Imagine... It was forty years ago today... My Sweet Lord!

Nothing to do with photography, but it was forty years ago today that Sgt. Pepper was last to play.

The famous Beatles rooftop concert was their last public performance together as a group. It was an incredible sight for those lucky enough to be there.

The rooftop concert is available on YouTube here.

The rest of us can only imagine... what would it be like if John, Paul, George and Ringo were still together today? Would they be playing the garbage that so-called musicians put out today, or would they be true to their roots, while still being innovators... creating rather than conforming to trends?





I have been lucky enough to see Paul and Ringo several times and consider them to be among the best concerts I have ever been to. I made the CD above, PostFab, because it will never be made by the corporate music world. Those days are forever gone, as are the boys from Liverpool. Rest in Peace, John and George. Long Live Paul and Ringo.

New Show... Press Coffee in City North

My show at Photomark has ended. No sales, but lots of nice comments. I thank Judith at Photomark for putting my work up since November.

As a result of the show, Pepper Coulan, of Sol Shine Gallery, inquired if she could hang some of my work in a small group show at a new Coffee/Wine Bar in City North in Phoenix. Of course I said yes. We hung the show last night. It is more of a "salon" style show, where many different types of artworks are hung as a group, usually stacked high on the wall. Salon style was popular in from mid 19th century to the early 20th century. Not the best way to present fine-art photography, especially 8x10" contact prints, but a new audience is seeing my work.

I am represented by 10 pieces. My mentor Rod Klukas has 4 pieces. Then there are some color scenics and what look to be drawings. It is an eclectic collection to say the least.

Anyway, there will be an "opening" of sorts at 7:00 PM on Saturday, January 31. Press is located at 5410 E. High St., Suite 115, Phoenix, AZ 85054 in the new City North shopping district. City North is just north of the 101 freeway and directly east and adjacent to the Desert Ridge shopping center. Press is on the north side of the street, just east of the "center" of the street. The phone is 480-419-6221. Their website is http://www.presscoffeefoodwine.com/

For more information, please call Pepper Coulon at 602-284-0505. Come and enjoy art, wine, music, and friends.

School Portraits... well, sort of.

Well, it's back to school tonight... Rod Klukas' Large Format Photography class at Scottsdale Community College. This is my social life, this class. There are a great bunch of photographers who take the class semester after semester. Some have taken it almost twenty times. It's my fifth semester and every time I learn something new. Last semester it was the Color Zone System, which has allowed me to seriously investigate color as an artistic outlet. This is especially important to me since I am (red-green) color blind.

Rod has told us he would like to do some portraiture this semester. Initially I was not thrilled as this is not my forte. But after thinking about it I thought it would be different, and something NEW, just like color was last semester. Then I started thinking about the beautiful 11x14" contact portraits that my friend Roger Palmenberg showed. They are absolutely stunning. I would love to be able to make portraits of my wife and daughter of that quality. My portraiture experience has been limited to snapshots for the most part. Once in a while I would get lucky.


My friend, Joe Pollaro, Paterson, NJ, 1984

Back in the early 1980s, when I was starting out with the 4x5" camera, I experimented a little. On my first trip to Carmel, CA in 1984, I stopped in Berkeley to visit my dear friend Fr. John, who had been moved out west from our parish of St. Mary's in Pompton Lakes, NJ. I had gone out west to visit Pt. Lobos and the home of Edward Weston, whose photography I had been studying. I spent a few wonderful days with John, and on the last day I asked him if I could take his portrait with the 4x5. We went up on the roof of his apartment building. I kept thinking of Weston's portrait "The Head of Galvan, shooting".


The Head of Galvan, Shooting, Edward Weston, 1924

The portrait I came away with blew me away. I felt that I had taken a photograph of this wonderful man's soul. The scan here does not do it justice. I have enlarged it to 11x14" but now prefer it as a 4x5" contact print.

Fr. John, Berkeley, CA, 1984

A few more portraits here and there over the next half dozen years, some successful, some not, and I quietly abandoned portraiture for the work I have done since.

With the advent of digital cameras I began dabbling with portraiture, again mostly snapshots. And again, once in a while I would come away with something that I thought was pretty good. And each time that I am successful, it again comes down to the soul of the person.


Clownfest #33, Seaside Heights, NJ, 1999


Dennis Rowland, Scottsdale, AZ, 2008

I am looking forward to this semester's new photographic challenge for me. I hope to post some more successful portraits here soon.

AutoMotïf

A friend of my wife gave us VIP passes to one of the car auctions here yesterday. We had never been to a car auction, so I decided to take the day off from work and go with my wife. We got there about 8:00 AM and stayed until 2:00 PM when we left to pick up our daughter from school, returning with her from 3:30 to 7:30 PM. It was a very exciting day, filled with lots of photographic opportunities. I took 235 digital photos... that's about a years worth of production with large format, but the percentage of keepers is much higher with large format. Oh, what I would do with the 4x5 if I had a few days, no people and access to these magnificent vehicles!

I never really photographed automobiles, but it's hard not to at an event like this, where there are hundreds, if not thousands, of historic and classic cars. My first car was well represented this year... the Chevelle SS... although these cars were much nicer than the beater 1971 model I bought for $500 in 1983, going for anywhere between $55,000 and $112,000 today! Man, I wish I had the foresight to keep that car and fix it up.



Of course, I tended to look a little closer at the details, finding compositions consisting of lines and color. Below are a few of my favorites from the day. I think I am going to produce a small format (4x5" or 8x10") limited edition portfolio of these images. Stay tuned.











One of the Bidder Assistants was a great subject. He was very animated when he had a bidder.



There are always a few "celebrity" cars at this event. My daughter took this photo of me in front of an exact replica of the original Batmobile. There's also a shot of the cockpit.



Even got a cool family portrait... all three of us are in the reflections.



And, what day would be complete without some photographs of that contemporary American culture that we are so famous for?

To Live and Die in L.A.

We went to Union Station and then Chinatown our last day in Los Angeles. Very interesting place... kind of reminds me of New York City a little. Anyway, I was able to make a few interesting abstract images with my D300. Of course, I wish I had the big cameras with me... but that's for another day... I'll be bach!


An interesting detail of a train platform.


Looking down the stairs from a train platform.


An interesting abstract of a bench in a courtyard at Union Station.


Graffiti on the back of a street sign in Chinatown.

Pictures at an Exhibition...

Well, I didn't get to take the big cameras out during our little trip to Los Angeles. Too much to do, no time to do it in. Anyway, I took hundreds of photos with my Nikon D300, mostly snapshots for family scrapbooks, but a few "artsy" shots, as well. Also a few funny ones. These are my favorites from our Getty trips. More to follow from LA.

The Getty Villa

The Getty Villa is a wonderful place to spend the day. A re-creation of an ancient (very wealthy) Roman villa, it specializes in antiquities. The cafe is a great place to have lunch. We had the Tuscan Seafood Soup, which was out of this world.


Lindsay, getting a "feel" for the place.


Lindsay scaring one of the statues.


Lindsay and me.


Lindsay enjoying a Malibu sunset.


The end of a beautiful day.

The Getty Museum - Day Two

As impressive as the Villa was, the Museum is overwhleming. Their collection is vast and contains excellent examples of artworks of many different periods and disciplines.

Below are a few random shots of the grounds... the modern architecture is a photographer's paradise.





And, they have an original R. Coda on exhibit!



We spent the whole day there, from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, taking several of the tours. They had a Carleton Watkins exhibit on display, with many 16x20 and larger contact prints from Mammoth Plate cameras. They had a replica of the camera, as well... now that's Ultra Large Format! I did have to correct the tour leader, though, as she told the group that there was a mirror inside the camera. She asked how I knew that and I told her that I use similar, though smaller (4x5, 8x10, 11x14) cameras. She did not know that people still use these types of (view) cameras.

At the end of the day we had dinner in their beautiful restaurant. The food was incredible. I had rabbit for the first time... something I want to have again.

Can't wait to go back, as the exhibits change 1-2 times a year.

Hoooorrrrrayyyyy for Hollywood!

Bbbbbrrrrr! We took a short trip to Los Angeles so the girls could see Wicked and to visit the Getty Villa and Museum. We were also able to get Jay Leno tickets... it was a blast.

Anyway, we left right from school, right after Lindsay's last final, at 11:00 AM on Wednesday. It was raining in Scottsdale when we left, but cleared up as we made our way to Interstate 10 in Phoenix. However, around Palm Springs in California, we encountered some very strange weather. It was raining, but we could see snow on the mountain tops to our north. When we started reaching civilization a short time later, we went through a brief snowstorm. We couldn't believe it... the temperature was 33 degrees!





Finally, it warmed up a little and we made it to the hotel. We were running out of time and Hollywood was 35 minutes away in no traffic, and the girls had 8:00 tickets for the show.

We were able to get something quick to eat at Mel's Drive-in and I dropped the girls off at the theater. I decided not to attend as I usually sleep through any type of Broadway-type play. I figured I would photograph Hollywood Boulevard at night. I had hoped to use the big cameras, but it was drizzling, and still cold. So I used my Nikon D300 digital. It was a lot of fun, but Hollywood is so sleazy! Even in the rain. Anyway, I walked around for an hour and a half and photographed whatever caught my eye.







I would really like to come back here with the big cameras when the weather is better and I can take my time... maybe next time I'm out here for business.

More photos will follow after the end of our trip.