie after the break. Continue reading
[gwu] Graham Whitaker Unterberger 