Top of the Gulfoss in Iceland

Top of the Gulfoss in Iceland, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Ah yes, the golden hour. Sometimes it can seem like the golden moment however. I clearly remember exploring the coast of Oregon during one of these windows of photographic opportunities when it seemed as if the sun was dropping from the sky like a bowling ball! Another chapter in "chasing the light" for sure.

As a photographer, you become quite intimate with this special time of the day......those precious moments of pristine light that seem to paint just about any subject with a quality of luminance that seems to vanish just as fast as it appears.

While visiting Iceland in May, I noticed that these golden moments seemed to last quite a bit longer, making those evenings a little less stressful. After all, this is supposed to be a fun pursuit, isn't it?

Well, I can only imagine the hours of light that the fortunate few photographers are being treated to about now over there. If I am not mistaken, there are about 20 hours of sunlight a day, making that golden hour a really long one at that!

Deep thoughts about days past

Deep thoughts about days past, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Depending on your perspective, it can be downright creepy or as I like to see it, fuel for the imagination. As life flies past us and we try to keep up with our lives while focusing on the moment and perhaps the immediate future ahead, it's sometimes nice to stop and unplug. I did just while at a photo workshop up in the San Juan Islands last year. While peaking into this old wreck, I tried to imagine what might have been part of the history of this dilapidated structure. Mind you, I have always seen the beauty of decay, but the feeling I was trying to connect with had nothing to do with the physical place. What celebrations had possibly occurred here. Was it a summer getaway for families to reconnect, tell stories by the fire, or get to know each other again. Did the old place house some sort of summer camp filled with youth creating fond memories for days ahead. If you really get a chance to slow down and "feel" the location, you can almost hear the voices. Truly, if these walls could talk (or at least whats left of them), I would love to listen :)

Icelandic ground cover

Icelandic ground cover, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

As much as I liked bouncing about on this spongelike moss covered turf of the Icelandic terrain, I soon realized that it was possibly not the brightest thing I could have been doing. Apparently, this stuff seems to reach out and kind of bridge the gaps left between the sharp edged volcanic rocks that make up this island. With a little imagination, you could almost realize where I could have been spending a few long days yelping out cries of despair as I continue to tighten the tourniquet that prevented the open laceration of my leg of pouring all of my blood through the open wound. (geez Mike, we could have done without ALL of that. Nice image, but my gosh!)

Timelapse Tuesday - View from the new balcony

Timelapse Tuesday - View from the new balcony, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So, I had a crazy idea........

Before my move a couple of weeks ago, I had a vision of a little movie to put together. It was for-seen as an art-piece or kind of a docudrama with time-lapse sections and narration from yours truly about the move. Of course, if done how I envisioned it, was gonna take 4 camera bodies (2 at the old place and 2 at the new one) capturing thousands of images that I would eventually have to chop into a viewable piece. Well, hope you like the concept, because that all the further it got. Once I started packing a few things up, the momentum kicked in and the project was quickly aborted. So, anyway.....

Tonight's "Time-Lapse Tuesday" is from the balcony of the new pad. I have always wanted to have a safe and somewhat weather resistant place to setup the tripod and experiment with this art-form. I am sure that this is not the first one I will be doing from here. Here is a still HDR from the set. For the flickr folks, the link is below while the blog has the youtube video embedded. Let me know what you think. Its an HDR time-lapse prepared with about 7000 or so images!

Before I actually moved in, I did take a few shots of the raw space. I love the openness of the floor plan. Perhaps some "after" images will find there way to the blog soon. Hope you like the time-lapse. I really like the new diversion and challenge! I have a few ideas brewing so see you next "Time-Lapse Tuesday!"

A late night walk to the hotel in Buenos Aires

A late night walk to the hotel in Buenos Aires, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

For me, its quite obvious that the effects of a sour economy have kinda dampened what could have been an active summer. By this time last year, I had events (and a little personal time) lined up in Boston, Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, Greensboro, Minneapolis, Denver, Oregon, Washington, Napa, Key West, San Francisco, Greensboro, Key Largo, and Miami. This summer? Well, not quite so much to put it bluntly. I'm not complaining, I'm just appreciating what I had the opportunity to do. Outside of the economic opportunities that I enjoyed, I must admit that it was great fun capturing those trips with the camera. This one was taken during one of those late night wandering sessions with one of the guys from the crew as we scoured the neighborhood around the hotel well past midnight in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the skewers and skewers of meat they constantly feed you down there, a late night walk is well needed, thats for sure!

Son et’ Lumiere Sunday - Details from a wedding

Son et’ Lumiere Sunday - Details from a wedding, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So, Ive decided to add a weee bit more structure to my blog posts starting this week. Last Tuesday I started what I hope to be a weekly post of time-lapse projects I have recently been playing around with. Time-lapse Tuesdays shall serve up a weekly sampling of these experimental pieces. Tonights little launch is intented to be a weekly serving of images from events that I am either currently working on or have never had a chance to display. These Sunday evening posts will from here on out be refered to "Son et’ Lumiere Sundays." This phrase is one that I have always liked as it means sound and light show in French. Although, the majority of the events I work on are more of a synergy of various artisans and designers in other areas as well, lighting, sound, and electronic scenery is our specialty.

For this event, a wedding, the beauty is always in the details. Before expanding out to the larger view of the room and its treatment (for some other week), I would like to zoom in a bit close and enjoy the details that the designer created.

I used a new template idea for the top 3 images as I like these types of layouts. I like how the groups of pictures seem to create more of a complete picture and story to the scene. Although I am far from proficient in this look, I have always liked it, as seen in many travel and bridal magazines (aahhh, not that I look at a lot of Bridal Magazines, but you get the picture.)

If you have ever visited this blog before, you know that I create a lot of saturated and slightly over the edge processed HDR looks. These types of events, especially this last season, have given me a lot of opportunities to explore a more soft side in my search for images and subjects. That time before the doors open for the guest is the time I kinda feel like a kid in a candy store bouncing about the room with tripod (my gosh, that sounded stupid, didn't it?)

The first layout above is a sampling of some of the beautiful table details. Nothing is overlooked here in this cohesive design. The bride had a love for lavender and was the driving force in the color and feel of the flowers, linen, and lighting. The cake, as detailed in the second image, is one of those things that I often wonder if most of the guests get to appreciate. The intricate pieces of icing and texture were fun to explore with the camera. I guess that took my mind off of wanting to grab a fork and dig in (my gosh, could you imagine the horror upon finding a gouged chunk of cake removed from the back side by a hungry lighting designer? I often have....hehehe). While walking thru the cocktail area on my way out to the car before the guests arrived, I couldn't help but grab a couple of details shots of the sushi. Once again, I had to fight the urge!

The pastel lavender color the bride loved so much was a predominate player in the lighting design scheme we created. Look for some more images from the event soon (perhaps next week) on another Son et' Lumiere Sunday!

Fireworks from Flagler in West Palm Beach, FL

Fireworks from Flagler in West Palm Beach, FL, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

My original plan was to head down to the waterside with an insane amount of gear, tripods, cable releases, and memory cards only to have to sit down later and sort the shots, tweak in photoshop and post the best. Well, the days plans changed and I ended up watching the fireworks kicked back with my daughter and a blanket on the lawn. Pictures? Well, just this casual one with the Iphone. And for me, this one has ALOT more meaning than what I original had in mind :) Good times.....

Happy 4th everyone!!!

Checking in at the Shangra-La

Checking in at the Shangra-La, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

My post this evening has us taking a little trip back to a place I was a few months ago in the wonderful city of Singapore. The reason I decided to grab these out of the file and throw out there to the world has a bit to do with a little lecture I went to last night. The guest speaker at the South Florida Camera Club was a well known local architectural photographer named Jerry Rabinowitz. A great photographer and entertaining speaker! His clients such as Architectural Digest, Florida Design, and Mara-Lago demand quality and realism out of his work. I often start my images out that way, yet frequently go down that road of slight surrealism in the processing. I guess that's ok though, as my client is, .... well....., me :)

Click on each of these to take it to a larger view on black! The detail is pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I remember running about this lobby like a kid with my tripod and kit. The marble, glass, light, and details were a perfect combination for my style of HDR work. As I have said before, some people love it and some absolutely HATE it. Impressionism was also heavily disliked in France in its early years. I suppose all art movements are fought with a little resistance at some level or another.

Atop of the hotel, there was a cool little patio just off of an area that was used for the VIP breakfasts. It had a very hip kinda feel to it and was a nice place to wake up to the vibrant city of Singapore at sunrise. Of course, you have to plan about 15 minutes for the fog to burn off your lenses before a shoot as it is HUMID there! I have a few more from this trip to post someday, so stay tuned :)

Waiting for the God Beams in Iceland (and getting a clearer picture of the future)

Waiting for the God Beams in Iceland (and getting a clearer picture of the future), originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Life sometimes has a way of throwing you a curveball ..... what seems like a sneaky pitch, but a pitch you have to face head on. Even after a strikeout however, the seasoned batter takes the bench in stride and reflects. What went wrong, will he get to bat again in this inning, perhaps he needs a break for a couple of innings to get his game strategy on focus, or is he perhaps missing what the game is all about? By the way, I'm not sure where all this baseball talk is coming from.....hmm, guess I just feel like rambling out a few thoughts.....

A few years ago, about 25 actually, I embarked on a career. There were, and still are, a million things I love about this career. As a special event lighting designer and business owner, I have had the good fortune of working creatively and in synergy with countless colleagues all over the country. In this crazy and sometimes round the clock environment, I realized early on that I was about to lead a very lopsided life. As my dad used to always say, work hard and play hard. I soon adapted the same philosophy. As what I did was quite seasonal, I adapted quite early on, a concept of seasonal work. From about November to April was the crazy time. Countless late nights in the warehouse, drafting table, event sight, loading dock....wherever ...thats just what it took. The balance in exchange for this chaos, was a time to recharge over the summer. Starting in the late 80's, I decided to embrace a rather unique way to recharge and refocus. Just me, a backpack, an unlimited train pass, and Europe! What started out one year as a 2 week sabbatical, quickly blossomed into a 2 month yearly journey. For me, there has never been anything quite like a long train ride thru France, or perhaps a ferry ride between Greek Islands to get your perspective back on track. New ideas, creative visions, and plans had a time and place to grow. This annual summertime escape was what got me thru the insane season. And so, the seasonal focus of my company continued for several years, and that's what worked best for me. So, what happened?

Well, for better or worse, life changes. Relationships begin, focuses change, new responsibilities come into the game, you expand your vision, you work harder and harder for what you think is your future, and in my case.....you totally forget about yourself. Yeah, you somehow put your own freakin life on the back burner! Of course, its not all bad when the relationship goes well, because somehow thats all part of the investment. But if it doesn't work out, soon after it severs, and you dig a bit deep, you can start to wonder why you compromised so much of yourself and your own personal vision for so long. Yeah, maybe a bit too deep here, not sure.

So, to put it in plain English here, the sagging economy has forced me to make a few decisions. Actually, a major one was made a couple of months ago. What used to be only a seasonal workforce with my business, eventually, as other circumstances demanded, grew into a full time staff. I never planned it that way, it just kinda happened. That seemed to go well for a few years. This recent recession, however, forced me into laying off the staff for the summer except for a couple of small projects. I use the word staff, but I use it with much hesitation. I think the proper word is Team. It was a hard call to make as every member of this "Team" has a very special life and circumstance that has now had to adjust to a new focus and future. I can't hardly thank them for all they have done for me and this company.

As I know that my little company is but only one in possibly thousands throughout this country and perhaps the world that has had to adjust, I still must think of myself. I have taken this recent down time to begin recharging and reinventing myself through a deeper investigation into self growth books and CD's. I have also been getting caught up on some reading on subjects like trend predictions, business strategies, and creative processes. I hope to incorporate some of my findings and thoughts into some future blog posts as I continue on my personal journey of discovery.

Perhaps I was on to something in my early years in business in my "European" approach to life and work. A current trend in employment strategies is that of project based or freelance agreements. The film industry is a great example of that. Another word for this is the "Business Colony." In this business model, talent such as directors, cameramen, makeup artists, etc. swarms and forms around a specific project. Once the project is complete, the workers swarm and form around anther project. Perhaps this might be the new model for me? I have a lot to consider, thats for sure. Perhaps a little peak into the past can provide a clearer vision for the future.

Reflections in the rain - Reykjavik, Iceland

Reflections in the rain - Reykjavik, Iceland, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Rain is one of those "perspective" kinda things. Its all in the eye of the beholder. As a photographer...my mind's eye sees reflections and another layer to the dimension of the image. As a lighting director and provider of illumination for events, well, lets just say that water and electric don't play all that well together.

As I listen to the soft rain from my patio this evening, I considered heading to Cityplace with my tripod, but since they seem to like harassing the DSLR and tripod toting photogs like myself (regardless of the hundreds of dollars spent there), I think I'll just promote Iceland instead. As was the case in this scene while wandering thru Reykavik looking for reflections, I was never hastled at all. But 2 blocks from my own residence, were I contribute to the local economy on a regular basis.....a totally different story. Have fun driving around in your little golfcarts ya overzealous security jackass's!

Wow, that feels better.....

Thanks :)