Daniel Root's Blogtography

Leaving Blogger

2010-04-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all. The blog now has a new home:

http://www.danielrootphotography.com/blog/

Meet me over there!

Dan

"The Sky's the Limit" Exhibition at PDX

2010-01-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself with some extra time at Portland International Airport (PDX), talk a walk over to Concourse A, near the boarding gates for Alaska and Horizon Airlines. I have nine matted prints on display. Six were taken with my digital SLR camera, and the three other prints are diptychs of images taken with my iPhone.

My work was selected, along with six other photographers living in Oregon and SW Washington, as part of an exhibition called "The Sky's the Limit," which is being sponsored by the Regional Arts and Culture Council based here in Portland. The exhibition is focusing on all aspects of aviation, air travel and airports.

The exhibition runs through the end of July. I don't want to give it all away, so here are a few samples of my work in the show.

Plane landing at San Francisco International Airport at dusk.

First flight of a young boy. Approach to Washington Dulles International Airport.

Leaving Denver International Airport, left. Arriving London Heathrow Airport, right. Both iPhone shots.

"Setting the Table" Exhibit

2010-01-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

As some of you might know, myself and four other photographers joined together to form PhotoForce, a photographic collective. Last week we held an exhibition called, "Setting the Table," which was a pro bono photography project for Oregon Food Bank. Our goal was to raise awareness and support for Oregon Food Bank, by showing the cycle of food in Oregon and the impact that Oregon Food Bank has across the state. We estimated that we had about 400 people show up that night. If you did not know about it, or could not come, please check out some of the images here from the project.

So I would like to thank all of those that showed up to the event, and especially my fellow PhotoForce members, Lincoln Barbour, Brian Lee, Stuart Mullenberg, and Steven Scardina. These guys all are amazing photographers, and I feel so honored and grateful that they included me in this wonderful effort.

Here are two of my images from the show.

Caption: Nina Diouf, kitchen co-manager at Sisters of the road, stirs up the morning’s meals. Some customers pay the $1.25 the kitchen charges for a meal (25 cents more for a drink), but just as often they pitch in, emptying trash, cleaning tables, or doing whatever else is needed. For their toil, they receive $6 an hour in meal credits (just 15 minutes of sweeping, for instance, earns one credit) to either feed themselves or to donate to a family in need or someone too disabled to work.

Caption: In 2009, Montecucco farms co-owners and brothers Brian and Jason Montecucco donated 25 tons of beets, or five percent of the annual yield; here, Brian holds a few pounds’ worth of a recent harvest. “It’s simple,” says Jason. “people need food. We have it. We give away what we can’t sell. And while it may not be good enough for the market, it’s good. It’s what we eat at home.”

Here are some pictures from the night of the exhibition by another wonderful Portland, Oregon, photographer, Andrea Lorimor, who volunteered her time and effort to come up with some great images from the last Thursday night.

A Cross Country Race

2009-12-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was a very cold December day here in Portland. Really cold. Frost on the ground, ice on the windshield, three layers of clothing cold. A great day to grab the cameras and head out at 6:30 am to Portland Meadows, which is a horse racing track. No, I was not betting on the ponies. In fact, I was betting on getting some really nice images of a field of 22 seven-person clubs and an additional 45 individual competitors, both male and female, running in three cross country races sponsored by Nike. This is the second year I have shot the Nike Cross Nationals. I love this event. And my main goal both times was not to so much document the race, but bring back images that gave you, the viewer, a more personal and up close view of the competitors, the track, and the feel of the event. Did I mention it was cold?

Clowning Around for Good Causes

2009-11-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Shooting parties and events are not at the top of my list of things I like to shoot, but once in a while a good cause comes onto my radar screen and I toss that aside, and I sign up. Last Saturday night I had the extreme pleasure of doing some pro bono work for the Oregon Food Bank's annual Oregon Harvest Dinner fundraiser. I was joined by fellow photographer and friend Steve Scardina. We had a blast. The entertainment was great, as depicted in the picture above, and they raised a lot of money. Giving back to one's community always feels great and I want to thank Amber and Jamie from the Oregon Food Bank for following me around and carrying what I call my "strobe on a stick." It was really fun to document this great event.

And now my pitch. Right now hunger is a major problem facing many families. So please, if you can, make a donation in either time, money or food to the Oregon Food Bank. They are the hub of a statewide network of over 900 hunger-relief agencies in Oregon and SW Washington. Plus, they throw nice parties.

A River Runs Through Me

2009-09-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Morning light on the canyon walls as Guide Brian Silvey passes us the first day with his two clients.

When September rolls around I get a very anxious feeling, because I know it is time for my annual three-day float down the Deschutes in search of summer steelhead. I don't make it a secret that I am addicted to fly fishing for steelhead. Guilty as charged. This year I went with my good friend and guide extraordinaire Matt McCrary. Usually you can find him on the Deschutes guiding clients and teaching them the fine art of using a spey rod. This time it was just play-fishing for him and myself. We hooked five fish and landed four, in case anyone cares about fishing stats. But the best thing for me was hanging out with my good friend Matt, camping out under the stars, and standing in the river in hopes of hooking a fish while I marveled at the awesome scenery. Mr. McCray has become my steelhead fishing mentor, and this trip I really got schooled (in a good way) by him. It involved a few cold Hamm's beers, staying up too late in front of the Colemam lantern, watching copious amounts of caddis bugs commiting harakiri in the flame, and him explaining to me why it is not about how many fish you catch, but how one decides to experience fishing as an act of connection with all of the elements that determines the real results of a day on the river. I'll just leave it at that, because what is said in camp, stays in camp. But what I can say is that fishing, like life, is all about the journey traveled and the things you encounter along the way, and the not about the destination. It was a great journey!

The view from the river at sunset. This panorama was created with my iPhone. I don't wade the river with my good camera.

Boils and rapids along the way. Kinda like life.

The White River above us in Maupin decided to spew out some glacial silt, so I did some portraits of Matt McCrary while we waited for the river to clear.

The final resting place of our nocturnal camping friends. RIP.

Oh yes, we did catch some fish. Matt holds one of the four caught for my quick and dirty iPhone camera. This one was mine, but Matt caught and hooked all the others. He is da' man!

Manchester United Premier Cup 2009

2009-08-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since I last posted here, but I have been buried in Photoshop work after covering the 2009 Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals in Manchester, UK. Seven days of shooting, that started on August 2nd, almost 15,000 clicks of the camera, and almost 800 final images. This was an under fifteen soccer event that comprised of twenty of some of the best U-15 teams from around the world. The final game gets played at Old Trafford, which is the legendary home pitch of Manchester United. If you want to see more of my work, and read more about the tournament, here is a link:

http://www.manchesterunitedpremiercup.com/

What I have posted here are some of my favorite photos, that although they are not great action shots, these are the types of shots that enrich the my soul when I capture them. They are not always the most obvious, but to me they speak volumes about what it might feel like for the participants.

Cheers!

iFly, iWalk, iShoot, iPhone

2009-08-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Manchester, UK. First day on the ground after flying in yesterday. Jet lag not too bad, so I have be taking a few leisurely strolls near my hotel and shooting some shots with my iPhone. After experiencing Portland's heat wave last week, I must admit, it is nice to be under cool and cloudy skies, and of course the occasional rain shower. Ah, summer in the UK.

I start working tomorrow, so I am just left with trying to stay awake in the afternoon, and then the reverse problem of trying to get to sleep later in the night. It is kind of an evil yin and yang jet lag experience. So here are some pics from my flight, and from around Manchester. Enjoy!

PDX to SFO. Marshmallows in the sky.

The plane! Getting ready for the ten hour flight from San Francisco to London.

Waiting for Godot? Nope, everyone just looking board while waiting to board.

A United Airlines designer sink. I think you can find these at IKEA.

Heathrow, and on time.

Coming to our gate at Heathrow, Polaroid style.

Finally get to my room to find his sick dude welcoming me to Manchester. Good thing I knew they are having quite the Swine Flu problem here. I brought plenty of hand sanitizer. Take that, sick guy. The guy in the photo actually looks like one of the actors who plays one of the doctors on the TV show "Scrubs." Ironinc!

Nice hotel room lighting chaps.

And of course, I always look forward to the British cuisine.

The side of this dumpster reminded me of the days when I read Mad Magazine in my youth. Looks like one of the "Spy vs. Spy" characters.

The professional way to grip your iPhone.

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

Oh yeah, I am here to shoot soccer, or football as they say it over here.

Three Wheelin' Crew

2009-07-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am a lucky guy. I love my job, and most of all, I get to work with some really fun and creative people. I was shooting this past week at the Nike Campus in Beaverton. Nike has a child care facility next to the field we where shooting. The facility had a bunch of small red tricycles just outside the door, and since I am a photo opportunist, I asked some of the crew to get on one of the bikes for a few quick grab shots. Fun way to end a fun day.

Chris, Art Director.

Matt O'Brien, Assistant.

Jeff "Tank" Smith, Assistant

Me.

Leah Rocks

2009-06-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

All that I really want to say on this day is that I love being a dad. Leah, you rock my world!

iPhone, iShoot, iPost

2009-06-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

Having a great time in Australia with the in-laws. We took Leah to the Melbourne Aquarium yesterday and had a wonderful time. I really had fun taking pictures of the penguins with both my iPhone and my new Canon G10 camera. I actually loved the iPhone shots better. Here is one of my favorites from the iPhone. Today we go wine tasting to an area about an hour out of the city. Looking forward to seeing some of the countryside and tasting some good Aussie wine.

Road Trip

2009-05-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

A beautiful scene on I-90 in eastern Washington.

Oh how I miss a good road trip in the car. After four days of shooting hundreds of shoes, bags, balls and apparel in a makeshift studio at Nike, while the rest of Portland was basking in a blast of warm sunny days, I got in my pickup truck on Monday evening and started my road trip to Montana for work. My first shoot was in Seattle on Tuesday morning. Now after a spending the night in a cheap hotel in Idaho, I am heading towards my old stopping grounds in Montana for another shoot. Here are some shots from along the long, winding, and often too straight roads. All the of the shots were done with my iPhone and then processed with an iPhone application called Camera Bag. No Photoshop used here.

Ah, just in time! I-90, eastern Washington.

Morning art outside my cheap hotel in Tacoma, WA.

Afternoon coffee stop at Snoqualmie Pass, WA, right off I-90.

Driving I-5 north of Portland in Washington. The day started out warm and sunny. Go figure!

Seattle has a lot of overpasses.

And a lot of tunnels.

Driving towards Snoqualmie Pass, WA on I-90. Brrrrrrr!

Getting the call for fast food.

Nice to have a good neighbor along for the ride.

Big Red Car

2009-05-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

I don't want to bore people with pictures of my daughter Leah, but I could not resist posting these shots from yesterday's trip to a local community center. They have a kid's play room, well actually it is an auditorium loaded with toy cars, a slide, and other various things to keep kids occupied and parents chasing them around. The more you can get your kid to be active during the day, the better they sleep, and so shall you. Leah is a big fan of The Wiggles, which are a group of four blokes from Australia in different colored shirts singing silly songs. They have this goofy "Big Red Car" that they drive around Sydney and sing songs about it. So Leah was really excited when she found the "Toot, Toot, Chugga, Chugga, Big Red Car." Here is a link to the song that my wife Susan and I have heard over hundred times now, and we sometimes wake up in the morning with it playing in our heads. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

The Wiggles Big Red Car

Leah practicing driving the family turbo charged Subaru. I am glad sixteen is a few years away.

Crew Jump

2009-04-25T12:02:00.001-07:00

One of the most satisfying parts of my job is that I get to work with some extremely talented and fun people. During a shoot a week ago for Nike, we were shooting in an old abandoned school in Portland. We were using this funky old stage that was inside the school's gym. I noticed this paper movie clapper in the corner of the stage in a potpourri of discarded stuff, and I thought it would be fun to have some of the crew members and clients jump with it while we were waiting for the talent to be ready for the next shot. Just in case you want to know, that is me in the lower left hand corner image.

Urban Swingers

2009-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

First of all I have to thank my good friend and fellow photographer Sol Neelman for turning me onto this little activity in the city of where "weird stuff happens" all the time. He has photographed this group before, so I make no claims to being original on this one, but I loved what he produced so much, that when we where having coffee one day, I asked him to let me know when these folks would be holding their next tournament. So during the weekend when the pros where seeking out a jacket of green in Augusta, Georgia, a bunch of Portlanders opened their 2009 Urban Golf Club season in the inner east side of the city. Using tennis balls in lieu of actual golf balls, which was good for car owners, apartment dwellers and this photographer as well, the group flogged their way through the streets. Some of the funnier moments where the water hazards that were left behind from the rain the day before. I tired golf once, but I suck at it. Perhaps I need to break out my old clubs and get a few tennis balls and have some fun. Heck, there are no green fees, and it seems that the worst shot you make, the more fun you have. I like that. (FYI, lots of pictures here)

Water hazard.

Required golf attire.

The gallery looks on.

More golf attire.

Four!

Chipping to a snake infested hole.

There was no TV coverage at this hole. Heck there was no TV.

Onto the next hole.

Monkey and iPhone, Part II

2009-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

Back in the beginning of this year, or at the end of last year, depending on the time stamp of my iPhone photos from a NYE concert in San Francisco that I attended, I decided to challenge myself to prove that it is not the camera, but the monkey behind it, that makes a picture good. So welcome to Part II, the sequel. I call this Good House Hunting, or in the case or our recent successes, or lack thereof, Bad House Finding, or Great House Found But Can't Afford It. So today my wife Susan, our daughter Leah, and our awesome realtor Ronda Joseph with Hasson (too bad I can't get a product placement fee here), we all piled into the car and went looking for houses. We saw some good ones, and some bad ones. The bad ones were the ones were nobody lived in and someone decided to stage the house to make it look like someone lived there. I really was taken by the vast expanse of empty spaces even though these homes were staged. It really did not look like anyone lived there, but I know it looks better than if nothing was there. So I decided to go artsy with my iPhone, and then convert to black and white, to help convey that sense of expanse. So if you like the images, you can call me the monkey in the middle of the badly staged room. If you don't like the images, well, don't call me, unless of course you have a nice house to sell us at a good price (four bedrooms, two baths, in a nice NE or SE neighborhood please).

Back to School

2009-02-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post a few more pictures from the last Nike shoot in LA (see post below), that I took while we are were waiting for the talent to get ready. What inspired me to shoot these images was that we were shooting at a high school in the San Fernando Valley that reminded me of the high school I went to just a few miles away from this one. I don't know about the rest of you, but to me all high schools look about the same if they were built around the mid-century era. So I decided to kill some time shooting the things that reminded me of my days back at U.S. Grant High School in the valley. Like, oh my gawd! The bathrooms still look the same as well as the drinking fountains. And let's talk about those outlandish color schemes. One might think that in a hip city like Los Angeles, the color schemes might be a little more on the creative side. Well I think that the same person that has been choosing those boring institutional colors since the 1950's is still working creative their magic.

It Never Rains in California......Right!

2009-01-30T06:32:00.000-08:00

It always seems that when my parents from Los Angeles fly up to Portland, Oregon, to visit me, it never rains here. However, lately it seems that every time I go to Los Angeles for work or family visits, the rain follows me like a lost puppy. So last weekend I had the pleasure to work in L.A. on a two-day shoot for Nike football. Now I must say that the second day of the shoot brought a mixture of sun and clouds, but no rain. But the first day was something completely different. We had a good five-hour delay while we waited for the drenching rain to stop, which it finally did. But a good crew can make the time go by fast. So hence the following images of a few digital techs and assistants passing the time with a little game of smash ball. On a side note, Nike decided to hire two photographers for the shoot. Of course I was one of them, however, I had the extreme pleasure of working alongside sports photographer extraordinaire, Donald Miralle. If you have never seen his work, click on his name in this post to see his site. I really admire his work, and I think you will too.

Digital tech Kyle Alexander looks for any signs of blue sky.

Assistant Ryan Miller passes the time by taking a little stroll
over to catering for some cool treats and hot eats.

Fellow photographer Donald Miralle decides to patiently
wait out the rain under the tents setup for the digital techs.

Assistant Collin Erie says let the games begin.

Dustin Edwards, digital tech, returns serve from Collin.

Collin Erie takes smash ball to new heights.

My In-Laws and The Holidays

2009-01-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

I sometimes feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Not only do I have a wonderful family on my side whom I respect and love dearly, I am also blessed with wonderful in-laws. Actually I think I can safely say that they are the best in-laws in the world. Yes, I am like Fox News, fair and balanced.

Now I do recognize that the term "in-laws" conjures up some very negative connotations for some people, but not for me. Not only am I blessed with a terrific daughter Leah and my awesome wife Susan, I am also blessed with wonderful in-laws. Susan's mother, Joan, and stepfather, Ralph, live in northern California, near her brother Ben and his wife Erin. For the past three years we have traveled south from Portland to spend the Christmas holiday with them. Susan's father, Ken, and his wife Christine live in Melbourne, Australia - sadly, not somewhere easily accessible by car. Both of them are terrific people as well, along with Christine's son Joel, his wife Melissa, and their daughter Tiia.

But back to my trips to see the California in-laws. Due to my extreme fondness for them, I now get very excited about the Christmas holiday, and that is a tall feat for someone like me who was reared in a Jewish household. So filled with anticipation of great conversation, laughs, wine, and food, I was obsessed with getting my family out of town when Portland was buried under almost nineteen inches of snow. Thanks to some intense weather-monitoring on my part and a bit of luck, we made it out on the 23rd, and found ourselves arriving at Ralph and Joan's house in Bodega Bay in time for Christmas Eve dinner.

What follows are some images from our week there. Two things stand out from this trip, the first being Ralph's gift of an accordion to Joan. They are both accomplished pianists, so Joan had no trouble playing a few tunes after opening up her gift. Immediately recognizing what a cool present she had received, I knew I had to take her picture against the hills behind their home. It was a real "Sound of Music" moment that filled my head. I told them that the upside of having a son-in-law as a photographer was that they get a lot of nice images of their granddaughter. The downside is that I might ask them if I can take portraits of them with accordions or other objects that seem fit for my creative mind.

The other thing that made this trip special was seeing Leah and her grandpa Ralph bond. And I mean a superglue bond, which was nice because at one point when Leah was twelve months old, grandpa Ralph - who was trying to amuse her by sneaking up to the window that Leah was gazing out of - gave her a big "peekaboo," which induced copious amounts of tears and screaming. She was a little apprehensive of grandpa the rest of that trip. But no more. Those two are now soul mates, as you can gather from one of the pictures below.

Joan "Von Trapp" and her accordion.

Leah and grandma Joan.

Grandpa Ralph and Leah having some fun on the beach.

Grandma Joan and her gift to Leah. One of Many!

My lovely wife Susan enjoying the California sun on Christmas day.

Aunt Erin and Leah before eating Christmas dinner.

Uncle Ben gives Leah a ride.

And some more rides.

Oh yes, Ralph's birthday is on Christmas. Happy Birthday. You rock!

Ralph enjoys his ocean view before the presents are opened.

Me and Leah on the beach Christmas day. Photo by grandpa Ralph.

A Monkey with an iPhone and a New Year's Show

2009-01-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends, and even some of my colleagues and clients, know that I have seen a few Grateful Dead shows in my time. Okay, I admit, just a little over a hundred shows. Yes, that makes me an official Deadhead. The past few years I have been going down to the the Bay Area with my wife Susan to spend Christmas with her family. Usually we stick around until a few days after Christmas. This year my brother-in-law Ben, another dedicated soul to the band like me , said he had extra tickets for the Phil Lesh & Friends/RatDog shows on the 30th and 31st (NYE) in San Franciso, and asked me if I wanted to go. Ben and Will, thanks for the tickets by the way. In case you don't know, Phil Lesh was the bass player for the Dead, and Bob Weir, who heads up RatDog, was the rhythm guitarist for the Dead. I wanted to take my nice pro camera to the show just to shoot a few pictures in and around the venue, but they were not letting anyone into the show with these types of cameras. Since I have always said to others that it is not the camera, but the monkey behind it. I decided that if I was a good enough monkey, that the tiny little camera on my iPhone should be just fine. I must admit, it was hard to get use to shooting with it, but a few clicks and I was feeling fine. So here you have it. A few shots to give you folks a little look at what was going on in a small part of San Francisco on New Year's Eve.

Happy 2009 to you all. I hope you all have a safe a prosperous new year! And as some of us Deadheads say "AIKO!"

The balloon drop

A little too much NYE partying

Dancing in the hall with the Birdman of Alcatraz

Nike Cross Nationals 2008

2008-12-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

At the urging of a local art buyer, and to seek out some portfolio material, I grabbed my gear and headed over to Portland Meadows last Saturday to make some images of the 2008 Nike Cross National. Teams and individuals from across the USA, plus a team from Kenya, competed in this cross country running event. My goal was to come up with a few portraits and some action shots, from not your normal angles. Hope you like what you see. I think this was the first time they have had decent weather for this event. I actually was hoping for more mud and less sun. But I am sure the competitors loved the fact that there was sun in Oregon in December. That is a rare occurrence.

Cheech & Chong , and my brother Jim

2008-11-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Growing up as the youngest brother had both its disadvantages, and advantages. My older brother Jim never beat me up. I think the fact that we are so far apart in age had an influence on that, or perhaps my dad had an influence on that one. One of the coolest things about my older brother Jim when I was growing up was that he was in the rock and roll business right of of high school. He took a job years ago that made me one of the more cooler kids in school. He was Cheech & Chong's road manager. Everyone wanted a free copy of "Big Bambu" from me just for the over sized rolling paper that came with the album. So roll the clock forward to 2008. Cheech & Chong decided to start touring together again this year so they tapped my big brother Jim to be their road manager again. So off down to Eugene on Thursday night with my wife Susan in tow to see the show at the Hult Center. We had a blast being backstage and getting third row seats. So here are some pics of my big brother Jim, and some shots from the show.

There's No Business Like Shoe Business

2008-11-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

A few moths ago I had the opportunity to work on a stop-motion video featuring the history Nike's legendary Cortez Shoe with Nike designer Eric Duvauchelle. The thirty-seven second clip was posted to the Nike.com web site. We were working in a building where the Nike archive is located. It was very amazing to be in a room full of Nike history. We shot almost 1,000 images to put this thing together. The best momnet of the shoot was when Eric discovered the large Cortez shoe costume and decided to put himself in it for the video. And of course I had to take a stab at walking in his shoes.

Here is the link
http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/sportswear/en_US/view_post?country=US&lang_locale=en_US&blog=en_US&post=en_US/2008/08/07/nike-cortez-archive

Here are some pictures from behind the scenes:

Eric pondering his next move.

The stars of the video. A few vintage Nike Cortez shoes.

Eric in the Nike Cortez shoe costume.

What I will be wearing next Halloween.

She Walks

2008-11-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Not that I want to make my blog a visual record of my daughter's milestones, but heck, she is one great subject to photograph. So at the ripe young age of seventeen months, my daughter Leah is now officially bipedal. She had a great time strutting her stuff at the Portland airport while waiting for our flight last week to California to visit relatives. We now must maintain a vigilant watch over Leah as she can move very fast in any direction. It is incredible how fast little kids can move. Or, is it that I am so dang slow as I age, or mellow as I like to say.

Behind the Scenes

2008-10-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

So I bought this funky Polaroid camera at my neighbors garage sale last spring along with ten packs of outdated film. I decided that it would be fun to take it to a three-day shoot this week to capture some shots of the crew and whatever I thought was cool. So here you have the results. Makeup, lights, and one really tough traffic flagger.

Meeting The Neighbors

2008-09-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Most of you all remember what it is like to move to a new home. You hope the neighbors will come over and introduce themselves, and perhaps bring you something to help ease the transition to your new digs. You know, beer, wine, pizza, or a Welcome Wagon basket. This is how I have felt about being a freelancer here in Portland my first few years. A few years back I knew I was one the new kids on this block. At first I only knew of, but never met, only a few of my neighbors, but now since working for two of the more prominent magazines here in Portland (see a previous post), I have witnessed the great works from my own backyard of this great and talented photographic community here in Portland. Not only that, but I have finally met a few of them. Not only are these people extremely talented, they are also awesome people. I don't know why, but I had this picture in my mind that the competition would be secretive, and reclusive. Jokes on me. Willing to share information, tricks of the trade, and even buy you a beer, the community is just plain awesome. I love this community. So I want to call out a few people and thank them for making me feel so welcomed to the freelance photography community here in Portland. Here are links to their web sites so you can see their wonderful and inspiring work. Take a walk in the hood.

Lincoln Barbour
Stuart Mullenberg
Steve Scardina
Rafael Astorga
Bruce Wolf
Mark Gamba
Jim Lommasson
Brian Lee
Sol Neelman

Chalking Up the Vote

2008-09-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

If we could all vote like this, I think we would all live in a better world. I would have loved to have seen the results in Florida in 2000, and Ohio in 2004, if they all had to vote with chalk. Blue chalk for the Democrats, and red chalk for the Republicans.

Grateful for the Work

2008-08-31T15:59:00.001-07:00

As I look back on the last nine months of 2008, I feel extremely grateful to the folks at Portland Monthly and Portland Spaces magazines. Not only have they entrusted me with some of their bigger assignments for this year, but they are just great people to work with and work for. I have read about the dreaded struggles between art directors and photographers. So when I did my first assignment last year and the art director said he wanted to be there during the shoot, I had my trepidations. I learned just how important these people can be to a successful shoot. And by successful, I mean delivering them the goods. As photographers, we are in a service business. And as much as I want the picture to be all mine, I realized the importance of having a good "push and pull" relationship with art directors. I have come to the conclusion that I really like working as a team as much as I like to be out on my own shooting. This viewpoint runs throughout my life now. I use to love to go fly fishing alone, but now I love being out with my close friends as much as I love to have a stretch of water all to myself. So thanks to Jason, Pete, Jen, Mike, Thomas, and Tim for being such great people to collaborate with. You all rock, and I enjoy working with you all. Every time my phone rings and I know it is one of you that are on the other side of the call contacting me for an assignment, I must admit, a feeling of excitement and gratitude comes over me.

Reflecting

2008-08-31T09:46:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I get questions from people about lighting, or sometimes I am the one asking. When doing editorial work the budgets don't really allow for me to hire a lighting assistant, so I carry a few portable Canon 580 EX II strobes, and some light modifiers. However the one thing that I find myself using a lot these days are reflectors. I was shooting a rock climbing gym for The Best of Portland issue for Portland Monthly Magazine. It was for the kids activity story. This girl was near a huge window, so I had the advantage of the soft light coming in and filling her face. The problem I noticed was that the background was too dark, so I pulled out a 36 inch X 36 inch reflector to fill in the background. Simple, and yet very effective. If anyone ever has any questions about lighting or other stuff that I have shot, please feel free to contact me. I am happy to share.

Daddy Day Care

2008-08-28T22:47:00.001-07:00

Today my wife Susan went to meet up with a long lost friend that she has been trying to track down ever since she moved back to the states after living in Australia for fifteen years. So I gladly volunteered to watch Leah, our almost 15-month-old daughter. She is it that stage of her life that the world is new an exciting. Every turn down a street in the stroller yields a visual treat for her. She is in the habit now of pointing at things and wanting us to name it. Usually it is easy. Tree. Car. Dog. Person. But when when are at loss for worlds, we both just say "world." I know, we are taking the easy way out, for now. Anyway, I took her to a local coffee shop. I got to have coffee and a cinnamon roll. She still has no clue about sweets. She had some wonderful healthy bread, but I had to eat a small piece of it to prove to her that is was not either poison or broccoli. Evil trick by dad. "What is this you ask? It is sweet bread. You know, a thymus gland. Okay, you are not buying that one? I call world!"

Say Yes!

2008-08-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

I close friend of mine and fellow photographer Dale Derry once gave me a piece of photographic advice. Actually he has given me many, but I will focus on this one here. He said to me that if you you see something that motivates you to pick up your camera, take the dang picture. In other words, just say yes to that image. I don't know how many times I have brought my camera to my eye to capture something and then said no and put the camera down because perhaps I thought it was silly, boring, or even cliche. But since having been on the receiving end Dale's "Just say yes" advice, I do my best to say yes. Pictured here is one of those shots. I was on my way last Sunday morning to shoot an assignment for the Wall Street Journal and I came upon this building on NE Alberta Street here in Portland. I don't know why exactly I found this so interesting, but I just did, and here is the picture. I know it is no great work of art or seeing as we photographers like to say, but it does invoke some sort of good feeling inside me when I look at it.

Just Jube It!

2008-08-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

Every year since 1997 I get the nod from the folks running the Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals to show up and shoot this phenomenal U-15 youth soccer tournament. I shoot 64 games in four days, plus three days of team training and activities. I shoot about 12,000 frames. It is hard work, but I love it. I always look forward to the final because I am addicted to the jubilation shot, or the "JUBE shot," as my friend and photographer Sol Neelman calls it (Sol is in Beijing right now and you should check out his blog for a good laugh and some great work of stuff you won't see on TV or in printed media). So this is my favorite shot of the tournament. A team member from the Brazilian team Fluminense "jubes" his team's 2-0 victory over FC Atlas of Mexico. The final game was played at Old Trafford, and for those of you that are not soccer fans, this is a very big deal for these kids to play on such a famous soccer pitch.

If you want to see more photos from the MUPC 2008, here is the link. Be prepared, there are a lot of images.

Life off the Soccer Pitch

2008-08-08T13:19:00.001-07:00

Made it back to Portland in one piece, even though when I boarded my flight to Portland from Chicago, the third leg of my itinerary which started in Manchester, England, there were no pilots on board, which resulted in almost a two hour delay. Since my last post, I photographed sixty-four soccer games in four days, plus three days of teams doing training, and touring Old Trafford, where Manchester United plays. The tournament featured twenty teams from around the world. All the players where age fifteen and under. But heck, I am way ahead of myself. What I show you now is how I worked through the first day of jet lag, which comprised of myself walking around the area outside of Manchester city where I was staying, just taking random shots.

This is the soccer pitch outside the Armitage center where all the teams went for meals. The cool thing about this pitch was that is always was occupied in the evening with folks playing either soccer or field hockey. A great place to see locals having a good time.

The soccer pitch lights during a break in the rather deary Manchester summer weather. Yes it rained a lot while I was there. And I thought Portland was rainy.

And they say Americans have big butts. This was a butt disposal bin outside a local bar. Like in California, you can't smoke in bars.

After conquering jet lag, I got to work. Here are a few moments during the job. Above is an Asian tourist posing in front of the Manchester United team picture at the team's Mega Store at Old Trafford. I was following a group of the tournament players touring the famous soccer stadium.

My last day of shooting found me covering the final game of the Manchester United Premier Cup tournament at Old Trafford. After the game I had to go edit pictures in the room where the real photographers hang out prior to and after games. They were all working the game on the picth between Manchester United and Juventas FC. Pictured here are the room's two security guards watching the game between the two teams. Really nice people they were.

Flight Delays

2008-07-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

Made it to Heathrow yesterday morning only to have my flight to Manchester canceled. So I had some time to kill. As I was walking around near my departure gate, I noticed a big span of windows looking out to one of the runways and a few kids with their parents hanging out and looking at the passing planes. This was the sort of thing I loved to do as a child when we use to go to the airport in Los Angeles and wait for my grandma from Omaha to arrive. It made for some nice pictures. I even struck up a conversation with the kid's parents and sent thme a few pictures via email. A lovely way to pass the time indeed.

Excuses and Bad Flight Manners_No Pictures

2008-07-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last blogged. In fact I have been wondering if I should take this site down due to a very hectic work schedule the last two months and helping out my wife Susan with our fourteen–month-old daughter Leah. So that is my excuse as to why I have had very little time to make any significant additions here. I wonder if anyone reads this anyway. I know one guy who does, and he has been living in Tokyo for the past five years for work, and I ran into to him this morning at the airport in Portland. He was on his way to New York, and I am on my way to Manchester, England, to cover the Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals. Something I do every year. Anyways, we were talking and he said, “You have not posted on your blog for a long time. What's up with that?” So Howard, this is for you, okay it is for me, but I needed an excuse to get me out of my prior excuse. Thanks for getting me back on here. So my goal is now to blog at least once a week. Perhaps on Sundays, after I put my daughter to sleep, and before my wife and I watch 30 Rock on pay-per-view. We both love good comedy. I would do it during the week, but we are always watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from 8-9pm, which is our little nightly ritual that we started when Susan first got pregnant in 2007. We also watch these shows to help us self-medicate ourselves because of how inept our politicians are, and how downright ineffective the media are these days in reporting meaningful news stories. Don’t get me started. In cases like this, where I am traveling for an event or commercial photo shoot, I will try to blog more during the shoot. I promise. And if you do read this blog, please drop in a comment of two, just to let me know that Howard is not alone. So right now I am on my first leg of my trip to the UK. Portland to Chicago. Chicago to London. London to Manchester. Okay a note about airline travel. To all those people in the economy section that move their set backs, please do slow slowly. Pay attention to those of us behind you. The poor guy in the middle seat next to me, seat 7B, a rather stocky guy who looks like he could play linebacker for the Chicago Bears, just had his knees relocated in one second flat by rude passenger 6B. After doing this, 6B then moves his seat back to its upright position, turns around and gives the middle linebacker the evil eye, turns back to the movie screen, which is about the size of my iPhone screen, and proceeds again to make sure seat 7B leaves permanently with his knees embedded into his upper torso. This all done in about two seconds flat. So fellow cattle class fliers, be kind people when flying in economy. Check your review mirrors before moving your seat back. In fact, don’t do it without perhaps asking the person behind you. Remember that objects in your mirror appear father from you than they really are. Thanks for reading. I promise pictures as soon as I can get to my cameras in the overhead compartment, unless of course the contents have shifted, or seat 6C decides to recline my laptop into my sternum. Holy crap! Sear 6C just nailed my laptop and me. Happy flying all!

Start Your Torches

2008-06-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is an outtake from a recent editorial assignment. After the art director left, and I packed the lights up, I wanted to shoot a shot with the available light for myself. I just loved this guy's welding glasses.

Milling Around

2008-05-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

I was in Bend a few weekends ago to visit one of my oldest friends whose daughter is only seven weeks older than mine. My daughter Leah is now eleven months old. This shot is of the stacks at the Old Mill District in Bend and was taken early in the morning from our hotel balcony. Leah does not sleep well in her portable crib especially in hotels, and I was up most of the night with her sleeping on my chest while I parked myself on the couch. Not a bad way to spend a sleepless night in my book. It is a wonder that I had the energy to pull out the camera and make a snapshot.

Fishing for Godot

2008-05-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Many who know me, know that I am an avid fly fisherman. Perhaps even obsessed about it. Particularly fishing for steelhead. Well, it has been a busy year, so busy that I missed most of the Winter steelheading opportunities that are so close to Portland. For those that don't know much about our area, we have two rivers very close to Portland, the Clackamas and the Sandy Rivers. So I finally made it out on Monday with my good friend and guide extraordinaire, Matt McCrary and his friend Tom. I have been helping Matt with photography for his new web site. By the way, if you want the best fly fishing experience, call Matt. He is the best. You can find him on the web at Action Anglers, or email me and I will get you in touch with him. By the way, we all use spey rods instead of the typical single handed fly fishing techniques. Matt hooked two fish and lost them both. A usual happening when I bring the cameras with me. Tom, hooked and landed one downriver summer steelhead. It was rather wet on Monday, but a fun day on the river. Oh, yes, I did not touch a fish. They say that steelhead are the fish if a thousand casts when you are trying to get them with a fly rod. Hence the "Fishing for Godot" title. Well, I have about 799 casts to go.

Matt McCrary waiting for a grab from Mr. Steelie.

Tom fights the lone fish landed of the day.

Coffee is a must on a cold and wet day. I hope I never see a Starbucks on the banks of the Sandy River.

Matt wading for Godot.

Matt shows off his newly found ornaments for his Christmas tree this year, courtesy of some negligent gear chuckers (okay, us fly fishermen can be a little elitist about our sport, and that is why we sometimes make fun of gear and bait fishermen. Hey when they leave this kind of crap on the river, they make easy targets).

Standing In and Standing Tall

2008-04-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a rather busy two months, which is good when you are a freelancer. And I would like to honor a few people that were of much help lately by getting their pictures and names onto my blog. The last six weeks went as follows. I drove almost 1,500 miles for a cover story coming out in May for Portland Monthly. While waiting for good weather to do that shoot, I was working on another cover story with Jason Blackheart, the Art Director at Portland Spaces, and I was also juggling scouting for locations and helping to pick talent for a two-day shoot for Nike's Asia Pacific group here in Portland. That was last week. The people you see here are, Jason Blackheart in the kitchen having a yawn (it was a weekend shoot, and I think his kid woke him up early, who knows, but he works hard, and makes sure I don't have silly things in my pictures), assistant, photographer, and close friend, Dale Derry, doing some of his best yoga tricks for treats and applause from the rest of the crew, and Earth Oliver, digital guru and white balancing expert, saving face on the last shot of the day on the Nike shoot about sixty seconds before it started to hail. I think May and April were awesome. Thanks to all the fun people I get to work with.

Fuel for Thought

2008-04-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I have been busy shooting for Portland Monthly and Portland Spaces. Coming in May I will have the cover shot for both magazines. A true monthly double. I found this interesting abandoned gas station in Long Beach, WA, while on assignment for Portland Monthly. I asked a local about this abandoned gas station and the religious icons on the huge tanks behind it. They replied, "what religious icons?" Go figure. Anyway, I thought it was worth a frame or two. Hope you all get a little chuckle form this, and I hope I don't offend anyone.

Cheers from the Rose City.

SantaCon 2007 , Portland, OR

2007-12-08T22:09:00.001-08:00

Today I followed a few hundred people dressed up as Santa Claus, or various adaptations, during the annual Portland SantaCon. It comprises a bunch of party animals that dress up like Santa, and then hit the bars, and have a lot of fun. This happens in a few of other cities as well. The first picture here is one of the female Santa's having a smoke and a beer at the first bar stop of the day. The next is the Rasta Santa, and the last is a bunch of Santa's filling the bar both inside and out. This event goes on well into the evening and early morning. Happy holidaze all you partying Santa's out there.

Keeping Portland Weird

2007-11-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

I spent a Saturday night at the Hippodrome which was the site for the opening night of Portland's Victorian Circus Extravaganza. The second show was a group from Seattle called Pure Circus. This was self assigned, since I have been so busy shooting for others, I just wanted to go out and shoot for myself.

Enjoy!

Maine Workshop

2007-11-13T07:06:00.001-08:00

Just got back from the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. I took a class about location lighting from Joe McNally. Great class. Here is a sample from one of the day's class assignments.