Grandfather

The significance of something as simple as a family portrait made itself clear to me last week. I was asked by to photograph John and his first Grandchild, Magnolia who is 6 months old. John is suffering from prostate cancer which is in stage four. He clearly savors every moment he has with his family. Because I know the value that is placed on these photos, it was both emotional and honor to make them.

Graduation Time

Graduations are always exciting, emotional times...making them great photo opportunities. Working for the Minneapolis School District, I shot the Wellstone International High School Graduation this past Tuesday. Named after Senator Paul Wellstone, this High School is designed to serve students with limited English language skills. They offer accelerated English Language development coupled with a high school curriculum.

Even though many of the graduate's parents were not able to understand the words spoken at the ceremony, the pride clearly displayed on their faces made it obvious that they understood it's importance.

"Unique" Mary Ellen

Eclectic Ensemble

Tim Donahue and Charlie Henrickson make up the Eclectic Ensemble, an ambient experimental music group. They're a client of Springboard for the Arts who has me photographing a wide-range or groups that they serve. Tim & Charlie rode up on trailer-pulling bikes to play on the Martin Sabo which carries the Midtown Greenway bike path over Hiawatha Avenue. Their rigs are amazing, transporting everything they need to perform, including their own power (solar).

I had to dash off, so I didn't have the chance to hear them play for more than a moment...but what I did catch was really interesting stuff on many levels. They play again tonight at 7pm at the same place. Check them out. Eclectic Ensemble

Busy Busy

Since the date of my last post (April 29th...oop) I have been churning out the assignments. Shot 18 of the past 20 days. It is a pretty safe assumption that when posts are few...work is plentiful.

It has been a good variety. From shooting at a Somali Mall, Buddhist Temple & Mexican Consulate for Blue Cross to shooting kids for the Minneapolis Public School District. Mixed within that, has been work for Bethel University, Walker Senior Homes, Children's Hospital, and Target foundation.

A good, positive momentum starts to occur just by the sheer volume of shooting. It starts to feel easy and "seeing" the photos becomes clear. I've taken advantage of this energy by looking for other things to shoot... free portraits for the neighbors, personal work...photos are everywhere. Anyone need a photo? I'm on a roll, but you better hurry...this isn't going to last forever and my finger is going to need a rest.

"Unique" Eartha

Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson

Some more images from my trip to Tucson a few weeks ago. A good productive shoot, although a quick trip. I flew in on a red eye flight. shot the next day and flew out on another red eye that same night.

A mission shoot involves two parts: Shooting within the mission, showing the clients and services and then shooting outside the mission to try and capture "the need" for the services provided by the mission. For the outside, street work, I try and find a person (called a fixer) who can guide me to areas where there are people to shoot and hopefully give me access to these people. Mike, my fixer, was excellent. He had recently come off the streets into the Mission program and knew, and more importantly was liked by everyone. This made my work very simple. Getting the access is really the hard part and makes all the difference.

On another note, I did not make the final cut for the McKnight fellowship, which is a bummer. I'll try again next year.