Can’t remember if he’s Freddy or The Motel Roses.

The very few readers who come by here regularly will notice that there’s been some changes. (There’s also a new home page and about page.)

I’ve been extremely busy, and don’t want to continue to just post links to other sites. Also I’ve received some pretty disturbing comments on posts about my son. As photography is a big part of my life, I’m changing this blog to more regularly focus on that topic. I’m sure that I’ll continue to post the occasional political content, and possible Red Sox blurb, but for the most part I’m removing the more personal family content. I will be moving that content to another blog that will require a user account and password. I will send out an e-mail notification with the info to many of you. But if you are interested in reading that blog, and don’t think I’ll be contacting you directly, please feel free to contact me.

You may notice that not all the comments transferred over, and I apologize about that. I’m going to see if there is anything that I can do. Also there may be a few other changes to come yet, as well. You don’t have to worry about changing any of your links, as I’ve taken care of that with a 301 redirect.

I hope that these changes don’t cause you not to return, and I’m hoping to attract some more people interested in photography as well. Thanks.

My most recent wedding shoot. There will be much more to follow.

While some may wish that Salem was more like other places, Salem actually has a lot going on. One very recent example occurred on Wednesday night at The Space. It was their second Songwriter’s Night. This night featured Mark Lemhouse (Yes, THAT Mark Lemhouse), Nate Hagen & his Harp Guitar (you really need to see him play this thing), Peter the Great of The Worrynauts, The Smiles, & Seahorse. Oh yeah, it was FREE!. And then last night The Funhouse Strippers and The Falcon played downtown, and, get this, it was also Free. Salem has a great local music scene, and some very talented artists. There is more and more venues exhibiting art and hosting live shows. You really gotta check it out.

Some photos from Wednesday night’s event:

Mark Lemhouse

Nate Hagen

Peter the Great

The Smiles

Seahorse

(click on photos to see more)

I helped Josh celebrate his birthday last night. good times.

Some new friends I made while imbibing some beer at The Space. Jim (the gentleman in the second photo) was celebrating his birthday. Good times were had by all. You really should stop by for a beer when you get a chance.

The least decorative of all the arts . . .

A better salve for that anxiety might be to accept that photography isn’t really an art in the most traditional of senses. Photography certainly doesn’t take the level of technical skill that something like painting or sculpture takes; you can teach someone most of what they need to know about the technical aspects of photography in less than a day. Certain refinements of technical skill may take years to learn, but those pursuits are often coincidental to the act of seeing, which is really the central gift of photography. In this way, I think photography is more akin to writing than it its to other more traditional arts. The gift of a great writer is not in their ability to write a grammatically elegant sentence - although many are masters of this craft - but in their ability to see their subject more clearly and to communicate what is seen.

Of course, the part that can’t be taught in a day, and this is true of both photography and writing, is the seeing part, the act of selecting from the noise of the world a distillation that improves our understanding of the whole. This is the part of photography that sets it aside from the other arts.

The Artist’s Place, Dan’s Apartment, Salem, Oregon
(click on photo to be brought to more photos)

Dan is an incredible artist that happens to live in Salem, Oregon. I will be photographing some of his pieces for a catalog/brochure that will document his show at the Hallie Ford Museum next Fall. I was invited up to check his place out. I cannot begin to describe the feeling of walking into Dan’s place, and these photos cannot truly represent the implact; and YES, this is his apartment - his whole apartment, besides his bathroom. You really need to click on the photo to be brought to the rest of the set!

The Space, Salem, Oregon.
(Click on Photo for more)

I know that The Space has been open for a bit now, but I think many of us (as well as the owners) viewed Saturday night as the true opening night. The Space has finally received its liquor license and celebrated with many, many people by hosting Office Diving and The Falcon. Needless to say, it rocked, and you’d be crazy not to check out the Space in the future!

and I’m not fully sure if I would want to honestly. I don’t know if you’ve seen this yet. This is Bruce Gilden, famous street photographer, doing what he does best. Probably helps that he’s not a small guy.

Congratulations! (downtown Salem)

While walking back from grabbing my morning coffee, I noticed this family crossing the street. I couldn’t resist and asked if I could take a quick snapshot of them. Turned out they had just gotten married at the downtown courthouse! We didn’t have time to get to a better location, but I gave them my contact info and I hope they will be happy with these quick photos.

Here’s hoping for nothing but the best for them in their life together. Congratulations!

The NYT has a video discussing the conflicts that have arisen at the Labrang Monastery in Gansu Province, China. This is such disheartening news. It just leaves me with such a sense of dread. Most of my friends will be familiar with the photo below from my own visit to this monastery in the summer of 1998. I landed in Beijing on my 30th birthday, and backpacked throughout Northern China following one of the Silk Routes with my one major detour to visit the Labrang Monastery.

(Click on photo for larger version)

(click on photo to see short slideshow with more photos)

Documentary photoshoot of preliminary collaboration of 3 very, very talented musicians. Soon to be a group. (You saw it here first! )

The light in this place was magical. Outside of the conversions to b&w, these are straight from camera. I do want to clean up some of the images, but I wanted to get these up now.