A Birthday Party AND Bowling. . . . . I'm In!!!

This is the only social event this winter where striking out with the ladies is a good thing! Hope to see you there!

Thanksgiving In The New Millennium

I can't remember the last time I went home for Thanksgiving. It must have been in the 90's. I think Milli Vanilli were big at the time. This Thanksgiving was no different (except for the music, I was a big fan of Milli, not so much Vanilli). I did, however, spend it with my family via ichat. This was a new thing for my nephew Karl who got a real kick out of seeing his uncle on the computer, that is until he saw himself, then the idea of making funny faces trumped talking to his namesake. Erik was nice enough to draw me a race car and actually make me the driver! I was flattered. Lauren was a little shy but I think appreciated the fact that I at least made an appearance. And finally Josef, fresh from a bath, said hello with hair even Don King had to admire. Boy that kids got alot of hair!

Each Thanksgiving I spend some time thinking about where I've been, where I am currently, where I want to be, and what it's going to take to get me there (boy, that's alot of thinking!). I want to thank everyone who has supported me in all my endeavors this past year, and hopefully I have been of some support to you as well. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

"Real" New Yorkers

I always considered NYC to be it's own living, breathing creature. Hey, it even expels gas in the form of steam all around the city! I was always fascinated by how New Yorkers can walk up and down the streets and pass within millimeters of each other without touching. I actually list this as something I appreciate about New York! You can walk down Park Ave at rush hour and watch people basically dance their way up the street moving ever so slightly, just an inch back with a shoulder, to avoid an oncoming pedestrian. I realized this was a skill "real" New Yorkers possessed when I returned from a long trip once, and on my way from the taxi to my apt I bumped into 3 people. I was out of practice. There is one more thing that "real" New Yorkers do, or should I say don't do. They don't stop in the middle of the sidewalk. You can witness a New Yorker as they are walking down the street check quickly behind them, then veer off to the side to tie their shoe or make a phone call. No one wants to get run over. This all being said, it was my observation that there are no "real" New Yorkers in Soho the day after Thanksgiving.

Kickin' It Old School

There is this fantastic series currently running on the channel Ovation. I think its channel 83 on cable. It's called "The Genius Of Photography". It runs like a PBS documentary on the history of photography, kinda ala Frontline. Actually this week is photography week on Ovation. I taped 6, 1 hour long episodes last night alone, and they are having a marathon tomorrow. Very exciting. So in honor of photographic history, I give you the above image via Polapan. Also, I've been listening to alot of old school R & B recently which also has had an effect on my shooting. The Delphonics, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The O'Jays, The Spinners etc. One more thing, how amazing did Cyndie do the hair and make-up! She rocks!

Tony Manero, Look Out!!!

I have a few tips for my fellow iphone users in Manhattan or any other major metropolitan area. First, do not watch any comedies, be it movie or tv show, while riding the subway. You know the guy on the 6 train that is laughing by himself? Yep, that would be me. Second, it is impossible not to walk in NYC (while listening to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gee's) and not strut like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. I kept wondering while I was getting all these looks on Park Ave. For a minute I thought I was cool. . . . . . . . . . yeah, not so much. Above is one more image from Mikel's Shoot.

Following In Bruce Weber's Footsteps

As some of you might know, when I moved to NYC I worked for Bruce Weber. Bruce saw something special in Mikel to basically make her the face of Abercrombie. You can currently see her on the Abercrombie shopping bags and all throughout the store . . . . . . . . . oh, and here on my blog. Now it's my job to transform her from Bruce's "girl next door" to let's say Karl's "the girl from the wrong side of the tracks". I was asked to shoot her yesterday, and who else to give her a new, cool, raw image than yours truly. You might actually recognize her from the backstage section of my website, (she leads it off). I knew she looked familiar when she walked in the door, but I just couldn't place her.

Rap Charts and Graphs

Calling all math nerds who are into hip hop. If you go to the site, click on the graph for the corresponding video explanation.

News And Notes

5 things I learned this past weekend.

1. Just because I enjoy Rammen noodles doesn't mean I'm struggling financially. Mom, you don't have to send me money, your son's doing fine. I just enjoy the taste that's all.
2. I have the best roommates ever! Michelle made chocolate chips and Holly made chocolate pudding pie. Guess who reaped the spoils of their labor.
3. "It's always Sunny. . . " has, (in my own mind) made it socially acceptable to not shave and lounge around my apt. in my long johns. Thanks Charlie!
4. The only problem with 500 thread count sheets is you never want to leave your bed. Luckily, I can do most of my post production on my laptop.
5. The lighting I used in the above photo is the direction I want my photography to go. Raw, clean, simple and understated. Like me!

People, They're The Worst

So I'm on my way home from a hard days work, (you know where this is goin') and I approach the Subway, (sandwiches not trains), and as I approach the door, I notice there is a guy close behind me also heading into Subway. I open the door, and as I do for most everyone, proceed to let him ahead of me. First let me start by saying there was no thank you for holding the door open, then, can you believe this guy walks right up to the counter and proceeds to immediately order 3 footlong subs, all different, without letting me go ahead of him. He knew I held the door open so he could go in, the least he could do is motion to me to see if I want to go ahead and order. Now here's the good part. I am always very nice to the guys that work there, as I am to anyone who handles what I'm about to put into my mouth. They even reach far in the back to get the softer bread for my sandwiches, pretty sweet I know. Anyway, as this dude belts out his order, the man behind the counter says to this guy, " Excuse me, but I believe he was here first." pointing to me. This jerk turns to me and gives me this look and I go right ahead and order my turkey sub. Now, did I take my sweet time ordering what I wanted them to put on my sandwich? You bet your ass I did! Unfortunately, that was the only thing I could think of at the time to make his ordering process a pain. You know what, it actually gave me some satisfaction. Trust me, you don't want to get on my bad side, I might go crazy and make you wait 30 seconds for someone to put pickles on your sandwich. I'm such a bad ass.

Jeffrey Lewis "East River"

Even More Anja And Sabina

Anja and Sabina cont.

Alright, Anja (the blonde) is Dutch, and Sabina is Swedish. Anja is good friends with another Danish model I know Mia, who is good friends with my old roommate Matt Oliver. And thats how small the world is. I don't really have a connection to Sabina other than she is Swedish and my best friends from College were Swedish. But thats like saying "Oh, you breathe air, I breathe air too, what a coincidence?!!!" I am very excited about going through the images today. It's a cold and rainy Saturday, I'm going to make a big bowl of soup and edit images. Good times. . . . No seriously, good times. I love this kinda stuff. You know what would make this even better, yep, you got it, renting season 1 and 2 of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Sweeeeeet.

Anja And Sabina

One girl is from Denmark, the other from Sweden, and I bet you can't tell who's who? I explain tomorrow. Right now I'm ti-red.

Things I've Learned Living In NYC

You may see these entries every once in awhile. They will be short and sweet, and may make no sense at all, or they could be very thought provoking and deep. (Oh, I'm deep!) Either way, they are just things that I've noticed living in NYC, (besides the smell of urine. I mean it's pretty amazing and sad that since moving to NYC I can tell the difference between animal urine and human urine, totally disgusting I know, but true). Anyway, here is the entry for today.

As you know I tend to frequent the Whole Foods in Union Square. For those of you who haven't been there, at check out, they have multiple lines that people wait in, and when a register number is called, a person from the first line proceeds until the next number is called, then a person from the next line proceeds, and so on, and so on. So there are about 10 lines that people wait in. Since moving to NYC, I've gotten real good at observational addition. I can survey the lines and quickly add up how many people are in each line and find the shortest line to enter, often noticing people who are together and having the foresight to count them as one. Shaving possibly a whole minute off my line time! Impressed? Probably not. But try it next time you are there. And try it at lunch time, I mean, adding up to 2 or 3 is easy, but try adding 7 or 8 people in each of 10 lines at a glance! Then you'll see how much of a skill it is! . . . . . . I am such a loser.

What's New?

Working on new treatments for my photographs. I will be testing alot in the next few weeks now that my travels have subsided and all the models are back from Europe. Look for more tonal range in my upcoming work including images utilizing the process depicted above.

Please Don't Grab The Bull By The Horns!

As you all have seen, I dressed as a bull rider for Halloween complete with an inflatable bull between my legs. Good times were had by all, that is until some of the neighborhood kids decided that it would be fun to punch the bull, over, and over, and over again. OK, so here is the problem with that. Some very important parts of my anatomy are behind that bull. Now I can take those little fists of fury for awhile, but I too want to take my own kids trick or treating one day and repeated punches to the groin can't be beneficial in the long run.

On a less painful note, I took the kids today to see Bee Movie and then to McDonald's. I figured it was what amazing uncle's do! I think I enjoyed the movie more than they did. It seemed like all they wanted to do was go get a "happy meal" and play in McDonald's playland. You can learn alot about parenting from little excursions like these. Like in the future, don't tell the kids about McDonald's until the movie is over. And next time you decide to wear an inflatable anything between your legs, wear some sort of groinal protection.

The trick or treat action shot above features Erik as Lightning McQueen and Lauren as Ariel.

Ladies Man

Looks like that lady bug's got her eye on my nephew Karl. I told you he takes after his uncle. . . . . . . Now I wonder where I can find an adult size, full length tiger costume? Hey, I'm sure some girls are into it.

Just In Case

Just in case any of you were wondering what I looked like when I was 2 months old, (and I know that's all you think about). Here is the newest addition to my brother's family, Josef.