A few weeks ago I spent a warm afternoon making pet portraits with Andra and her two greyhounds, learning all about the dog walking business and enjoying the smiles from the pups. Andra owns DogWalkingPlus.com, and is more than happy to offer her services when you can't make it home in time to give your pooch some exercise or make sure the water bowl is filled to the brim. If you're anywhere in the area of Baldwin, The Harbor, Bellmore, Freeport, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Merrick, Oceanside, Rockville Centre or Valley Stream, I certainly recommend Andra and her services - especially after seeing her in action.

I loved both greyhounds, each of them rescues - adopted by Andra after their "usefulness" at the dog racing track was determined to be over (it's a damned shame what happens to these poor dogs) - and they were of course a pleasure to photograph.

I don't think I've ever met a greyhound with a poor disposition, they're always affectionate and gentle. Greyhounds are bred for their sprinting ability, and are generally not a very active dog with endless energy - they're even sometimes known as the 45-m.p.h couch potato. They're pack animals by nature, and readily let the humans act as the alpha, which means if you own one, they look to you as boss. . .they don't bark much, are great with kids, and their short fur isn't usually something that lets allergies act up. Check out www.gratefulgreyhoundsny.com if you're looking for a wonderful dog to add to your family. These great pups could sure use a break, and the rescue group is first rate.

The portraits came out wonderfully - we used a white seamless paper for a backdrop, and too let some bright color in by shooting them with a diffused strobe in a room that was painted bright yellow (here shown in black and white). As it was warm out that day, they were often panting off the heat - which gave us a few perceived smiles for the shots...great! In all of the images shown here, I added some film borders to the images in Photoshop for a little variation. Lots of fun...thanks again, Andra!

About ten days ago I had the opportunity to make some photographs for designer Scott Portugal, whose exterior and interior design work is as tasteful as it is contemporary - his recent home's lines and contours were a delight to put before the lenses.

I had the pleasure to see the "before" album of photographs, as well as the construction shots. The home featured in the photos on this blog entry was taken down to its foundations, then raised, then rebuilt - it was hard to imagine all the work!

The back and deck area were as comfortable as they were functional, creating almost an oasis in the Fire Island dunes. The planking is seamless aside from stainless steel hardware that indicates a storage closet or outdoor shower, and the accent plants so perfect that a family of ducks is nesting in them.

All of the imagery was made with a steady tripod and multiple exposures so that the optimal exposure for each detail could be blended into the final photograph. This technique is perfect for wide-latitude scenes such as the house at sunset and its interiors, as it lets the final image render a look that's closer to what the human eye sees, as opposed to the dark-shadowed, blown-highlights of single capture limitations.

Scott is an absolute pleasure to work with, AND, he stocks Fresca soda in the fridge - perfect for when you're making photography on Long Island in June! Thanks, Scott! I owe you a case! If you're looking for any interior or exterior design work, don't hesitate to reach Scott at scottportugal@earthlink.net, where he works from his Park Ave. office in NYC.

I was humbled by the North Shore Animal League America 7th Annual Lewyt Humane Awards luncheon last week, where honorees were given their nod for their contributions to the League - and of course to the animals in need there. I was the recipient of the Friend of the Animal League Award, cited for my photographic contributions to their efforts to place their four-legged residents with loving families.

I was surprised to hear the news, and further down on this blog mention how great it is to be reminded that photography can do more than just give you a pretty picture - it can help save a life, even a furry one. I guess I can forget that at times, and it was wonderful to have the League remind me.

The lunch was delicious, the attendees gracious, and the other award recipients very eloquent when receiving their awards at the podium. Me? I was a little shell-shocked, as it was an awfully big crowd. I'm used to them, but more because I'm used to being AMONG them...! When I made it to the podium, I waved to the great event photographer crouched down on the floor to come up with me, as I wanted him to see how different an event looks from up there as opposed to the usual angle down below. Got a laugh for that one, then I muttered and babbled an awkward 'thanks!' Remind me to take a public speaking class...

I think I'm better off making the photos than being the subject of one, too.

Anyway, thanks again to the League, it's an honor! And just wait 'till next year:)

I recently had the pleasure of working with the amazing people of Sanctuary for Families, a NYC-based shelter that assists victims of domestic violence. I was asked to photograph their annual fundraiser at Chelsea Piers' Pier Sixty, and was very glad to witness their turnout. I am not sure of the exact number of attendees and supporters, but it was fantastic to see so many fine people come out for such a worthy cause.

The first part of the night was spent photographing the wonderfully decorated venue, then the attendees as they arrived. It was a perfect June evening, which let us make images from the entrance all the way to the river walk behind/outside.

As guests moved into the dining area, the presentation and recognitions began with an educational film short about their mission. Brief introductions and speeches by committee members and honorees were both eloquent and enlightening - I do truly hope their benefit evening was what they need it to be to bring support to all of those in need.

Their guest list included Marcel Vigneron, Susan Pruder, Charles Rockefeller, Beth Ostrosky, DJ Grandmaster Flash, and hockey great Brendan Shanahan.

Mr. Shanahan goes down in the books as among the most gracious photo subject at events. I seem to have a knack for finding myself rounding a corner and being face-to-face with the man every time we're at the same venue, but it's always just the two of us, alone, no other guests to be found... me with my obnoxious 10-lb. camera rig in hand and my sudden but absolute apprehension in having to trap him for a quick shot for the event organizers (let's just say he's not a tiny, feeble-looking man). When it happened this time, I was popping out of the dining area only to find him right there in the hallway, and boom, once again it's just us, facing off. I started laughing a little at my "luck," and I introduced myself, assuring I wasn't papparazzi and apologizing for always wanting to blind him with a flash in an otherwise empty hallway like a stalker...then politely I asked for a quick shot. He was more than happy to oblige. Thanks, Brendan!

I'd also love to write a quick entry on how great Beth-O and the fine folks at NSALA were a few weeks ago, when we photographed her and some of the League's furry guests for Tails magazine. Editor Janice Brown flew out from Chicago to help us put the shoot together (and essentially charm us with her publication's mission of goodwill towards pets and the pet community. Janice, you're tops!).

Beth even went on to write about the shoot HERE, on her blog at the North Shore Animal League website.

I won't post any of the images destined for the magazine so that you can see them there first, but suffice it to say that Beth was her usual wonderful self, and her cooperative pawed companions in the shots were the usual pleasure to photograph. Thanks to all involved, especially Stephen who volunteered his time as my assistant.

Lastly, here's a quick preview for Lisa and Chuck, the happy parents of these triplets, who asked me to come by over the weekend and photograph the little ones on the occasion of their Christening.

The kids were just up from their nap, and were perfectly patient and charming for their family portaits as well as these 'all alone' images we grabbed before they began their official protest. Adorable!

I'd been speaking with Lisa in arranging the shoot, and when I arrived I was surprised - happily(!) - to find that her husband and I go way back to high school. It was great to see him as well as some of his familliar guests, meet his family, and be on the receiving end of all the gracious hospitality...I think Chuck really, really wanted me to eat some of the food spread out for guests...but it was hot, I was on the move, and ironically I'd eaten at one of his restaurants about an hour prior. What are the odds?!

Anyway - congrats, great to see you all, and thanks so much for having me! Oh and Chuck - we need to talk about raccoons...! Drop me a line...

Several weeks ago we held a stock photography shoot on Long Island, with the intention of amassing images for both commercial sale and purposed as a portfolio muster. We were all set to go in regards to hosting with catering, shuttles to and from the train station (many of our participants were coming in from Manhattan), and one of the finest makeup artists I have the pleasure of knowing. What we didn't count on was 14 hours straight of rain to force us entirely indoors! We practically needed an ark to get from one end of the property to the other, but we found that a large wedding/catering tent we had set up as a contingency did the trick just fine.

The shoot started off with portraits and headshots, lit both with studio lights as well as with natural light. The subject of this blog entry will be just the natural light images.

With the constant rain, we had precisely what we needed for soft, even lighting - the clouds were very accommodating in that regard! That left us with the need to simply control that top-down light a little bit, making sure the ladies looked their best.

The great thing about natural light is that you can reflect it, block it, and sculpt it to your needs. To start, we sat them near the edge of the rain cover, so that some light came down at an angle that offered highlights in their hair. This essentially serves as light number one. The ambient light was fine for light number two, creating near-shadowless illumination on their faces. But to make the light completely shadowless, we filled in by using white reflectors below them, just out of frame. In addition to lifting shadows on their features, this also lit up their eyes quite a bit.

Lastly, we were sure to be careful choosing backgrounds for the images. Two of these shots offers a gold reflector, the other an empty garage. But keeping the composition and focus limited to their faces, these backgrounds stay smooth, and thanks to the wonders of Nikon lenses almost creamy in nature. The backgrounds are completely non-distracting from our subjects, which is just the way we like them!

Special thanks to Brianne, Tory, and Gabrielle for being such pleasures to work with, and a tip of the hat to Simon, Terry, Lisa and gang for being the best support crew we could ask for.

Also, we were thrilled to see more of our pet photography on the cover of July's Bird Talk magazine, as well as on many of the pages within. We have hosted several pet stock photography shoots in New York as well as on Long Island, and it is always great when we see the editors at the magazines are using the photos. Special congrats to Linda and Bob on seeing their macaws in print!

This week promises to be another busy one, and as I look through the shoot results from the past few weeks I'm not even sure where to begin with my blog entries, here! I guess I'll start by talking about the fine folks we met over at the law offices of Steven A. Morelli in Carle Place, in an after-hours shoot that illustrated each attorney in the firm as well as group shots for their upcoming website.

The offices had a bit of foot traffic as we started, so to nab the individual headshots posed a quandary as to where we'd shoot. We decided to stay put in an office, which never offers as much space as I'd love for portraits - if I can I like to have a little more separation between the person and the environment. So, to thwart the confines we pulled out an old trick: we grabbed a nearby leafy office plant, and put it between a second strobe and a blank wall. The resulting shadow, which we varied from shot to shot by simply moving the light, let the look of the final shots offer a more dramatic sense than we would have had if we had simply used the blank wall.

Turning around, we were able to make a shot with the desk again by being a little creative with the lighting. With one light for Mr. Morelli, one for a little ambiance in the room, and a third gelled with blue below and behind, we give the shot a little depth and interest as opposed to delivering a standard, deer-in-the-headlights photo that really doesn't do a subject any credit at all. Not that Mr. Morelli needs a photo to help - he's a wonderfully inviting and friendly man whose confidence and intelligence immediately let you know he'd be precisely who you would want on your side should you need his legal services. And next time, folks, we're going to get that shot from the third-floor window like I'd hoped!

Special thanks to Stephen for his running around on that shoot...!

Recently, I was lucky enough to meet two Northern Irish vacationers to America, Jemma and Craig, who were full of questions about our Memorial Day and its significance. I won't get into how we all met last week (Craig, don't forget - in these shady U.S. pubs, the pool table rack is usually in a slot in the back of the table!), but will say that I can't help but wonder what they took away from the holiday weekend between the barbeques and the flags and somber moods. That said, meeting again before they left for Ireland, we went to Jones Beach for the practice workouts of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and quite a few other jet and propeller-driven performances. It was Jemma's first time to the ocean in the U.S., and I'm pretty sure the first time either of them were treated to an F-22 Raptor in a deafening, vertical climb at 700 knots. My first time, too!

I made about 1,200 images of the jets over three days, and have to admit that the one above from a day before is among my favorites. I have a few dozen close-up, tightly focused shots of the Blue Angels and others in a perfect, cloudless sky - but love the depth and drama of the clouds that rolled in on Thursday. I think it sets this shot apart.

Here are some photos from a few weeks ago, again at the Huntington Cinema Arts Centre, where we managed to get cartoonist and animator Bill Plympton to hold still for a few fun and zany shots.

I've always been a fan of Plympton's, I believe since seeing his animated short Your Face in the late 1980s, for which he won an Oscar nomination. Once you've seen Bill's distinctive style, you recognize it every time you see it - whether it's in a TV commercial or on paper.

For this shot on yellow (which we planned to match his pencil), we pretty much flooded Bill with light from every direction - including dead-on, with a ringflash. The look is a bit harsh, of course, but fun, too, when your subject plays along!

On this second shot, we see Bill signing the back of the theatre's door. The door was lit by a single overhead bulb, but it wasn't bright enough to do the job well enough. So, we had one assistant hold a strobe over his head, and another behind him to create his shadow on the door. Add in a little Photoshop "illustration" effect to stick with the theme, and voila, we nabbed this in about 30 seconds, letting Bill get back to his reception in the theatre.

For the record, the marker he's using here is of the dry-erase type, something I brought along deliberately for my initial plan for this shot...getting him to sign a stall in a public toilet. I think it's safe to say that the plan as it actually happened, with the theatre's logo on the door, worked out better. Ahem.

Don't hestiate to check out Bill's website by clicking HERE - and do watch him via webcam there as he illustrates his latest film short, too cool.

Every now and then when we're making location portraits, a corporate office area offers up a wonderful setting for an image. I knew when we entered the lobby of this particular office building we had to walk away with at least one shot from here, if not just to have that amazing green wallpaper as a background.

As an added bonus on this shot, we had our wonderful subject here take a seat, too, which let us use the table with the flowers in the composition. The only thing we needed to do to make this image as stunning as it is was to have our subject sit, pull a chair next to her out of the way, and trigger one strobe in a large softbox. About 90 seconds total, and voila. Love it when that happens!

We've been back to North Shore Animal League America (NSALA) a few times in the recent weeks, too, making some fun photos for potential use in their 2009 calendar and general stock usage.

I'm smiling here as I type, because we had more than a few laughs trying to get their dogs and cats to be especially cute - by putting on hats, placing them in baskets, and adding props that are appropriate for certain months on the calendar, such as Halloween, or the Fourth of July (aka Rebels' Day, as my Brit pal Alisdair refers to it. . .yeah yeah, ok, Cheers, mate!).

All the while, I'm contorting my 6'3" frame to ground level in a series of one-armed pushups to get to doggie-eye-level, and contorting into positions no Yoga master has dreamed of to keep the camera steady. It's a sweaty workout, this dog photography stuff! But, it all pays off when you view the fruits of your labors...and I think we did a great job, especially thanks to all the cooperative staff and crew at NSALA who stayed so late into the night as we made the photos.

On the topic of NSALA, I was more than a little floored to open up an invitation to their upcoming Annual Lewyt Humane Awards Luncheon. It seems they're asking me to stand up and receive an official nod and thank you at the luncheon, naming me their Friend of the League for 2008. . .citing my photographic contributions to their efforts to find homes for their resident pets. I have to say I'm humbled, and flattered by the recognition - it's an honor to be a part of the day, and of course always a pleasure to shoot for them.

It's funny, times like these. With any job, and I'm sure any art, you have those ups and downs, and you sometimes question whether anything you're doing is making any sort of difference in general, not to mention a difference that changes lives for the better. Not to imply I've been in a funk lately, but certainly NSALA's appreciation stokes the fires here to keep up what I've been doing with the lenses. A polite bow, smile, and nod back to the League...thank you, and of course an invitation for anytime, the pleasure's all mine - especially with your cause.

It's been a fairly manic week! We took advantage of the weather and made a few long island family portraits, and took a trip north of the Catskills, and too there was more writing on the subject of photography. Then, Friday night in Huntington I had the opportunity to meet and photograph the iconic David Lynch, writer and director of such films as Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and producer and writer of television's legendary Twin Peaks.

When planning to photograph someone who has been photographed so many times before, I like to poke around the Internet and see what other photographers have photographed the subject, and how they approached the shot. . .I want to avoid "just another shot like...", while also making a photograph that the client (Cinema Arts) can use for their archives, and leave space for them to drop in their logo.

I had two ideas for the lighting, and settled happily on the scheme that produced this shot. It's contrasty, with a little light on the background (he's standing in front of that light ) to allow him to be visually separated, but all the while nothing overbearing or too bright.

Mr. Lynch was at the Cinema to take questions from the crowd on his career, as shown here at the podium, and to sign is new book on meditation. Lynch's Foundation provides '...funds for in-school Quiet Time programs utilizing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique. In the past year, the Foundation has provided millions of dollars for thousands of students, teachers, and parents to learn to meditate. The Foundation also provides funds for independent research institutions to assess the effects of the program on creativity, intelligence, brain functioning, academic performance, ADHD and other learning disorders, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.' As a once-upon-a-time schoolteacher myself, I can tell you the efforts are commendable.

Mr. Lynch was great to pose for the top series of images, as I think we blind-sided him a little with our lighting setup backstage. But, not only did he take it in stride without so much as flinching, he was also super-great as to be the first one in history to ask me, "Chris, are you sure you have all you need? I'm happy to stay here longer." That says an awful lot about the character of the man, I think. Thanks again, David!

We had another very excited and promising future actor pose for the lenses recently, and we used some local building structures to vary the results of the shoot as much as possible. Beams of light, slits illuminated by sun rays, and soft, overhead light bounced off of light-colored cement walls as shown here flattered Susan, and let us have some fun trying not to laugh too hard as people we knew kept drivign past us in cars.

( The moving cars and light chasing are a good segue, too...I was recently turned on to this post at Reuters, about an assignment editor who thought she'd try making photos for the day(s) instead of the writing. Whoops - harder than you think, especially with dogs;) Read HERE)

Anyway, good luck with the auditions, Susan - but bet you won't need much, you're charming and great!

We were also honored to race through traffic and shoot another fun gathering of the gang at Firstborn Multimedia, who had rented the Sky Rink at NYC's Chelsea Piers for the evening. Owner and president Michael Ferdman treated his talented staff to a couple of hours of ice skating, food and fun while Lindsay and I made images of the event for the archives.

Something different we like to do at parties is set up a quick portrait station for "photo booth"-style images, where the subject is encouraged to have as much fun for three images as they can. Usually we'll do this in black and white to mimic what a photo booth might give you at the carnival, but with the ring flash getting bored of fashion use and fill-lighting only, we brought that along to make some contrasty, color-popping images for this crowd. Safe to say they needed little encouragement to let loose in front of the camera, their kinship and personalities shining...and that's a great thing, saying a lot about what it must be like to work there at Firstborn. Cheers, gang - you're all fantastic for playing along!

We had a fun spin on an assignment last week when we were asked to make a headshot for a film production company. They're working on the sets and props for an upcoming film starring Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale, and Drew Barrymore titled Everybody's Fine, with filming commencing in CT. The fun part for them, as set producers and prop masters, is that they get to slip a little of themselves into scenes from time to time...their name on an office door, paperwork, etc. This time, Gina, as pictured here, will appear inset on a television news broadcast that's integral to a scene in the movie, posing as a news anchor. She's also using a framed family portrait in another scene from the Appoldt archives. Fun stuff!

We were also at North Shore Animal League America a little while back, too, bolstering their advertising stock. We photographed for several hours, bringing in a variety of cats and dogs for their print and advertising use. We usually shoot photos like this using white paper as a backdrop, as it allows for the graphic artists to cut the subject out and use it in a variety of ways.

This shot is of a cat that's a lot bigger than it looks here - it's a Bengal, a relatively new hybrid breed of cat developed to have a gentle and friendly temperament, while exhibiting the markings (such as large spots, rosettes, and a light/white belly), and body structure reminiscent of the wild Asian Leopard Cat. In a nutshell, it's a wild-looking but friendly, affectionate pet.

We had some NSALA staff pop into the shoot as well, making some absolutely endearing images of the interaction between pet and people. This particular couple were the winners of the day, I thought, for heart-wrneching factor.

I was driving to Stamford, CT, this weekend when we missed an exit and had to turn around. The exit we used took us through the quaint town of Mamaroneck, NY, where I did a double-take at the first stop light, spotting a bus stop with a large advertisement for North Shore Animal League on its glass side. It was great to see the image we made with actress Tamara Tunie printed at such a large dimension, and in such a public place (see the released version inset in the photo here). North Shore Animal League America does a wonderful job reaching out to find homes for the dogs and cats in their shelter, and in Mamaroneck particularly from the four other instances of the ad we spotted before FINALLY making it back to 95 North...!

Last week we delivered the framed 16"x20" print of black labs Budge and Boe as presented to the U.S. Army 85th Medical Detachment by America's VetDogs. The print will hang in the hallway of Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., celebrating the first delivery of the therapy dogs to active medical units in Iraq. I made the photo several months back at the handoff ceremony at VetDog's co-home with The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, and remark on the event further down on the blog.

So - this week it's a bus stop and a hospital for Appoldt prints, at the very least. Feeling good, here, and so glad to see both NSALA and VetDogs making a difference out there.

Other recent shoots have included this image of a veteran Athletic Director at NYIT in Old Westbury, where we setup in a gym to put her in a context that would help illustrate her various participatory endeavors over the years.

Lighting wasn't too complicated, involving some strobes, some diffusers, and some gels on the light behind her. The catch was that instead of being closed as we'd anticipated, the gym was filled with NYIT students working out on the equipment. This meant that wires needed to be taped down extra securely for safety, and lots of ballerina dancing as I worked in-between the students headed for a workout. Gotta love it when a plan has kinks and makes you hustle a little faster...!

Lastly, here's another installment of the photography-themed What the Duck comic strip...in this case, very appropriate for the tax deadline this week.

The strip jokes that while our feathered photographer is not going to have to write a big check to the Government for taxes, his expenses have about negated his profits...something I've found I really have to watch when writing up invoices lately.

I'm now very careful to include line items on the invoices accounting for paper, battery, and travel expenses, for example, when warranted - it's the little things that get you when you add it all up later. Another way to write the invoices would be to let my fee absorb the costs, but I think this way it's a little more educational to the client - especially as I am never invoicing the general overhead of being a photographer, which includes tens of thousands of dollars of equipment that constantly needs to be updated and replaced...from lenses to cases, from light stands to memory cards. Maybe I should have been a watercolor painter, just to save on expenses...?

It's been a while since I've offered any prints for sale, and have been very negligent in keeping a local gallery presence with any of my works. From time to time I've listed prints for sale here, and figure I should continue the tradition when I find the time to put some of my (and your) favorites through a diligent print proofing process, to ensure that they're transferring to the printed form with the quality they should.

This series of prints will all feature text on their three sizes, and I'm printing fifty of each to keep the cost down to buyers. I suppose that makes these "limited editions," which is something I've tried to steer clear of in most cases as often it's to be considered a marketing ploy. . .there's not much to say I won't print them again on demand. So - let's call these Limited Editions in this print run!

The first image above is of the Montauk Point Lighthouse, here on Long Island's East End. I made the photograph late in the afternoon on an overcast day, and found that the late winter grasses were a nice anchoring element to incorporate into the image.

At left is an image of a Moon Orchid, made during a workshop under the tuteledge of photographer Stephen Lang. The image was lit with a single diffused strobe, and offers the viewer a naturally-occuring composition of nature's finest.

Below is a photograph made last fall, in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, featuring the lower portion of Bushkill Falls. The lighting was soft and just right for valley, captured from an overpassing footbridge with a Nikon D200 and 12-24mm lens to show a wide angle view that encompasses as much color and texture available.

There are 50 prints of each available in the following sizes and prices:

-11x14 @ $69.00

-16x20 @ $95.00

-20x30 @ $135.00

These prints arrive on Kodak Endura archival paper, and are made with inks that should resist fading for over a century. Each is signed by request only (sometimes signatures are rather awkward), and the price includes shipping and handling to anywhere in the continental US.

There will be more in this format to follow, and please don't hesitate to write or call with requests for non-conformal prints outside of the series.

Payments can be mailed (please contact for address) or made with credit card to my PayPal account, which has a payment email address as cappoldt@yahoo.com

They make a great gift, too!

I usually don't mention it, as this site is about photography, but I also do a formidable amount of writing and editing on a daily basis - and these past few weeks too quite a bit of print production. My schedule has been hectic, as deadlines loom.

So, not particularly able to promote myself lately it was nice to get a call from Huntington's Village Connection magazine about how they wanted to feature me in their "Local Exposure" section in the April issue (on stands approx. April 4). Everyone at the magazine was great to work and chat with, so a special thanks to them for calling!!

The two-page spread offers quite the variety of images, spanning people, pets, wildlife, a landscape, and hey - even a new self-portrait of moi.

The spread mentions that I consider myself a "...photography generalist, with an emphasis on portraiture." This is often considered the kiss of death in this business, by the way. You can't be a generalist anymore and succeed, they say. You must specialize, tailor your portfolio to that specialty, and stick with it.

Yeah well, easier said than done.

Portraiture is a driving force with me, and I love meeting new people and figuring out how to flatter them in photographs. Now, if people stopped calling me to photograph dogs and parrots, I likely wouldn't shoot them that often, as much as I love to - and those I consider portraits too, so you know. If I didn't take these trips to make stock images of wildlife and landscapes that sold pretty well through my stock distributors, I likely wouldn't post any of those on my site either (but I'd still make the photos - I simply have too much passion for the birds and camping, and even getting up early enough to meet the dawn is something I enjoy). But too I'm often called on for shots of new homes, products, etc. The variety is stimulating, challenging, fun, and keeps me on the move.

So. I'll stop being a generalist if clients stop asking me to be. Fair enough? Good!

At left, here's the wonderful Mya, who has been fantastically kind and generous in supporting the North Shore Animal League America's Tour for Life .

Mya was in Port Washington recently to help kick off the campaign, and gave a very warm-hearted speech to introduce herself and the League's efforts.

It was a partly cloudy day around noon, which meant instead of harsh, top-down hard light and deep shadows we had soft, even lighting for photography. A friend pointed out the other day that photographers are some of the few who are gleeful when it's partly cloudy. Yup!

Thanks for all the kind words sent on the avian photographs in my last post - ! Encouraged, I'll put up a few more from the trip to Sanibel, FL. At left, here's a tight shot of a great egret with lunch. The thing about photographing birds in FL is that they're often very tolerant of humans' close proximity, so when you think you're about to make a nicely composed shot that shows the bird's entire beak he steps a little closer to you, to enjoy his meal further from the other birds. So, while I lost the tip of his beak, I still ended up with one of the most detalied shots I've ever made.

This laughing gull was hanging out on the beach at the water's edge, so I took the camera off the tripod and attached it to a home-made "ground pod," which let me keep the camera stable while in a prone position. The idea is that you want to be as close to a subject's eye level as possible, and as this fella was on the sand as opposed to a tree branch, getting low was the order of the day.

Gulls will get used to your presence pretty quickly...and if you wait them out they're bound to yawn eventually, as you see here, allowing a more interesting image.

Attack of the clones! This group of beach-combing sanderlings struck me as a young group, as they wouldn't stray far from the location on the beach I found them in the day before. So, I figured I'd see if I could crawl up with that home-made ground pod again and get a few frames. A very wide f-stop kept the depth of field very limited, allowing for the composition to work a little better as the eye isn't pulled to the others behind the lead in the wedge-shaped configuration they strode into in order to check me out.

This year marked an absolutely wonderful and successful return to Sanibel Island in Florida, where the birding is simply first rate. I'm driven by nature photography, especially when it's of avian subjects...I thank dad for that, as he loved pointing out birds to my brother and me. Also, I remember as a boy that dad always had a birding guide nearby that drew me into its pages, offering its colorful illustrations and curious descriptions of the different habits and nests of the birds.

Aiming for some well-composed images for magazine and general image stock, we wanted some artful photographs that could have text added in above and around them . . .and Sanibel Island and its surrounding areas was the perfect location to try and create those images.

So, it was back to the books on making sure all of the wealth of knowledge out there on popular - as well as competent - avian images was in the forefront of my mind before boarding the plane.

This burrowing owl above, who nests - surprise! - in a burrow - was very tolerant of a slow approach on my belly, which included some audible grunts as thorns and ground debris tore up my forearms. But the low, late-afternoon light was golden, a little diffused by clouds, and otherwise perfect ...so of course I was compelled! About 10 inches tall, this species is a real charmer and a treat to be able to photograph.

Not nearly as common as the brown pelican, a tip from a local fishermen led me to a pond where a few dozen white pelicans were wintering. Photographing white, moving birds in outdoor, changing daylight conditions is tough; you have to be careful with what your camera meter is telling you, as its not sure what you're trying to do and the big blob of white comfuses it. The proper exposure for this guy was almost a full stop of light less than the camera suggested, and bless digital for being able to give me that in a technical language on the back of the camera so I could compensate. Once the exposure was dialed in, it was only a matter of waiting about 30 minutes before I had a series of photographs like this one - and my image library had a new, gorgeous species.

The great blue heron (often known to ornitholigists as the GBH, but to me as the GEB, or Great Elusive Bastard) has always been a grail bird for me. They're pretty common even here in NY, but for some reason I'm never holding a camera with a telephoto lens when one is around. So this year, I was thrilled to locate about 5 of them in one place and have them cooperate to the degree that they did!

Added bonus for the shot is that he's feeding, so there's some diversity to the images aside from the bird "standing there." Another added bonus is that this fella's in breeding plumage. See the plume coming out the back of his head? That's a dead giveaway that he's looking for a girlfriend. Very cool.

Want to send a thank you out to www.lensprotogo.com for their great customer service and affordable rental fees. They sent me a brand-new, never used Nikon 400mm f2.8 VR lens for the gig, and it was a great performer...it gave such vivid colors and contrast, and offered super-fast autofocus. At almost ten pounds, it took a bit of getting used to in regards to handling - but in the end, bruises on my shoulder aside, the perfect tool for the job.

Playing catch-up on posts, this week it's a rather diverse entry in this journal. I paid a visit to a feathered friend's home, where his adoptive parents wanted his portrait made for some home decor. We're likely going to print a set of three images as he goes through some supermodel motions, and perhaps print them on canvas as gallery wraps - a cool presentation.

To light the shot, we used soft light and hard light; a single strobe in a diffused box for soft light illuminating the bird and the perch, as well as a white reflector behind to bring some light back in from the opposite side - giving us a wrap-around, three-dimensional feel.

We also used a "gridded" strobe on the green paper background to create the bright circular highlight you see, bringing the viewer in to what is obviously the subject of the photo - and adding some emphasis.

This friendly pup and his sibling also posed for us recently, and at this time of year with nothing but bare trees and muddy lawns we needed to control perspective a bit to make the portraits aesthetically pleasing. So, in the owner's backyard, we used the red storage shed as a background, throwing it out of focus, to keep our subject isolated. The light was soft, a mostly cloudy day - though it was brighter behind the shed at that hour. So we faced him away from the brighter part of the sky to add a defining/separating edge, and popped a Nikon SB flash unit in a small softbox to even out the illumination - and add a little twinkle to his eye.

Oh by the way, pup, the dry cleaner was able to get all the mud off my jacket after your enthusiastic greeting...how about next time, we just shake?

Lastly, we spent a quick evening with Annabelle to make a few potential images for her upcoming book jacket. It was almost dark outside, and the sky offered nothing but heavy cloud cover. To add a little life and creativity, we again used the small and portable Nikon SB flash in a small softbox to add the light for her portrait. As the colors were drab and gloomy, we spiced things up a bit by adding a warming gel to the flash, and setting the digital camera's white balance to match. This let the sky go cool blue - a quick and effective technicque for countering the winter duldrums!

Typically, December through March are the slowest months. It's cold, budgets are being reworked, and holidays infringe on everyone's time to schedule. These past few months, though, I've been pretty crazy - anything BUT slow. Between advertising, word-of-mouth, and referrals I've been on more jobs lately than anytime I can remember. This is a good thing! I've usually posted images on this blog from just days past, but am now falling behind in keeping you updated with what's new. Sorry 'bout that!

This shot is of a particular charming and giving Doctor on the campus of NYIT Old Westbury, and the image may well be one of my favorites, ever. We were shooting editorial photos on the second-floor landing of a lecture hall, and the architecture was just perfect for building strong compositions with leading lines that woked well with human subjects (thanks to Diego, Photo Editor and location scout extrordinaire). When my subject walked out of the range of my main strobe to peer over the railing, instead of stopping and waiting for him to get back on his mark I kept shooting - a habit I'll now incorporate every time if not just for thoroughness. The backgroud strobe was strong enough to turn the opposite wall into a giant reflector, which gave the scene an almost eerie glow....and certainly a cinematic look.

These three photographs are of Jessica Ingui, a young lady with some incredible talent in the singing department. Very impressed over here, I was delighted to have her, some family, and a friend over for some workups to help promote her and her undoubtedly appropriate singing career.

We started with a classic fashion/beauty lighting setup, and emphasized the theme of "blue," to let her eyes be the center of focus. When we pulled out with the lens, we still had a great shot that let us catch a ton of variations on the theme.

With a quick change of clothes, we next went to a new lighting scheme and color backdrop. Want to make a subject interesting? Don't light of all of it! The shadow play adds a little mystery, and gives a bit of depth to the image.

Jessica was a real trouper through all of this, by the way. I dare say she was in the top three most cooperative and fun to work with subjects I've ever had, and on top of that she got into the groove of working the camera very, very quickly - something the shy and inhibited usually can't adjust to with such haste. So, as much as I'd like to take some credit for it, I'm really going to throw the shoot's success back at her as being a great subject.

In the last moments of the daylight, we made it outside to a nearby location I like to use as illustrated by this image. With one portable strobe to add a little "kick" to her face, we nabbed yet another series of great shots.

Thanks to Jessica and her dad Jason for the fun time, I really appreciate it - and wish Jessica all the best with her undoubtedly up-and-coming career. To see more and hear some of Jessica, check her out by clicking HERE.

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of working with Bideawee, Alan Colmes, and Monica Crowley on a really fun shoot in Bideawee's offices in Manhattan. The reason we all came together was to create some images to supplement Alan and Monica's First Great Pet Debate on Bideawee's website, where "...Two of TV and radio's most outspoken political pundits, from opposite sides of the political spectrum but the same side of the family tree (Alan is married to Monica's sister), bring you the "scoop" on the candidates, the controversy, and the dog and cat fights in this historical First Pet Race of 2008."

It's a fun idea, and the launch of the website seems to be going really well.

Monica and Alan were wonderful to work with, and we enjoyed a lot of laughs with good spirits as they posed for the 'argumentative' shots to portray their opposing cat & dog views. We posed them with some of Bideawees temporary residents as well, of course, with furry friends coming out on set too for some camera time.

This was the second shoot in which I employed Nikon's new D300 digital SLR body, and I have to say I'm thrilled with the results. Nikon's new CMOS sensor captures skin tones very well, especially with the availability of a D2X (their former flagship camera) algorithm for nice color gradients. Add to that some large, soft light sources and some pleasant subjects, and we're off and running with a great new camera set in the arsenal.

Thanks to Monica and Alan for volunteering their time, and to all the hospitality and fun from the fine folks at Bideawee.

I've been out of the loop for several days, having made a trip to Tulum, Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera. Tulum is about an hour and a half south of Cancun, a small town that's turning into yet another tourist retreat, but still retaining enough local heritage and flavor to make it a fantastic trip culturally.

The area is not a big destination for Spring Break folk, though the beaches there are legend and seem to cater to a 30-plus crowd.

We stayed at a great little hotel in town proper, as opposed to one of the beach clubs/resorts on the strip. I can't reccommend the hotel enough, it was great. About 8 rooms, a bed & breakfast-style morning with the other guests and the owners. . .and it was then we'd receive good tips on where to go, where to eat, where NOT to go, where NOT to eat. Consider staying at the Luna del Sur if you're headed that way, I promise you won't regret it.

The area around Tulum offers beach clubs and Mayan ruins, a perfect blend of things to do from my perspective. The Mayan cities were fascinating, and the 1,000 year-old sites well preserved. Tulum's sites are mostly ocean-front, and you can spend at least a few hours exploring there, no problem.

There were lots of little shops in the area, too, to cater to the hoardes of tour buses bringing people in from Cancun on day trips. Lots of fun little things to buy, and most prices are negotiable. I personally enjoyed haggling for the Cuban cigars...

I should note here that we drove ourselves, opting out of the mass-tourist-style vacation. The roads were often open and desolate, and other drivers polite, though frequently surpassing the speed limits...we saw at least one fatal accident in just 5 days of visiting.

However, that didn't dissuade me from piloting the Jeep across 300 miles of the Yucatan to get to the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, one of the largest and most mysterious of the excavated Mayan ruins. Their civilization was incredible, and their knowledge of math, astronomy, and building incredibly impressive. We hired a personal guide to take us through the ruins, and I highly recc that anyone traveling there do the same so that a lot of the intricacies of the site can be explained. If you have any interest from where you're sitting, read this Wikipedia entry HERE.

Neat stuff this past weekend! I hosted a small gathering for a stock shoot featuring a fine feathered collection of parrots. . .and the turnout was great. Here you can see a sun conure, a Major Mitchell's cockatoo, a black-capped conure, a white-bellied caique, and the largest of all parrots, a hyacinth macaw.

I had a steady stream of fun locals, all member of the Long Island Parrot Society, streaming into the studio for most of the afternoon. The birds were all well-behaved, interesting, and cooperative. A few (yes you, Bentley), even seem to be now familliar with me and my lenses, and are taking the time to do a few 'vogue' poses.

Thanks to everyone, both bipedal and feathered, for the shoot - the editors at you-know-where are asking for a few already, so I'll cross my fingers we get you into print in the magazine soon.

And how can I forget Oso. . .all 175lbs. of him? Oso came out to Port Washington this past weekend as well, for a full portrait workup in-studio and out. Oso is a Newfoundland, a breed that's large for a reason - he's a natural human lifesaver. Like other Newfoundlands, Oso had just about the sweetest disposition you could ask for, and was very cooperative in front of the camera. It took me a while to get used to his size - man, is that some dog. And his adoptive parents swear he barely eats a thing. . .

He was a little afraid of the steps going down from the studio shoot (ok, he was VERY afraid, as his hips have been giving him trouble), but he eventually made it down and out to a good park for romping, as shown here. Promise next time, Oso, we'll spare you those steps...if you remember to bring a bib.

This shot is from an editorial shoot for a local university magazine, and one I think worked out pretty well. The setting was an atrium, which we cooled using the digital white balance in the camera to a smooth blue, but left our subjects in warmer light. The leading lines and shapes, and even the ceiling fans, lent themselves to the compostion for an overall solid look.

That said, looking over this image and the past couple of dozen shoots is making me look at the results critically, searching for things I can be sure to improve on for the future. One thing I've pressed myself to do lately is not settle into a routine, as the idea of that scares me a little...I'd hate to look over a year's work and find the collection as a whole...stale.

So, I'll keep pushing to avoid that routine, and try to push my boundaries a little.

It's one of those weeks where the universe aligns itself, causing it to rain pugs. Likely an occurence as rare as Haley's comet, after last week's visit by Lucy Liu the pug, I photographed three more of the same breed in the past six days. . .what a great breed, and what a great time.

It started with the return of Deni Alexander Designs - this time with a fawn-colored Pug, Sushi - to make some additional shots for the advertising featuring the dress you saw last week (below). This time, when we wrapped, we made some additional images as shown above. . .some pretty swanky portraits, I think.

To take them a little beyond the norm we used a "beauty dish," which pretty much looks like a giant mixing bowl with a disk inside. Essentially, by making a bounced, indirect light source, it creates a lovely cone of contrasty light - don't you think?

Back in late November, when we covered the North Shore Animal League Gala, we also donated a portrait sitting to the League's silent auction. The winning couple of the auction (thanks for your generosity!) brought their two pugs into Port Washington to shoot their session, and we had a fun time (the dogs the most, I dare say) romping around the waterfront in Port Washington with late afternoon light to help us make the images. We went with a black & white conversion on many of them, as the grass was more brown than green this time of year, so kind of unattractive. I'm delighted to report our auction winners love the proofs, but now are so torn between color and b&w on the delivery prints that we're stalled while they decide. No problem - would hate it if they didn't like them at all, so take your time!

I also made my way over to the campus of NYIT for a shoot to provide photographs for their magazine, and had a history lesson in the process. We made the portraits in the de Seversky Center, an enchanting corporate meeting and catering locale. The house was built in 1916 for businessman and philanthropist Alfred I. Du Pont, and was the set for a few scenes from the 1981 film Arthur, starring Dudley Moore (I took my first date ever to that movie...so go on, do the math...it was 7th grade...).

Atbove-left is the new Director of Alumni Relations, Mr. Joseph Fortini. Mr. Fortini is a tall and charming man with a great sense of humor and clever wit, so in addition to having a great setting to make some nice portraits of him we had a little fun with the shoot, too.

Special thanks to the mag Editor Michael; Michael, I won't forget to dig up that Lucas item I mentioned...and thanks for everything.

Well I'll be - at left, see the cover of the just-published special issue of Popular Dogs magazine, which centers on Bulldogs. That's Munch on the cover, a pet photograph I made a few months back when with the pup's owner Deirdre and some other fine folks from the Long Island Bulldog Rescue group in St. James on Long Island. Dog photography was never so easy and fun as with this group, and the hits kept on comin' as one dog after another posed for the photos.

Munch received a double-whammy of good news this week; in addition to scoring the cover of the magazine, he was accepted to show at Westminster next month. Keep an eye out for him in the ring on Feb. 11. Good luck, Munch!

Here's another pet photograph we made here in Port Washington of Lucy Liu (no relation, best of my knowledge, to the film actor), a blue pug. Lucy Liu is donning a bridal gown, hot off the sewing machine, as designed by the utmost of cool Deni Alexander of Deni Alexander Designs. The photo will be used for a Bitch New York advertisement in Modern Dog magazine, so keep your eyes peeled for their Spring Issue.

Special thanks to Deni, who was a lot of fun to work with. Deni "gets it," if you know what I mean. . .so we had a lot of fun with the dry sarcasm and Ren & Stimpy references during the shoot. I'll have to get her together with pal Cherie at Ripe Art Gallery, as I'm pretty sure they're doppelgangers; can't wait to see what happens from a quantum physics standpoint when they try to occupy the same space at the same time.

Last but by no means least, here's a photograph from a family portrait session we did here on Long Island with Port Washington local Shari, her husband, and two great kids. The weather was warm enough for us to hit the beach for a few minutes in the fading light, which let us capture some wonderful, evenly-lit photograhs of them all.

I met Shari a few weeks back at her birthday party, which I also photographed, and in the process had a wonderful time meeting her friends and family. Speaking of, she needs to see the rest of her proofs from this shoot, so I have to sign off and get to work...

One quick note on the status of the photography industry and its relation to Copyright law:

Photographs, like any artwork, are protected by U.S. and International Copyright law the moment they're created. Diligent photographers send in their work to the Copyright office in Washington DC about once a month, myself included - and often, I'll also watermark them visibly as Copyrighted. Regardless, the metadata - the information embedded in the digital file - is also always there.

But, that doesn't always stop folks from swiping photo from the Internet, especially blogs like this one. And sometimes, the images will even be used commercially. So figure that - someone downloads a photograph without permission, then uses it to help bring in more business for their own profit. Not good. Not fair, either. Also, not legal. If you're bored, read the story in the Washington Post about some real horror stories, in a piece titled "Hey, Isn't that...."

Happy new year! After a quiet and relaxing holiday break, business as usual continues here - so imagine me cracking my knuckles and cleaning my lenses in anticipation of a wonderful 2008.

Just before the holiday, I paid a visit to regular clients at the Great Neck, Long Island law firm of Garfunkel, Wild, & Travis for some additional corporate-style headshots of their newest attorneys. The headshots were consistent with the rest of their website and promotional offerings, used for their guides and listings. With recurring work such as this, I like the familiarity of the offices, their welcoming staff, and the lighting setup we decided to use back when we started the project over a year ago.

The look is clean, the lighting focuses us on the face of the (primarily healthcare) attorneys, and at this point we have a nice routine down where setup and take-down of the gear is a snap.

As it's easier and easier for me as time goes on with something like this, it's also great for my clients who expect a similar if not identical photography product as we see each other again and again over time. I have more than a few regular clients, both commercial and family, that have me back (or send assignments) regularly to do their photography, and at the beginning of a new year it's always on my mind to say "thanks!" for both the business and the trust. It's always a pleasure.

On that note, I returned again to the offices of North Shore Animal League America in Port Washington to begin what will be a long-term project of photographing various "standard" types of pups for their American Mutt-i-Grees Club, a program the League is starting to help adoptive families bring some lineage to their new family member. Eventually the photography of the dogs will be used online and in print to help you figure out just what your "Mutt-i-Gree" dog's breed history may be! It's a fun project, and as usual a great time working with the fine folks at NSALA (thanks, Devera!).