Citizen article out today on me...

The Citizen published an article today on my photography and new book, Pittsburgh: A Photographic Portrait. The story was written by Tom Steiner and he also photographed me up at the West End overlook. Tom is a Ben Avon resident and Renaissance man. He is a writer, photographer, English teacher, yard sales guru, and world traveler. It was fun talking with him and promoting the book in this small Pittsburgh newspaper. Unfortunately, The Citizen is not online and can only be purchased locally in the North Boros, so pick up a copy if you are in the area this week!

Thinking sun...Winter isn't even here yet.

If you watched the Steeler vs. Dolphin snore fest last night, you'll know that weather here in the 'burgh is leaving a lot to be desired. If the weather keeps up like this, it will be time to break out the sun lamp, a bottle of scotch, and a Montecristo #2 to get my attitude back. It's not even officially winter yet. I need a warm trip soon, art buyers! Here's a warm photo...This was shot at one of my favorite places in the world, Siesta Key, Florida. It was done during a stock production shoot for my former stock agency. The beach has white sand like no other that I've ever been to. And... you get to shoot late afternoon and sunsets which makes getting out of bed easier than when I shoot in Miami, or the east side of Florida, and need to be up at 4AM to get the great light.
Think sun :-)

Editorial Portrait

No rants or stories today...Just a portrait made for a trade magazine of a sales executive at
Kennametal, a cutting tools manufacturer located in nearby Latrobe, PA.

New Driver in the family!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later...My son Michael passed his drivers road test today and is an officially licensed driver in Pennsylvania. I don't have any gray hairs at this point in my life, but having a teen driver is bound to turn a few. As my parents always say, "having kids is payback for all the grief you put us through when you were a kid"! Hopefully we have taught him well and given him a sense of responsibility that will keep him out of trouble.

One of the things that I was determined to do before he went on the road, was for him to attend a high performance driving school. After investigating driving schools at BeaveRun Racetrack and Mid-Ohio race course, we choose BeaveRun for it's close proximity to home and owner Scott Slibaugh's commitment to making safer teen drivers. This school is NOT your typical "Drivers-Ed" classes given by tired instructors in compact cars teaching what shape a stop sign is, or parallel parking. It is a combination of classroom work that discusses vehicle dynamics, physics, physical conditioning, weather conditions, and driver psychology. Then out on a full blown race track where Ex-police cruisers with Corvette LT-1 engines and Mazda 6 sports sedans are put through the paces at highway speeds.
Cars are driven around the skid pad, thrown out of control and gathered back up, driving the race course in reverse at speeds approaching 30MPH, panic stops and swerving, dealing with road rage exercises, and many other maneuvers that teens typically never get into until it is TOO LATE, and often with disastrous and tragic results. The professional instructors, many with auto racing experience made the class fun and informative, along with the obligatory PA State Policeman to discuss drinking, drugs, and speeding. I'm glad we used the school cars instead of my vehicle, because by the end of the day tires on many of the cars were worn down to the cords!

If you have a teen who is of driving age, I highly recommend looking into a class that teaches real world road skills. I'm glad we did and I might even be able to keep those grays away a while longer! These photos are of Micheal on the skid pad trying to keep up with the steering, as the instructor controls the accelerator and brake. Also a sequence where he learns that it is tough to steer a car when the front brakes are locked up as he hustles a Mazda 6 on the Wilson Circuit at BeaveRun.

Video that has creatives abuzz...

This video by Hollywood screen writer, Harlan Ellison has photographers, artists, writers, and anyone else who works for themselves saying, "Right On"!!!!  The video should be required viewing for anyone joining any "professional" organization as Harlan cuts through the chase in his rant about actually being paid to do work. What a novel concept...So many photographers have seen this video, that I would imagine in the last couple of weeks, many buyers looking for freebies have had their heads ripped off by the artist at the other end of the phone.  And they should.  In my experience, EVERY buyer calling me for photography generally gets a paycheck, but yet too many times, they ask for freebies.  Go figure....?????

Being a PROFESSIONAL creative person is damn hard work, no security, requires a huge investment in time and money, and is an overcrowded career that has 20 wannabees for every true professional.  This video short is the new Rocky theme song in which I can imagine creative people clutching their cameras, pens, and keyboards running up the steep stairs at the Philadelphia Art Museum, working together and standing united for fair business practices and respect.  The video has some rough language, so be forewarned. HARLAN ELLISON RANT

Loving Surviorman...

Never were the words of Bruce Springsteen's song, 57 Channels (and nothin on) more true than today.  Between the writer's strike (they deserve everything they're asking) and endless "reality" television, that has nothing to do with reality; finding something to keep the gray matter occupied for an hour or two is getting tougher.  However, I've found my nirvana with the Surviorman series.  Les Stroud eats dirt, makes fire by rubbing two live rattlesnakes together, and builds shelters out of shoe strings and pocket lint.  Great, great stuff!  Between my short lived Boy Scouting and hunting and camping as a youngster in the Southern tier of New York, ole' Les has struck a cord.  While I never was put in a survival situation, I did loose my bearings a couple of times while out looking for a Bambi to shoot...Seriously, it's a great show to watch and Les loves nature and the outdoors.  Sure, it's a little overproduced at times and you KNOW he's never that far from a satellite phone and ER room, but it's still pretty interesting to me on making due with very little.  A little like, shooting location photography in a bad location...

So in honor of Les and his great show, a couple of wilderness pictures for you today.  It's Half Dome in Yosemite Park, CA.   Ansel, eat your heart out :-)

Place to hang needed...

A sudden cancellation last week left me with the show of my work from, Pittsburgh: A Photographic Portrait and no gallery space to show it!  The show consists of 25 framed prints of images from my book and I'd like to get the show out of boxes and up on a wall this week.  I'd be very interested in office lobbies, restaurants, coffee shops, lounges, or other place of commerce that would like images hanging for a month or so.  If anyone has any ideas or "knows someone who knows someone", please get in touch!