Godfather of Pork

Mike “Smokey” Emerson has become quite a celebrity of late. He and a small band of Apple and Cherry wood smoking aficionado's have started what may arguably be the best BBQ joint in the country and that's saying something considering the competition. Mike and his mates have traveled the pit contest circuit for a bit now and finally he's sharing his wares here in my own little neighborhood. I coaxed him into allowing me to do his portrait knowing he would never be able to show enough gratitude, and forcing me to take home beau coup amounts of ribs and brisket and pulled pork in hopes of somehow repaying me for my efforts. Seriously, the man has a great smiling face and it was my pleasure to shoot his image. If'in you're in the area, it's Pappy's Smokehouse near Saint Louis U... Pass the butt dude.http://www.pappyssmokehouse.com

Stop this ride, I wanna get off.

A couple of years ago we had to make a call on the Exchange and they weren't particularly thrilled about letting photographs be taken, so I shot a few frames without actually putting the camera up to my eye. It's something I've been doing for a while now and hopefully a source for another essay or even a book called "From the hip". I wanted to blur the image so that it might convey the frantic activity you could normally see on any given day at the Exchange. I think it works well and no one in the shot was single out, nor could you see the tears streaming down their faces. (smile) Yesterday's market caused me to dig into the archives for this very appropriate image.