Feelin' the Sparkle!

I was at a Biggby Coffee this morning and there was a sign asking if you could "feel the sparkle".

So I took that as an invitation for some serious introspection.

Verdict: I'm feeling a little sparkly today!

Night Photography Workshops - Dates Announced

Here we go!  After a long two-year absence, I'm very pleased to announce two special night photography workshops this summer.  We'll be shooting two different stretches of the river downtown in case anyone is interested in attending both workshops.  

If you know someone who might enjoy shooting with me, please pass this link along to them. My workshops are open to all skill levels (beginners to advanced amateur).  Here are the dates:

Sunday, June 8

7:30-11:30 PM

Location: Museum Row, Lighted Bridges and Hotels along the Grand

or

Sunday, August 3

7:30 - 11:30 PM

Location: 6th Street Bridge and Fish Ladder

Group sizes are small; only 15 participants in each class.  The cost is $75 for each workshop and includes some refreshments.  A tripod is necessary and the workshop is open to both digital and film cameras.  After you sign-up I'll email you a detailed itinerary and further instructions.

Our workshops go like this, we meet at the gallery for the first hour to discuss technique, exposure and composition.  Then we head out as a group to the pre-determined location to shoot the sunset and then full blown night images as it gets progressively darker.

It's a ton of fun!  I'm your guide and personal instructor, bouncing from student to student chatting and helping you make some really cool images at night!

Give it a try!   Send me an email to reserve your space soon.

Equest Center - Therapeutic Riding

On a very muggy day last September I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours shooting for The Equest Center in Rockford. EC is a therapeutic riding center.

But you won't find therapists in white lab coats...gentle horses and ponies are the therapists here, thank you very much. The patients are children; great kids with any number of severe physical and mental challenges. To say I was moved wouldn't begin to describe what I saw there.

The horses are magical. They seem to know they carry especially fragile cargo as well as the weight of dreams on their shoulders...dreams of escaping gravity for a while. I watched kids who were contorted, twisted and confined to their wheelchairs begin to grow wings once placed up in the saddle. 

A few other kids appeared locked inside their own mental world; seemingly not connecting with humans. But they would begin to smile, laugh or shriek with joy as they rode their horse.

I haven't shaken the experience yet. It's been 7 months since I visited The Equest Center and I still feel inspired, grateful and heartbroken every time I see these photos.

Consider a small donation...they go through a lot of hay.

Back to Photography - Workshops!

Whew...I've definitely felt more like a music promoter than a photographer recently. I'm certainly not complaining but...HOLY COW...the last couple months of concerts, film premieres and shooting a concert DVD had me wondering where my fantastic day job had gone!

Actually, photography didn't really slow down at all, I just added concerts to my plate of fun things to do. Crazy? Yes...but FUN!

But it did get me thinking about other FUN things...I still get a pretty steady stream of emails this time each year inquiring about whether I'll be doing more of our popular summer photography workshops. But my busy schedule the last 2 summers had put these fun gatherings to talk and take photographs on hiatus.

So I'm excited to make a pre-announcement (is there such a thing?) about some very limited night photography workshops I'll be organizing in June and August. Basically our workshops go like this:

1. We meet at the gallery for an hour to look at some night photographs I've taken as well as go over some technical tips for shooting in the dark
2. And then, Viola! We head out into the night for 3 hours of shooting the lighted bridges, museums and hotels along the Grand River.
3. I'm your personal guide and instructor...and I bounce around from participant to participant chatting and helping you make great night images.

Sound FUN? If so, just shoot me an email at info@photographyroom.com and I'll make sure you get first dibs on the information and scheduled dates...no obligation. I'll probably only do a total of 4 workshops this whole summer so we should have a good turnout for each.  Oh, and even if you're not interested, pass along this page link to a friend who's a shutterbug!

I should be able to roll out the official dates next week sometime...so stay tuned!

Ryan Montbleau Band perform "This"

Ryan Montbleau Band stopped by The Photography Room on Thursday...incredible show.  If you missed it, let's just say you missed an amazing band.  Here's a clip of Ryan performing "This":

Ryan Montbleau Band - "This"

Glen Phillips at The Photography Room - Video 2

Glen Phillips at The Photography Room - I Still Love You


I only made one song request when Glen Phillips performed at the gallery...he was gracious enough to accomodate me even though he said he hadn't played it in a very long time.

The video's a little shakey at the start (people passing by) but from the sound of the song, it's seems to me like Glen pulled it off without a hitch!

The song is called "I Still Love You" and is off of his "Mr. Lemons" album released a couple years ago...it's a great record.

Video of Glen Phillips

I finally had some time to get at least one video up of Glen Phillips performing at The Photography Room.

I'll post a couple of additional songs over the weekend at www.myspace.com/thephotographyroom

Enjoy...just click the player below...this song is called "Finally Fading".

Glen Phillips at The Photography Room

Review of Glen's Show in The Grand Rapids Press

John Sinkevic is an excellent music critic for The Grand Rapids press. Check out his blog for a review of Glen's show last night as well as The Photography Room as a music venue:

http://blog.mlive.com/soundcheck/2008/04/glen_phillips_takes_a_walk_on.html

Glen commented to me last night that he thought the audience was really great and the whole night was special for him and his opener Jonathan Kingham. My email has been burning up today with nice compliments from people who came to the show..so thank you to everyone who came out and supported the show!

Glen Phillips Show - Incredible!

Man...it's very late (or early) and I'm still buzzing from a truly stunning show at The Photography Room with Glen Phillips and his amazing opener Jonathan Kingham.

The show was sold out and people were very happy to see Glen in Grand Rapids playing in such a small room. After the show I was approached by so many people telling me how much they loved our listening room. One person said, "These concerts at The Photography Room are the equivalent of watching your favorite artist play in your home...only with with a few extra friends you don't really know yet!"

Well said...that's the idea entirely. And with that I'm off to bed!

PS - I'll post some video of Glen performing tomorrow at www.myspace.com/thephotographyroom