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...?