Family Backlog: the Holidays

My most used excuse last year was something along the lines of, "I fell behind on my photos and have to do a backlog post to catch up." This isn't one of those posts at all! For once, I had a perfectly good reason for not posting these photos: Christmas Presents! I tend to give out photos to family for Christmas and since my family likes to check my blog all the time, I didn't want to spoil anything. So, here are a bunch of family pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas. The above shot was my best result for a group photo of the grandkids for my mom. James knows where the camera is at! I tried to get the parents behind my camera so all the kids would look my way, but Hannah had a melt down and had to get treats to keep her from bawling in all the photos. Ah well, we'll try it again next year!

Here's Hannah as her normal bubbly self. Remember when we thought her curls would never come in? Boy howdy, have they!

Grace wasn't nearly as excited as I was about the sheep and goats, but she thought the animal bench was pretty sweet.

We got a few snow flurries on Thanksgiving morning, so the kids were all bundled up. Can we talk a minute about Hannah's fashion sense? I mean, technically, it's her mom's fashion sense, but come on! So many stripes! I'm totally jealous of this look!

Grace had some choice faces she'd been working on. I've honestly never seen these looks from her before!

While I struggled to get a full group shot, James and Aria were totally down for a siblings portrait.

James loves being the big brother and big cousin.

When I realized I'd lost their attention, I told them to make silly faces. The two that are around the camera more often got it right away.

Woah there, Hannah!

It's every photographer's job to get that blurry Christmas lights shot, but I upped my game this year by throwing the petzval lens on my camera to get some trippy bokeh!

Just when things got really hectic at work, I came down with the flu and was locked in my room under a self imposed quarantine. While I definitely needed the down time, I missed out on so much! The day I went to the walk in to find out that the 103 fever was indeed the flu, I was supposed to go into the city to photograph Vincent D'Onofrio! You can't imagine how bummed I was to miss that opportunity, but I'm hoping to catch him the next time around and his PR people were super understanding. The flu also meant that I had to miss out on the Christmas Festivities. It sort of felt like Christmas never happened. I did take part in our family's Christmas cookie tradition to a lesser extent and of course wearing protective gloves. My mom filled in as dough master for me and my brothers came through as they always do.

We kept Grace busy decorating the tree while we were busy in the hot kitchen.

I like the chaos of this shot. This is what five hours of cookie making looks like!

Jimmy wanted to show off his Utili-Kilt. I like the juxtaposition of his shot with the one of Hannah below. It's probably my favorite picture I've taken of Hannah. She looks like a miniature adult and that smile, OMG!

I tried to get a sibling shot, but Grace was doing silly poses and Hannah just has to imitate her big sister...

Christmas morning, Grace and Hannah got to open a few presents before chaos ensued. Hannah was crazy about her new dump truck; I couldn't believe her parents found a pink and purple truck!

Grace got a microphone that asks you to make silly poses, which she also loved.

Exchanging presents with dad before bursting into song.

When James and Aria showed up, things got a little crazy. We took turns until Hannah started grabbing any present she could find and subsequently opening it.

Everyone kept telling me to take a picture of Aria and Grace with their new clocks. This is what happens when two kids want nothing to do with a photograph because there are so many more presents to open. I also got a chuckle at the way Aria held hers.

Shrek!

I got Jimmy that super cool Wampa ice scraper. Thanks, Think Geek!

The girls insisted they get a picture of them in the giant box, and I aim to please!

Despite futile efforts to keep them upright, these wooden deer constantly fell over. 

I'm going to be focussing my efforts on the website redesign over the next couple of weeks, so I might not post all that much. I'd like to point out the new playlist at the top of the page. I've switched over to Spotify. It's not that I support Spotify and the ridiculously small amount of money they pay artists per song listen. It's that Grooveshark is viewed as even worse for the artist. While I like the ability for you to listen right from the web and add songs from my personal library, I feel it's important to give what little help I can to musicians. So, until I come up with a better solution thereby making this note completely unnecessary, I'm going with Spotify. That's my 2015 mix, which is a bit darker, but I'll get to that in another post.

Best of 2014: Concert Photography

Unlike other concert photographers, I like to put together a collage at the end of the year using one photo from each concert that I covered. The shots I select from the night might not be the best that I took, but they have the most meaning to me. In 2014, I covered 25 shows and about 50 bands. It's the same amount of shows as I shot in 2013, with about 10 bands less. 2014 wasn't so much about quantity as it was about quality; I covered a lot of bands I have loved ever since I was a teenager. I shot in some old favorite venues: Cafe 9, The Space, The Ballroom, FTC Stage One. I covered the Vibes in Seaside Park for the second year in a row. I traveled to the House of Blues Boston for another 90's nostalgia show and had a blast in a spacious photographer pit. I relished the lighting at the Klein and XL Center and I hit up the Apollo in Harlem for my favorite band.

I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring! As always, thanks for taking the time to share these experiences with me!

Best of 2014: fr EYE day

it's only fitting that this post fall on fr EYE day. these are the all the fr EYE days of 2014: 18 in total which brought me to my 100th eye. it's been a fun series and eye hope you've enjoyed it!

Best of 2014: Pictures

As promised, here's the start of my Best of posts from 2014! These are my favorite photos that I've taken this year. It's a pretty good mixture of nature, still life and portraits. I was surprised at how many bird photos I loved this year! Descriptions are below, left to right, top to bottom:

1. Aria: This was my first good portrait with the Petzval lens where you can really see the swirl bokeh. Aria had a flower crown on and it just fit that lens effect perfectly.

2. James with camera: He built his own camera out of blocks including an eye piece and a rotating lens!

3. Mom with Hannah: They were reading together and Hannah just made this ridiculous face in the middle of it. She's at that age where she loves the camera and I can't get enough of her.

4. Hannah Christmas Portrait: I said last year that there were a lot of photos in her future; I wasn't kidding. Hannah has this adorable smile that she turns on when you take a picture of her.

5. Tristan: This shot is part of an upcoming post of a family portrait shoot I did. I made sure to give Tristan plenty of goofing around time to let his personality shine.

6. Aria at the Maritime Aquarium: There is a great moon jellies display at the aquarium and it didn't take long for Aria to go up to the case to check them out.

7. Grace: She's gotten a little harder to photograph the older she becomes, but every now and then she'll agree to it.

8. Black Crowned Night Heron: There were a few mornings where I was up with the sun to get Answerbook cover shots and I happened across this bird in downtown Milford.

9. Shelton Land Trust: Another one of my favorite foliage shots from this year. The leaves had fallen on the rock just as they appear. I had my Panasonic Lumix with me that day, which just goes to show that it doesn't matter what camera you have with you, as long as you have something.

10. Green Tree Frog at the Maritime Aquarium: You know me, I love my greens! This little guy was stuck to the glass of his cage, sleeping.

11. Monk Parakeets in the snow: Every now and then, the flock of monk parakeets come to our bird feeder.

12. Shelton Answerbook cover shot: This was another early morning shoot. I didn't have a destination in mind and was just driving around town when I found this little red shed on the side of a lake. The water looked like glass and it starting raining five minutes after I got this shot.

13. Fairfield Answerbook cover shot: This was the earliest morning shoot I had all year, but totally worth it. I got up around 5AM and walked out at low tide to get as close to the lighthouse as I could; tripping on the slimy rocks in the dark! I brought along my tripod, 35-350mm lens and several neutral density filters to get a long exposure of the sunrise.

14. Portrait of a Goose: The ducks and geese in Milford let you get pretty close. This goose got me back into my frEYEday series.

15. Goat frEYEday: Finally! I wanted to take a picture of a goat eye since the start of that photo series! Did you know that a goat's horizontal pupils allow them to almost see behind them?

16. Addy: My little glam kitty. She was lying in a patch of sun and I had my camera right next to me. There's such a huge difference with an animal that has gotten used to a camera and doesn't run in fear from it.

17. Potter in Space: I looked in on Addy's old cat friend Potter this year and caught a shot of him meowing at me. It lead to a silly photo series called Potter in Places, where I photoshopped him into various backgrounds.

18. Shooting Calendar Film Canister: Part of my 365 photo challenge, this was the moment that I absolutely, hands down fell in love with my 35-350mm lens. I used a close up filter with it, making the bokeh as smooth as butter. I ended up using this lens for a lot of important shoots as a result of this photo challenge and getting to know its strengths.

19. Kite Selfie: Just a fun perspective from a trip down to Walnut Beach.

20. Gathering of the Vibes family: I loved this moment between a father and daughter playing at the Vibes.

21. Drew and Rita Christmas Portrait: The best Christmas card of 2014!

22. Quinn & Uncle Richie: I caught this smile from my uncle who almost never smiles for photos. He was warming up Quinn's hands on a cold day and Quinn looked up at him with his silly smile which caused my uncle to smile.

23. James' birthday cake: James is so mature, it's rare that I capture him as the little boy he is. I love the honesty behind that smile.

24. Daisy dew drops: You can't see the detail so much in this tiny version, but there is a great reflection of the daisy in the droplets of water. Early morning beauty strikes again!

25. OSCAR MAYER WIENERMOBILE! I took this so long ago, I actually forgot it happened this year! The Wienermobile was parked at the Stop n Shop next to my office in February, so I brought along my SX-70 camera to get this diptych on Impossible Project film.

15 New Things

Sunrise at Penfield Beach, Fairfield, CT

Since 2012, I've created a list of goals that I hope to accomplish throughout the year. Each year, I add one more goal than I did the year before. In the past, I've repeated goals that I failed and failed and failed. I decided that this year, everything on the list will be new because I was starting to feel depressed about constantly failing the same task. At the end of the year, I'll post the results of this list. Let's get to it!

1. Finish the Shooting Calendar Photo Challenge.
I've taken a photo every day for the past 11 months and I've decided to continue until it's a full 365 photo challenge. That only leaves me January, which I'm on target for. The name shooting calendar means that I have 31 words written on pieces of paper. Each morning, I pick a word out of a bowl and photograph it. For each month, I've used a single lens or camera for the entire month; forcing myself to really get to know the equipment. I post these photos each day on both my Pinterest and Tumblr pages. At the end of the challenge, I'm going to put together a collage of each word and I'll post it on the blog.

2. Blog more often and/or faster.
I don't really know what happened last year, but I just didn't want to blog. I took months to post concert photos that I had taken. It was lazy and foolish and I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of things. I want to get concert photos up within a week of taking them and complete more posts than I did last year.

3. Clear out/organize my email.
I have multiple email accounts, but my Gmail is completely out of control. I want to archive all of the emails until I reach the end of the box.

4. Website Redesign!
The template has been purchased and my web designer is anxiously awaiting my photos to get the new site up and running. I promise I'll get those to you soon!

5. Take a vacation.
It's really sad that I have to put this on my goal list to force myself to actually do this. I didn't take a full week off from the day job last year, except for the week I was forced to stay home because I was contagious with the flu. With the addition of more photography work, I really need to take the time off to recharge myself and not get sick.

6. Say no.
This is tied pretty closely to the previous goal. I took on way too much work and went to too many social engagements when I really needed to decompress. I'm really bad about saying no to people and it's something I'm going to try to do this year.

7. Shoot a roll of film a month from February to December.
Since I'm finishing up the shooting calendar in January, I wanted to have another photography based goal for the year. I have so many rolls of expired film that I want to use up and I like the way shooting film makes me slow down and think. I don't plan on sending them out for development until I've shot them all, so it'll be fun to post that early in 2016.

8. Don't wait until the last minute to do my taxes.
I do this every single year and stress out about it, so for this year, I'm getting them done before April.

9. Run four 5K's.
Last year, I ran two, so this year I want to double that number.

10. Balance my Wedding Photography with my Concert Photography.
On the one hand, I make way more money shooting weddings, but concerts are my passion. I want to find a balance between doing what can support me financially and what I love to do.

11. Always send out that photo request.
Even when I think an artist is too big to say yes to me, even if I've been turned down in the past, I'm going to keep on asking. I was really shocked by some of the people that said yes to me this year and I need to realize that I'm good enough to get those gigs.

12. Paint Drew's bathroom.
Exactly what it sounds like.

13. Create new business cards.
This goes along with the website redesign. I want nice double sided business cards with different images on them.

14. Follow a workout program for 30 days. 
I've failed a lot of my fitness goals in the past, so I'm setting a pretty simple goal here. I hope I can start a routine after doing a workout for 30 days that will continue.

15. No new things next year.
While I like the idea of putting my goals on this blog to hold myself accountable and I hope that it inspired some of you to try new things, I'm ready to stop after this year. If I feel myself getting lazy without a goal list, I'll pick it back up.

14 New* Things: End Result

1. Grain free by the end of January: Fail
I managed to get back on Paleo in September and besides a couple cheat days, I've been pretty good. Occasionally, I slip into gluten free when I'm eating out with friends, but it's become much easier to adjust my diet on the fly.

2. Photo Challenge: Shooting Calendar: Ongoing
I've managed to take a photograph every single day from February 2014 through December 2014. I decided to make it a full 365 photo challenge, so I'm continuing this through January. I'm going to put together photo collages of each word once I'm finished. You can check my progress on Pinterest.

3. Go to the gym 5x's a week for 10 weeks: Fail
My gym closed early in the year and while I've found a program I enjoy that I can do at home, I didn't hit this goal.

4. Give Blood: Success
I gave blood four times this year! I even had a bad phlebotomist that went through my vein wall and went back after that! I think my fear of needles is in the past. I had another appointment scheduled for the end of the year, but I got the flu and had to cancel.

5. Play Basketball: Fail
I kinda forgot about this one.

6. Run a 5K: Success
Not only did I run a 5K, I ran two!

7. Shoot with online photographer friends: Success
I met one of my friends from tumblr and we went to a concert and shot together. I also shot with another concert photographer that I follow at the Tom Petty concert.

8. Shoot more concerts than last year: Tie
I shot 25 concerts last year and....I shot the same amount this year. While that's technically a tie, I also shot 15 weddings this year. That's a huge increase in wedding work and ate up quite a bit of my weekend time which is when I usually shoot concerts.

9. Fall foliage: Success
I made sure to have a camera with me at all times this year and made sure I got to a scenic spot during peak foliage.

10. Find a new dentist: Success
I found a new dentist, went to a cleaning (had NO cavities) and am currently searching for another new dentist because they were a bit sketchy. At least my brushing and flossing habits are good!

11. Take a trip to Maine: Fail
25 concerts and 15 weddings didn't leave me with a lot of spare time, although, I did take a day trip to Vermont, so that's close!

12. Find a word press template I like and transfer website over to it by 2015: Success
I picked out a lovely theme and am in the process of selecting photographs for the main pages. Yey!

13. 30 second flexed arm hang: Fail
Oh well...

14. Convince Andy Stochansky to record a new album and tour so I can photograph him: Fail, but...
Seeing how I never contacted Andy to let him know about this goal, I was pretty sure I'd fail it. It was a bit of a silly goal, but it did teach me to take risks and try to cover a few shows that I thought were out of my league. It turned out that I did get to cover those shows, so I'm going to count this one as a win.

All in all, I had a pretty successful year as far as my goals are concerned! Stay tuned for this year's 15 New Things to post in a few days!