Not too long ago,  I traveled out to the Olympic Peninsula to photograph a lighthouse on the Dungeness Spit.  It was a great story about great people who care for our historic landmarks and look to preserve them.

The Dungeness Spit – it’s a good 5 mile hike out to the lighthouse.  Good thing for me,  I had wheels to get me there.  Though if I had the time,  it’s a super nice walk along the beach.  Maybe next time…

We got stuck half way out to the lighthouse.  Even with 4×4,  the sand gets pretty soft and the truck just sinks down it.  It was part of the adventure.

Backing it up.

The views aren’t bad.

Portraits of the good people who keep the place looking sharp.

The keeper of the lighthouse.

Old phone in the kitchen and a birds eye view of chow time.

Stack Identifier poster – in case you were wondering.

Inside the lighthouse gallery.

After wrapping the story in Bend, OR,  the crew and I drove into Portland late at night to work on another portrait for Glamour the following morning.  Bart and Marli own a super fun bar called The Fixin’ To .    I grew up in the South from 5th grade through my undergrad,  so when I step into a bar that has ‘Southern Soul’ (as described on their site),  I can’t help but get a bit excited.  Homemade lemonade, and delicious small plates definitely make this place worth stopping by if you’re in town.

An outtake of Marli whispering sweet nothings into Bart’s ear.

Marli being a good sport lifting some not so light suitcases.

Marli getting done up by the always wonderful Jennifer Verador.

Bart, like all men, patiently awaiting for his lady to be ready for the shoot.  Bart is one cool guy – he’s a freelnace writer and even better, an SEC football fan.

Shooting some baggage.

Shoot wrapped, now off to find lunch. Crossing the sweet St. Johns suspension bridge.

John Street Cafe

Bathroom wall art at John Street Cafe

Stumptown Coffee.  My favorite cup.

Stumptown panorama.

Hotel Modera Lobby. Good place to crash.

Hanging outdoors Hotel Modera.

Amazing dinner at the Veritable Quandry.  If you are in Portland,  do yourself a favor and eat dinner here.

Vertiable Q bar.

Jennifer and trusty assistant Johnny heading out to breakfast without me.

Pit stop at Cargo.  Cool place to pick up some antiques and some random imports.

Mother’s Bistro + Bar for breakfast.  By far Portland’s best breakfast and comfort food spot.

I ate my orange slice first,  thinking that would minimize any excess clogging to my arteries.

Headed back to Seattle,  but not far stopping by Adidas HQ for a portfolio meeting.

I traveled to Central Oregon for the June issue of Glamour a while back to make a portrait of the daughter of Diane Downs, who is on the list (yes, there’s a list) of top 10 deadliest women. On the way down,  I snapped some pics:

Mt. Washington

Three Sisters peaks

The gear and the apres unloading gear soak in the turkish bath

Downtown Bend and downtown Sisters

Bronco Billy’s BBQ – a fine eating establishment

Scouting location for the shoot

The entire crew and cast

The tearsheet.

A photo of Diane Downs, the subject’s mother,  who back in ’83 loaded up her 3 children into the car and shot them all.  She then went to an ER and claimed she had been assaulted on a country road in Oregon.  One of her children died,  and the other two left handicap.  Rebecca, pictured in the tearsheet,  was born while Diane was in prison.

©CLAUDIA HOWELL/THE OREGONIAN

New tearsheets from Sunset Magazine.  If you live on the West Coast and you don’t subscribe,  I highly recommend this magazine.  Their writers and editors do a great job of picking out some great things to do in your area, whether it be the NW, SoCal, or the Rockies.

The first story highlights locations in Seattle where you can enjoy a winetasting, wine tour, or winemaker dinner without leaving the city.  Check out: Picnic (not only good for wine,  but a great place to grad lunch), 106pine, Portalis, and Voluneer Park Café (amazing food and café treats).

The second story showcases places in Seattle where you can pick up great salvage items.  Revival Home and Garden, Nube Green, and the RE Store all have great ideas for projects around the house.

Bishop Clark,  Auburn WA

“These flying machines, what do you call them, airplanes!  We didn’t have them back in my day, you would have been crazy to even be thinking about it.”

01.29.2010 words from the 106 yr old man himself as he marveled at my photo equipment

I often get asked,  ’what’s the favorite photograph you’ve ever made?’  I never have a real answer, as I suppose I’m always thinking the next day will yield an image that exceeds anything I’ve produced.  However,  if you asked me that question today,  I’d have to say my recent session with the amazing 106 yr old (soon to be 107) Bishop Clark for Time Magazine.

It was just one of those moments that rarely happens during a portrait session.  It’s always an intricate and delicate dance to create authentic portrayals of the people I meet.  I guess you could say we were good dance partners,  because it was just flowing and full of life.  Our dialogue and energy were in sync, and he trusted me to do my job.

The image above can be seen in the current issue of Time.  It’s part of a larger story which tries to shine light on how centenarian’s thrive and live healthy lives.

Below are some other images that I liked from the assignment:

Me + Otis after the shoot

Lori Dawson – Mercer Island

The above image can be found in the current March issue of Smart Money Magazine.  Lori is an amazing woman and widowed mother of three teenagers.  She’s been fighting cancer for a few years now,  and has had the unfortunate situation of having to battle her insurance company as they tried to stop disability payments.

With the help of an attorney,  Lori was able to receive the disability she deserved.  The article touches on the growing costs of disability and the difficulties that lie in the system.

The two images below are outtakes from our session:

Glamour Magazine hired me to make a portrait for their real stories section in this month’s issue.This was truly a feel good story.  Destiny, the blond, is a homeless teenager who through the help of her mentor, Ila (who once was also homeless) is now a published poet and college artist. In the short few moments I got to spend with them,  I noticed that they had a powerful bond.  It’s just cool to get to meet people who have fought hard to pursue dreams and a better life.

The  highlight of the shoot was having the opportunity to give Destiny and Ila gifts sent by the good folks at Glamour. From designer purses, to nice cosmetics, beautiful jewelry, and even a great pair of boots (which Destiny loved!) – the look on their faces was amazing!  Thank you Brian and Suzanne for allowing me to capture this portrait of two amazing women!

A couple of polaroid out takes of Destiny that I like.

sitting options

light test

steaming away

me loading some 4×5

more steaming

the talented Jennifer Verador’s work station

shoe selection

final touches

Thank you to my fabulous team!  Alvin Stillwell and Jennifer Verador, along with all their assistants, were great as always!

If you have money laying around,  then these are the men and women who can tell you where to stuff it.

Last month I traveled to Miami, Chicago, Boston, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles to make these portraits for a Money Magazine feature which is on newstands now.  As a portrait photographer,  I love jobs like this.  The challenge is not only to make subjects who normally loathe getting their photos taken feel comfortable and look good,  but also in trying to match the setup in each different location.

One portrait was done in a home, some in offices, and others in hotel rooms.  Each location presents it’s unique challenges, and it’s race to get everything done when you only have a small window of time to set up and make your portrait. In the end, I definitely had to adapt my vision and lighting a bit.  8 ft ceilings are rarely a photographer’s friend.

That’s what I love about photography.  It’s just as much about problem solving as it is artistic vision as it is a humanitarian feat.  An example –  I was all set in an office space for one of the subjects. Seamless was up, lights were firing, and I felt it was a solid match to the other portraits I had already completed.  A minute before the subject shows up,  the ventilation system in the room turns on and my background starts oscillating causing a formidable kink in my seamless.  I asked if it could be turned off,  and got a quick ‘no’ b/c it would shut down ventilation in the entire building (a Manhattan highrise). So I had to think fast, and I clamped fabric which I packed in my kit to the ceiling to block the ventilation.  Luckily,  that did the trick.

I want to thank Ryan and Betsy for the great opportunity to collaborate on this project.  It was a pleasure.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted much,  but I swear it’s because I’ve been working.  I just returned from a 10 day job that encompassed over 15,000 miles of travel.  I look forward to sharing a bit more about the shoot once the story runs.

Buried in my big pile of mail was the current issue of Money that has a story I shot back in September.  It highlights the career switch of Lee Gelb who used to be a Starbucks exec and is now the owner of Zavida Gemstones.  She gave up her spendy lifestyle to pursue her passion.  The best part of her transition is that her new business model is about helping others.  She’s targeting artisanal jewelry made by designers of third world countries.  25% of all of her profits go back to the people and regions where she purchased the stones/jewelry. If you are into jewelry or are looking for a Christmas gift (skip Zales and all that other crap you see on TV) , definitely check out her site (linked above).

Lee was styled by the talented Alvin Stillwell.

I can kind of relate to switching careers.  While I never drove a porsche or had a beachside home,  I came oh so close to attending medical school and then opted for route B, which was law school.  I was already taking pictures fairly seriously, but felt compelled to have a “normal career”.  I was extremely unhappy with my undergrad choices – a pre-med Biology major.  While I was interested in what I was learning,  none if it felt like it sat well with me as far as having some sort of career. Nonetheless,  I plowed ahead and survived my years at Emory University.

After undergrad,  I studied all summer to take the MCAT (medical school admissions test).  I always thought I’d be an orthopedic.  I ended up taking the exam and doing ok.  I definitely didn’t ace it.  Actually,  I more or less bombed it,  but maybe had decent enough scores coupled with my undergrad grades to get into a state med school.   Something still didn’t feel right,  so I decided to take the year off and volunteer for Americorps.  During my year of volunteer service,  I decided why not law school.  So I took the LSAT and was accepted to enroll that fall. The long story short is that I only lasted a semester and 3 weeks, before jumping ship to pursue photography.  I moved across the country to attend the Art Center,  and the rest as they say…

Three days before the news hit that Gourmet folded,  I made a portrait of editor in chief Ruth Reichl.  We chatted a bit and she mentioned how I should stop by and visit next time I’m in NYC.  This was on a Friday and the announcement came on the following Monday.  I was a bit shocked because there was no hint of what was to come.  It just made me wonder that if the editor in chief didn’t know,  then how did the whole thing go down?

Kevin Demaria, an Art Director at Gourmet, posted a blog with images from the last days at the office. You can view the blog here.

I’m hoping 2010 will bring better news for the editorial world.  While there are tons of magazines out there,  it’s tough to see some of the strong brands go.