web site update

If you haven't checked out my web site in a while it's probably worth a visit again.  I've added a brand new "Events" section with all new photos as well as sprinkled the other categories with images here and there.

...but if you've never visited before it will all seem incredibly fresh and new!

www.briankellyphoto.net

Waterfront Film Festival - Karma Generator is IN!

Holy cow...I received word today that our short film documentary called Karma Generator is an official selection of the prestigious Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck.  It will be screened twice at some point during the festival's June 12-15 run.

I wasn't sure what to expect when, on a whim, I submitted our entry a full day past the deadline (with permission).  But this feels pretty great!  My brother Brad and I worked extremely hard on it and being accepted to WFF validates our emphasis on creating more films together...because we make a pretty great team (if I say so myself).

Perhaps I'll post an entry soon about our next film project which starts shooting a little later this summer...but for now I'm tight as a drum!  All I'll say is that it's a feature length project and not a short.

So tonight I'm working on press kits for the festival and filling out a Director's questionnaire that asks me if I'm interested in boating, golfing, dune rides and jet ski's while I'm attending the festival.  Let's see...wait for it...OH YEAH!

Lux Land Concert was great

Lux Land performed at The Photography Room to a wonderful audience last Saturday.  It was a truly great show...quiet, moody, soulful and rich.  Lux was joined by slide guitarist extraordinaire Dan Matheny (of The Verve Pipe and Brian Vander Ark) and his contributions were fantastic.

We're currently in the process of booking some incredible national acts for the fall.  I can't wait to make some announcements in the next few weeks.

June 8 - Night Photography Workshop

The night photography workshop for Sunday, June 8 is starting to fill up nicely.  I do have several spots left but it looks like we're going to have a very nice group going out with me.

If you're interested in signing up, shoot me an email and I'll send you the registration form.  If you want to find out more about what my night photography workshops are like, please visit this previous post.

I'm always amazed to see how much fun we have on these workshops.  There's just something about a beautiful downtown and a common interest in photography that makes for great camaraderie and conversation.  Feel free to email me with any questions!

napoleon dynamite

Just had to post this.  I love the motion in the arm...pure poetry.  I must secretly love interpretive dance.

Designer Kathryn Chaplow

I had a great time shooting for Kathryn Chaplow in Cascade this week. Kathryn's one of the Midwest's top interior designers...based right here in good 'ol Grand Rapids. In the last year or so she's had several of her projects featured nationally in some of the country's top magazines...once you're inside a home that she's designed you can see what all the fuss is about.

I'm especially honored to be shooting for Kathryn's personal portfolio; meaning she's using the images we shoot for her web site and other marketing efforts. She really has the ability to work with anyone she pleases so it's been great to have access to such high quality homes. Thanks, Kathryn!

Japan and the mist

I found this photo yesterday from a 2004 Japan trip while moving files around different hard drives and thought I would share it here.

It was my first (and hopefully not last) trip to Japan.  I was often struck by the absolute calm and tranquility of the Japanese countryside that stands in direct contrast to the bustling energy of its larger metropolises.  This was shot at the Ise Shrine in the Mie Prefecture.

I had a very random and curious experience at this spiritual place with a young Japanese man.  He approached me quietly and after gaining my attention extended his had and gave me a sort of woven orange charm he purchased at the shrine as a spontaneous gift.  At first I thought he may have been a vendor or someone who wanted something from me.  But it was obvious he was just a pilgrim visiting the shrine.

When I asked him what the charm represented, he told me through an interpreter that the charm would bring health and spiritual protection to my unborn child. It struck me as odd since he was so specific about a baby and I'm a man and wasn't traveling with my wife. I bowed to thank him and he calmly smiled and meandered away down a graveled path into the misty rain.

Stranger still is that there was no way for him (or me) to know that my wife and I were about to become pregnant just a few weeks later.  Kathy was over 7000 miles away back home in Grand Rapids.

Could it have been just random luck that he sensed something and was inspired to give me a gift so specific to something that would come true just a short time later?  I was the only person this man approached...our interaction was so brief...it seems so surreal now.

Sparkle-ling out of obscurity

I started this blog on a whim last November not knowing if I would keep at it very long.  Or better yet if anyone would actually find it (much less read it).

That said, I've been amazed that people sometimes mention a specific entry when I bump into them in person. My stats page now says over 500 unique people stopped by in the last month and generated 1200+ page views. That's way more than I ever dreamed possible.

But my previous "Sparkle" post about a sign I saw in a Biggby Coffee shop illustrated how the web is both a vast wasteland AND a very, very small world at the same time.

"Sparkle" received a brief comment from the Co-founder and CEO of Biggby Coffee himself...can you imagine that? He's obviously a busy guy and focused on expanding his coffee empire (which I'm happy to help finance one cup 'o joe at a time).  He seems like a positive guy from his blog and for me it put a face to a fast growing Michigan-based franchise.

So just like that...we're connected in a small way.

I am very amused by all of this and the limitless connectivity of the web.  You never know who's out there paying attention (or stumbling upon) your site. Thanks for checking in now and then.  I'll strive to keep this little blog going.