Reichert Technologies recently hired me to photograph a number of images to introduce their most advanced Phoroptor® for a trade show and advertising campaign. While shooting this assignment, the marketing folks brought over some of Reichert’s collection of classic phoroptors.  “Just have some fun,” they said.  And, of course, I did. 

This blog post, the current billboards and some of the tear sheets in the Marketplaces section of the website are representative of this project.

Fruits and vegetables from my garden, summer roadside stands, and local farmers" markets make for healthy and delicious al fresco meals.  And, they inspire "found" art as well.

Trimania is a building-wide creative fundraiser for Buffalo Arts Studio. On one night, every three years, the entire city block long TriMain Center is overflowing with musicians, digital strategists, performance artists, creative agencies, dance troupes, fine artists, photographers and over 3,000 revelers celebrating the Queen City's diverse artistic community.

I was setting up for my open portraits session, "Kitchen Table Talks," when Marty Boratin stopped by my studio. Marty had booked the majority of the musical acts for Trimania so he was busy coordinating all the final arrangements for the evening. A spring ice storm, multiple county travel advisories and numerous "Hey, is Trimania still on?" queries were blowing up his phone. Nonethless, he agreed to be a test subject--as long as he could stay on his phone. This image of the ever affable, unflappable Marty, managing chaos from the kitchen table, was not the story I expected to capture, but certainly one that most of us recognize.

Reshoot…a word photographers dread.  But a recent “reshoot’ turned out to be a wonderful assignment.  It is not unusual for clients to request that architectual interiors be photographed prior to being occupied so the photographer can highlight the structure, rhythm and flow of the space.  The Martin Group, a full service, fully integrated communications agency, recently hired us to do just that.  The pristine, contemporary, and light-filled interiors of its new headquarters at 620 Main are amazing and a joy to photograph.  The architectural firm on the renovation, CanonDesign, requested the reshoot. Their architects wanted the same shots from the same perspectives but this time with people interacting in each space.  This image is one of my favorites from that reshoot.

I enjoy people and I want to know what makes them who they are.  I approach the individuals I photograph the same way.  For me, a portrait session is a conversation.  I usually don’t even decide how or where I am going to shoot until I meet my subject and we begin to chat.  As we converse, there is a gesture, a turn of the head, a fleeting expression that somehow, to me, in that moment, captures the essence of the individual.  If the timing is right, the lighting is set and the camera is focused, I click the shutter and that moment is preserved.

Location, location, location...I've been photographing decks and railings on the Northeast Coast of late.  The weather was stormy as several nor'easters tore up the coast but we were lucky.  The day of this shot, the skies cleared for one hour, and the wind and rain ceased at exactly the right moment to capture this view.

Hoist and lift manufacturer, Columbus McKinnon, wanted to feature their products as "wall art" for a new showroom and training facility.  I decided to shoot against a black background and light to emphasize the almost organic beauty of the forged metal.   The resulting images had the drama, compostion and "art" the client had requested while still featuring the rugged strength and utility of their products.

Frozen in time, the lodge is located on a snowy volcano in Hokkaido, Japan.  Walking through the rooms, it seemed the inhabitants had simply fled.  Fireplaces were stacked with wood and wedding albums were laid open on desks. Decay--artfully arranged by the wind and water that had swept in over the years--overwhelmed everything with ice and moss  Past and present, winter and summer existed in the same moment. It was an eerily beautiful, incredibly silent lost world.

An out take from a recent editorial assignment for Buffalo Spree Magazine. I wanted to photograph Jill Jedlicka, the organization's executive director, in the Niagara River.  I brought my chest waders--and Jill was more than willing to enter the now much cleaner waterway and demonstrate the progress made in restoring the natural habitat of the Niagara.  A different image from this series was chosen as the December cover for Spree's "People of the Year".

I photographed the Eternal Flame at Chestnut Ridge Park for an editorial assignment earlier this year. Western New York was experiencing a severe drought and though the flame glowed brightly, the waterfall was essentially dry.  When I returned this fall to photograph the Eternal Flame for the Chestnut Ridge Conservancy, several days of steady rain had fallen.   Late afternoon sun broke through the dark autumnal skies, the flame burned against the steely gray shale cliffs and water tumbled over the falls.  It was a magical landscape, captured at what photographers call  "the magic hour".