I am pretty sure this was the cornerstone image to my Black and White Masters Portrait series.
I was working for Kodak then and I suspected that they were missing a huge corner of the market by not promoting the greyscale imaging opportunities that came with digital photography. I would guess that it never occurred to the marketing geniuses there, since they were so focused on color, color management and skin tones, all Kodak strong points. I saw the enormous potential and shot this demo featuring my good friend and world class shooter himself, Kevin O. Mooney. The process as to how I arrive at the final rendition has changed so dramatically since this was first shot. Nevertheless I think you'll find more and more shooters and artist realizing how dramatic black and white images from digital capture can truly be.

The Pulitzer

For those of you following this blog, you'll know that have several themes going. Portraits, the neighborhood, Black and White, rural landscape, architecture, etc. Well, this images covers several bases. Shot in the neighbor hood in infrared digital and converted to black and white, it may be as close to art as I can get. The building is, ironically, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, one of several significant museums slash galleries located within a couple of blocks of my studio. There are a lot of techniques mingled into this image and I find the merge works very well. Enough so that I may pursue a series from this.

How to Lose Friends and Influence People

What I do in my Black and White Portrait work is not "Glamour Shots." It is down to the skin reality and sometimes it's hard to handle the truth. These old friends reluctantly subjected themselves to that possibility. Without getting too wordy, I will say, I love this work, it's what keeps me in the game. They can sometime be striking or even riveting. The bigger I print them the better they get.

So, that's it.

This image illustrates the scheme for stitching the images together. Taken just a few yards away from the Arch shot and turning to the right, is very long levee wall stretching, they tell me, for miles, which is dedicated to public art. You can see how the separate images are shot to be blended or stitched in the photo editing software. Unfortunately, this view lacked the appeal of the earlier Arch composition.

Southern View-Street Level

The Saint Louis Arch is one of the most photographed scenes in the world and in a relatively recent exercise whereby several images are stitched together, I shot this unusual vantage point. It is actually three vertical captures stitched together. It is certainly one of my favorite recent images. It is also one of the most requested of all my recent work

Saint Francis Xavier College Church

One day I grabbed the camera and headed down Lindell one block. I was out to do my neighborhood thing and I decided to check out the interior of SLU's Church. It is quite impressive and is the center for many a celebrations.
Traditional and striking, it's a landmark here in the city and rightly so.

http://www.slu.edu/departments/church/

Sorry, I lost my focus for a moment

Hands of Time

Any of you that maybe familiar with my portrait work will know that I am fixated on hands and eyes and of course, spirit. In a recent photo shoot for a local company's web-site, I encountered this young woman who had been on the job for over 30 years and her hands have the resultant character to verify that. If I didn't know better I could squint my eyes and conjure up images from one of thousands of National Geographic images. The color and tone of the skin and the stressed knuckles and abused nails had caught my attention since first editing for the original project.

Again in the hood, a drive by shooting

In keeping with the theme of my neighborhood and on the way to the studio, I had an opportunity to grab, literally, a couple of frames of the new Saint Louis University Medical Building just down the road a piece. I'm bad for this. I'll see something and rather than get out the tripod or take any time at all, I'll roll down the window and shoot as many angles as permitted from the car. I always promise myself that I'll go back later and do it right. My bad. I do however like this one and I think the Marketing folks at SLU will want access to it as it features the new building and in the back right is the old hospital facility.

As per your request

While the entire blog has gotten rave reviews, I get more and more inquiries about the black and white portraits. When I do my portraits I really strive to capture the character or the essence of the person. Hands, eyes and spirit are vital to the style all captured with the hint of the old Masters of Portraiture. In this case anyone who has ever met this man immediately says, "Hey that's Kip." No matter how long ago it might have been. He has that kind of persona.
I call this image "Cyclops" but it doesn't matter because his captivating eye(s) and renown wit will always be known as "Hey, that's Kip."

My Girls

So, Sunday was Fathers day and by default, Grandfathers Day. Both boys came over and brought our granddaughters. It was a beautiful day, one that I'll remember for some time. Everything a grandpa could want or need. BTW, yes it does say "Spoiled" on the back of the Gator. Hmmm, whoda thunk?

The Portrait, by Jody Feldman

I have a friend, an author, who asked that I do a portrait for her new book. The results prompted her to disclose her diary of the event on her blog. I find it quite amusing. Enjoy.

Jody Feldman - And I Never Said, "Cheese!"

It just feels right

Sometimes I'll be looking for something special when I'm shooting and I'll click a lot of frames hoping maybe something will come of a couple of them. Then there is that time when one of those actually grabs me. This image is one of those. I don't know what it is, it's feels comfortable, pleasant and memory grabbing and yet to most folks, they'll look at this and say "What in the heck is he going on about"? I guess it's very personal and I wish I could explain it better. It will never end up in any famous art gallery but it will make me feel good, at least for the moment.

I still know how to catch the Chick's eye.

We visited some dear friends on their farm over the weekend, and it reminded me of this image I shot the first time we visited them. My mom was raised on a farm and I'm certain I have a lot of that in my blood. I once thought the ideal job would be to live in a small farm community, teach basic photography and coach the JV basketball team, all the while shooting to my hearts content in my barn converted to a small studio. Come to think of it, maybe I still do. I keep a mental log of many rural architectural scenes I want to capture some day. It all seems so peaceful and simple.

She's Back

If you were to go back several post you might remember my new girlfriend. That image was a quik pik and unsculpted, so to speak. Here she is in a nearly final state. Still as lovely as ever but with a bit more character than the first image.

Peace, please.

I can remember when I was very young, we'd get up early on Memorial Day and go to the cemetery for a sunrise mass and then go visit my Nono's (Italian for Grandpa) grave.
Back then I'd normally get to sleep in and the coming of summer would reveal itself with the warmth of the sun and the distant buzz of the neighbor's 4 cycle lawn mower. Lying there in bed taking it all in, it was such a peaceful time. I didn't have a worry to my name.

Hey, wait a minute

Quote of the day

"The true portrait of a man is a fusion of what he thinks he is, what others think he is, what he really is and what he tries to be."

Dore Schary

Carlos Santana

Last week, after scheduling, negotiating, changes and finally confirming, I was set to shoot Carlos Santana for a very good client of mine. Normally, I would be on site the day before to make sure everything is in order and verify I'm able to accomplish all that is necessary to provide the images that I have become expected to produce. In this case, that was not an option, so we showed up early as possible to set up and run test. We were there but a short time before word came that Carlos was feeling like he was coming down with the flu and he wanted an extra hour to sleep in. Shortly there after the next word came. Carlos would not be able to come at all. Not wholly unheard of but disappointing none the less. It is probably most disappointing because Carlos has the persona that is perfectly suited for what I'm doing. In honor of the occasion, I have posted the results.

On Second Thought

Several months ago when I first shot Marcel, I asked that he wear a hat. One would only assume that he would come with a Beret or something akin to the cliche Artist wear. No, not Mr. Salinas, he bops in wearing this Nike model. After we had finished shooting him without the hat, I thought what the heck, let's see how it looks. One shot and I looked at it on the monitor and said to myself, nah, this a sacrilege. Now, having re-examined my conscience, I find the image sooo appropriate for the times. "Just do it", I said.