Postcards from the Road

One of the many things I love about photography is that it just gets me off my butt and makes me interact with the world. I honestly don't think my life would be as rich without it. It allows me to interact with people, notice the sunrise and sunset and see the beauty that's present in the world every day, be it in an urban or rural setting. Living on the road in a motorhome now affords me more opportunities to do all of these things like never before. The sheer variety of photographs I have captured in the last month is staggering to me and I feel very fortunate. I have some long-term projects in mind but they will have to wait. For now, I'm happy to immerse myself in whatever comes my way.

When I was in Portland with my friend Glenn, we collaborated on a photography project and I took the opportunity beforehand to do a separate portrait shot of our model, Grace. I wanted to create a vintage feel with a low key lighting setup. The strong shadows and single light worked perfectly for black and white.

One evening, while Linda and I were hanging out with Glenn and his wife Kris at our campground, I noticed the beautiful evening light. Glenn and I jumped up, pushed through thorny bushes to the huge adjacent illuminated field. Always adventurous and playful, Glenn posed for this semi-serious superhero pose. 

The repetitive patterns and sense of height made this an interesting composition for me. We were on the way to the top of Beacon Rock in Oregon. It was a mildly strenuous ascent but the views were quite rewarding.

While on an early morning walk, I noticed this sculpture and thought it would work great as a silhouette in black and white.

There are certain subjects that look great in black and white and others that fail but this is one of the good ones. The strong sunlight, the timelessness of the woman's clothing and the somewhat whimsical "Juice Bar" made this a favorite for me.

When we were in Florence, Oregon recently we stumbled upon a classic car show. It was a challenge to get some shots without people walking in front of my lens. I wanted the photo to look like the same vintage as the car so I tried to omit anything modern.

On Haceta Beach near Florence, these crows were curious about something on the ground. I liked the contrast between their dark bold shapes and the distant fog and people walking on the beach.

I noticed these dunes behind, of all places, Fred Meyer (a grocery/home store) in Florence. What drew me to the scene was the weathered fence. I love contrast in black and white and the relative purity of the sand with the dark textured wood worked really well. When these two people walked into my frame with their sandboards, it was a lucky accident. They not only added interest to the composition but they also gave it a sense of scale.

Continuing on the sand dune theme, I spent one early morning at South Jetty near Florence walking on the beach by myself. It was truly amazing. There are actually 40 miles of dunes in this area so I guess I could have walked until I literally dropped. My preference would have been to shoot the dunes with low sunlight to accentuate the ripples in the sand and the strong shapes but the cloudy sky made everything pretty flat. Still, I felt a lot of gratitude having the freedom to walk on that vast beach and breath in the fresh air.

Although living on the road has made it possible to see all of these wonderful places and people, my passion for photography, in turn, makes it possible for me to appreciate it all on a profound level.

Stay tuned.

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The Wonderful People of Portland

Portland, Oregon is a hive of activity so it's a treat as a photographer to wander the streets and capture photos of not only the things that give it character but the people themselves. During my time there, my friend Glenn and I decided to go to an event called "Last Thursday" which is basically a street fair with artists, musicians and everything in between. It's held every week during the summer months.

I don't always feel comfortable photographing people while they going about their lives because it feels like I am violating their privacy. Only if I find someone really compelling will I do that. I'm a little shy about approaching people to ask if I can take their photograph but Glenn, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. He boldly approaches people, disarms them with his charm and big kid smile and usually gets their consent for a picture.

With an event like "Last Thursday", people are there to be seen. They dress up and show off so it's a much more comfortable environment to snap photos. Frankly, I think people assume I am with some kind of publication when they see my big ass camera so they tend to be quite accommodating. When I can, I get their contact information and send the photographs or a link to where I have published them. It's mutually beneficial that way.

We encountered this colorful character on the streets of Portland earlier in the day. "She" was a very confident, seen-it-all, don't-fuck-with-me kinda gal but was quite charming at the same time and gladly allowed us to capture her likeness.

This artist had just finished the mural on the wall behind him. He was pretty pumped up and we had fun with him.

When I walk through a sea of people, there are always a few that stand out above the rest. This woman was one of them. I loved her free spirit and joyful demeanor. We asked if she had a business card so we could send the photos and she asked us if we would mind watching her stuff while she ran to get them. I love how trusting some people are :)

It was a hot day and after walking up and down the entire length of the fair a few times, Glenn and I ducked into a cool little bar for a beer. The bartender gladly posed for a picture (okay, maybe she just tolerated us).

There were many musicians playing on the street. I really liked the whole vibe of this guy. So many stories in his expression and body art.

I passed by this woman when we arrived first and made a mental note to come back and ask if I could take her picture. When we circled around again, she actually asked if we would shoot her! I think she is mesmerizing and beautiful.

Another woman I saw when I arrived that I just knew I had to shoot. I can't describe why I find some people so compelling but she is one of them. She had a wonderfully peaceful aura about her.

Loved the hat. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she would mind if I took her photograph. She said fine and turned turned away. It was funny because usually when I ask, the person will then engage with me. She just went about her business like I wasn't there. It was fine with me because I got more natural candid shots of her instead. I really liked the atmosphere in this shot, kinda like it was shot at Woodstock back in the day.

Okay, this is obviously not a person but I couldn't pass the shot up. The dog just sat there like it was no big thing that he was wearing the coolest mask on the planet.

The monkey suit teeshirt and this man's amazing face made for an unusual pairing. He was part of a group of drummers playing what sounded to me like Native American music.

This is my friend Glenn. I saw a storefront with some pretty strong fluorescent bulbs and wanted to use their glow for this portrait.

As the night drew in, this guy was off in the distance serving some kind of barbecued meat. The single strong light and dark background made it look like he could have been on a stage. 

It's rare when a street fair has so much interest for me. Mostly it's just regular vendors selling the same old stuff over and over again and the people are pretty ordinary. Not so with Portland, it truly is a boiling pot of many very interesting personality types.

Glenn and I started the day at 5:30am and finished up around 10pm. We wracked up 12 miles of walking  in our quest to find the perfect photograph. It was truly a great day and I'll miss him when we move to our next destination.

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Finding Hidden Gems in Portland, Oregon

I'm currently camped out in Wilsonville, not too far from the wonderful city of Portland in Oregon. My good friend and creative genius, Glenn Scott Lacey lives in the area so I wanted to be sure to spend as much time as possible with him. When we get together, we always find something creative to do. He is also a photographer so spending time shooting together was an exciting prospect. For our first day together, we decided to walk around Portland City and see what kinds of photographic treasures we could capture. 

I love days like this because my mind is free and I have no expectations. If I got a handful of photographs I was happy with, that would be great. If I walked away with nothing, the experience alone would be worth the effort. Time spent being creative with my friend is priceless. At the end of the day, it's fun to compare both our visions of a common place. Glenn was shooting in color while I chose my current obsession of black and white.

I'm always looking for texture and the more worn and dilapidated a thing is, the more I want to photograph it. This old wall and stairs provided me with the perfect combination of textures; metal, bricks and graffiti. I liked the angle of the stairs and moody morning light.

I'm drawn to this kind of architecture. Shooting with an extreme angle made for a dramatic and bold statement. The style of the buildings made it feel like a photograph from the early 1900s. The light also added to the drama and dimension of these beauties.

Another extreme angle that added a stylistic feel to this image. There are times when these kinds of converging lines work and other times they just don't. In this case, the lines add a great sense of energy and the clouds provide the perfect contrast to the geometry of all the other elements.

I liked this deli/market because it reminded me of New York. When I first moved to Brooklyn in 1987, I would go to a place like this for all my basic groceries. So what attracted me about this exterior was the memory of that time.

I wanted to experiment with slow shutter speeds to convey a sense of speed. Had I taken a regular photo of this biker, it would have been boring and he probably would not have stood out against the background. Following him with my camera and using a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second perfectly isolated him and added lots of energy to the shot.

This is just one of those kinds of photographs that has a mood I like. It also makes me wonder about the man. Who is he, what kind of life has he had, where is he going.? Juxtaposed with the coffeeshop blackboard and the Embassy Suites sign, he both fits and is at odds with his surroundings.

This bicycle just worked really well in black and white. Isolating it with a shallow depth of field made it feel like an intimate portrait and gave character to this pile of inanimate metal.

I loved the way this classic car looked in black and white. The light on the black made it feel chrome-like and highlighted the beauty of a design that seems to be lost on the cars of today. 

During the day, we stumbled across artisans preparing for an event called "Last Thursday" that takes place every week during the summer months. I loved these little sculptures.

The font on the window, the architecture of the building and the hard sunlight falling on the chairs - all of it made for an interesting mood for me.

An almost extinct convenience. I feel like I'm looking at a piece of history when I see a payphone like this. The next time I visit Portland, it maybe gone forever.

My most favorite thing to do while walking around in a city like this is to find something extraordinary in the mundane. Black and white tends to freeze a moment like no other and forces me to see things in a way that perhaps I don't ever notice when I pass these things in real life.

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