Last weekend I was invited to return to The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, where they held their annual Open House and Recognition Day. It's always wonderful to see support at non-profits such as these, especially with their recipe for success. This year, the Lion's Clubs of the tri-state area were also present to donate funds raised on the Foundation's behalf.

They're always in need of puppy walkers and adoptive families, so please, if you'd like to help or donate some time, don't hesitate.

Above-left: two of the day's youngsters.

I had an exciting Thursday morning at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, making some portraits for an upcoming magazine piece. The subject of the shots was a marvelous Southwest Airlines ground manager, who was great fun and certainly a pleasure to photograph. She was also a fantastic and generous host , and gave us a 'behind-the-scenes at the airport' tour that I'll always remember and appreciate.

I was up at 4:00 a.m. for the shoot, as we had our very own Boeing 737 for a backdrop. Before the jet filled with passengers and flew into the friendly skies, we needed it for the images - meaning the shoot needed to wrap by 7:15 in the morning. Coffee is your friend.

Aside from a few gusts of wind that toppled our strobes, the shoot went without a hitch. The light was soft and diffused by clouds at that hour, perfect for letting us have more control with our own lights. I'll let our subject get around to choosing her favorite from the shoot, and perhaps post the results here on the blog at a later time. Meawhile, enjoy the behind the scenes shots here, where I'm the guy on the ground with the camera to his face, trying to get the subject and the jet's tail into the frame at the same time.

Thanks to everyone at Islip that morning - Rosa, Peter, and Lindsay...and thanks of course to Christi, at Southwest's PR office in Texas.