Drying in the Rain

In spite of the nonstop rain dandelions are running their course and drying up.

Lilac Impersonating a Dog

While I was shooting my mother's lilac tree I kept feeling like someone was watching me. I thought it was one of the many chipmunks, rabbits or squirrels playing cat-and-mouse with me. Then I saw this bunch of blossoms. Not exactly a Jesus in the toast or a Richard Nixon potato but way cuter.

New Day Dawns

The morning after the non-Rapture. All seems well.

...in a Pear Tree

I know, I know, I'm going to get my license to shoot revoked if I keep snapping flowers. It's just that time of year when everything is screaming, "Shoot me! Shoot me!" And every time I snap I hear the photo police in my head saying, "Step away from the flowers..." This one has some sentimental value - this is the last tree my dad, an avid yard guy, planted. It was just a tiny, spindly twig when he gave it a home in the front yard. The following spring it was still standing and growing. The last photo he took before he died was of his latest "tree rescue," the pear tree in the front yard. It's growing and flourishing, it gets prettier every day and blossoms magnificently.

Told ya.

One thing I notice, though, obvious in this shot, is that designers tend to observe the world, everything they see, in terms of layout and selling the product. Marketing baby, marketing. I have to fight the urge to set up/frame my shots leaving room for (and good juxtaposition of) text. When I was shooting the pear tree blossoms I had to keep reminding myself, "You're not actually selling these pear trees..." Still...it does leave me with a huge archive of shots ready for layout should the need arise. (Read: Clip-art hoard.) Because, you know, you never know when you're going to get a call to do some ad work for a pear tree. 

Dew Point

Field to Fork

Sometimes a client project requires PhotoShopping that wanders too close the the edge of *hack* territory.  I don't love these projects but I don't dread them, either. I take them as challenges to make cringe-worthy trite ideas less hack, more visual message. Not always easy. I'm halfway happy with this one. It's for a food production safety tri-fold brochure (avoiding ecoli outbreaks and the like, fun stuff), the graphic spreads across the inner folds. I massaged two photos to convey the field-to-fork theme of the company's food production testing services. What say you? Visual message or PhotoShop hack (or both)?

Happy Mother's Day

I seem to be on a flower kick lately. Spring's in bloom...

Fuzzy

Pussywillows impersonating caterpillars.

Birds Do It, Bees Do It...

One blooming forsythia...one very, very busy bee. Something really weird happened yesterday. The sky was blue with these wispy white things floating in it! And there was this big yellow glowing orb in the sky, like fire! And everything looked super ultravivid, colors were so saturated and bright everyone was wearing special glasses so their eyes wouldn't hurt.

"Cue the bee! Send in the bee stage left!"

The original intended (beeless) shot.

Tilting at...

It's Tulip Time! I can't make it to Holland this year, but last year's festival was lovely. Here's one of my favorites from my '10 archive.

While my f-stop is on a slower speed have a look at some great photography.

First, of course, my big brother and photojournalist extraordinaire, David Crane and his photoblog One Second.

Like most of us photo enthusiasts (and especially those of us in Chicago), David is captivated by the Vivian Maier story and her work. I have not noticed many recent additions to the official site, but it's a great starting point for discovering this gem of a photographer.

I like to check in on the MCoP blog to see what's happening photo-wise in Chicago - it's not updated often, but worth checking now and then for info on local photo shows.

I never miss a day of National Geographic's photoblog. I especially love the underwater galleries.

The Hubble Telescope photo gallery which is updated a few times a week and boldly goes where no man has gone. I've had a soft-spot for the much maligned Hubble since it was launched and love the results of many years of technology refinements.

While I'm in Michigan (and not shooting much, I'd give a thumbs down to that...if I could) I've been poking around (literally with one finger) looking for creative Michiganders (and there are a ton of us...something in the water, perhaps?)

I'm really digging Cybelle Codish's work and her blog Shoot Happens.

Jenny Risher is doing the project I have fantasized about for years. According to Hour Detroit mag, she's shooting notable Detroiters' portraits for a book. There was an exhibit at the DIA years ago (late '80s) that showcased portraits of famous/infamous Michiganders. It was good, but I always thought it could have been a little more dynamic in both the subjects and how they're shot. I have been compiling my dream list and how I'd shoot them ever since. I'm anxious to see Jenny's results, looks promising!

That's a Wrap

So,  that  happened...