Orchestra

This week I was asked to shoot several Orchestra performances. I am very uncultured in this area and I felt like a child who is trying to be quiet in church. Every where I look there are people glaring at me because I am a distraction - my faint shutter clicking being way too much for the trained, delicate ears of concert goers. It was not really that bad. I did have one old man shush me and wave his arms for me to leave. I thought it was perfectly classic! Old men are cool!

In the attached image, Pierre Laurent-Aimard is conducting from the piano bench, because he is intermittently playing the piano and then conducting - repeat. Wow.

Anyway, if I have not offended you and driven you away by now, you can follow the link to the article about the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. It is written by James R. Oestreich - who they say is kind of a big deal.

NY Times Article

Surfing Lake Superior

I shot this assignment in negative 6 degree weather, which seemed insanely cold at the time. This weeks negative 20's and 30's have given me a new perspective on cold and an increased desire to take my profession to a warmer climate. Anyway...

Today the NY Times ran the story Stephen Regenold and I did on Surfing Lake Superior. I have to say that this assignment was the most fun I've had in quite a while. I love surfing. To see surfing at all, let alone on a lake (!) was really pretty cool.

Do yourself a favor and go read the article. Great writing. I think my images held their own too... Make sure you view the slideshow, as it really gives you a better idea of what we saw. I think there are 8 more images in the slideshow.

Enjoy.

NY Times Article

Kids are cool: part 3

I really dig kids. Except naughty ones.

Loft living

Back in the late summer I photographed a loft property that was for sale. I used to dream about owning a loft and parking my motorcycle in it - maybe even putting a climbing wall in it. It would have been a great, adventuresome bachelors pad. These days I find myself wanting to get further from downtown, not living in the heart of it. In spite of that I really enjoyed shooting this loft and it did rekindle (if slightly) that love of concrete floors and high, white ceilings.

It is (was) on the market for $300,000 and is in the warehouse district of Minneapolis - 700 block of North Washington to be more specific. If you have the jones, I imagine that there are still lofts available. And you know, there has never been a better time to buy...

High Five Bicycles

I posted a little teaser image of a bike a few months back. It was a High Five brand. I Minneapolis based company that is doing custom order frames (and a few other things like wheels, etc...) for people who want to go fast. There are no plans for citizen, commuter bikes for High Five. It is all about racing, or at least going fast and aggressive.

Jason Prudhom is the man in charge of the operation and he rides a High Five road bike in Midwest events. His wife rides a High Five Mtn bike - and has ridden it to several podiums (Wins!) in Minnesota races. Here are a few shots of the zippy machines. If you are interested in a custom ride that nobody else has, and you like supporting the little guy, then High Five might be the way to go. If fate is kind to me, I might soon be the owner of one of these beauties myself!

Drop Jason a note if you'd like to hear more about them.

E: jsprudhom@gmail.com

Oh, and Happy New Year! Go 2009!