Remembering Gabe...

This morning at about 8:30am Eastern time my grandfather took a trip from this world to the great fishing cabin in the sky.  I got the news while in the car on the way to see him, and my sister for her birthday of all things.  It’s a terrible family tragedy, but at the same time he is now no longer in extreme pain from a very aggressive/severe abdominal cancer (his 3rd or 4th run-in with the illness, we kinda lost count).

My Uncle and Grandmother were with him when he passed, and that’s all I really know right now.  Other than of course it’s the little things that’ll be missed.  Examples being his methods of teaching my sister and I to share growing up by tearing some denomination of currency in half ($20 or $50 depending on what kind of mood he was in to watch us), and saying figure this out.  More often than not I just gave my half of the bill to my sister because if she was willing to deal with the bank on the ripped up bill, she deserved my half.  Never really knew what he thought of that solution, but it meant I didn't actually have to go to a bank which I was ok with.  (I hope my accountant doesn't read this as he'll probably mention that turning down money is yet another reason for him to call my profession a Hobby.)  Another classic moment of his were his one liner jokes which included things like, “A  bear shits in the woods...” Followed only by laughter.

I’d like to say he was a master of technology as I not only have received emails from him, but while I was in college he was on the AOL Instant messenger train and would talk via the computer regularly.  He was a firm believer that time wasn't to waste though and if he messaged me and I didn't respond within approximately 15 seconds he would assume I wasn't there and sign off.  If there was one thing I could say about his computer usage though, it's that he was always Virus free by the method of installing every anti virus software he could find to the point that it took approximately 45 minutes for his Vista Laptop to boot.  Despite that fact, he made sure that it was always off when he was done so that no viruses could get on there while he wasn’t closely watching it’s every move.

Another thing is that he was a big fan of his Minolta Film SLR that he used to this day.  He however was not my inspiration into photography, my grandpa Ted was.  Gabe however did enjoy the craft, and owned several cameras along the way including dozens $20 OpTikatechpixelmegafawangerawesome brand digital cameras and used them constantly to document life around him.  Above all though he wanted a cat, but my grandmother wouldn’t have it.  Every time he saw me he told me he was jealous that I had one, and it pains me that I was never able to introduce him to Cheeto in any form but via email.

Despite the things that I’ve said here seeming somewhat tongue in cheek, he was smarter than all of us.  His Vista PC cost him $200 and if they had more than one on sale that day he’d have bought two; just in case.  Sure beats the hell out of the Kidney Buttload of cash I paid for my Mac Pro, or Macbook Pro for that matter.  It was all he needed to email and pay his bills.  His $20 cameras couldn’t print anything poster sized, but they could print pictures of his grandkids for the refrigerator just fine.  Unlike 90% of the consumer market he knew what he needed, and wasn’t going to get something he didn’t.  Just like the bear in the woods, he knew that sometimes the little things in life were meant to be laughed at.  Despite how random, or how asinine things may appear it’s funny how it’s all a matter of perspective.  Last weekend I saw him in the hospital and when we walked in my grandmother asked him if he knew who I was to which is response was simply; “What are you, Stupid?  Marc, sit down…”  Feisty until the end.  He will be missed.  More Soon.

5 minute portraits...

So many times, people have said they wished they had all the time in the world when it comes to taking photos of people while shooting a portrait.  Family photographers sometimes feel that an hour or an hour and a half isn't enough time.  Ironically though, in a lot of cases I wish I had 15 minutes, much less an hour.

(Nikon D3s, 320ISO, Nikon 85mmF1.4D, 1/60th@F1.6.  Single SB-900 Speedlight inside of a 16" FotoRosa Softbox to camera right with a Half CTO on it.  Speedlight was set to iTTL-0.3 and was fired by an SU-800 Speedlight Commander on the camera)

That's Thijs.  Cool Cat. Loves to argue though, and Boy have we argued.  Not like, intense upset at each other argue, but more along the lines of debate.  One of his favorite past times is picking a topic and debating it.  Don't get me wrong I'm all for a good debate, but dang he loves it.  Took this for him and his Company Ultrasun USA (and Ultrasun International) last week.  He doesn't come to the States very often, but when he does he has things to do.  After I got there he had about 5 minutes for us to shoot photos, which is what we did.  I've done work for their company for some time now, and we get along.  He is comfortable with me, and I with him and that comfort level is something I wish I had with a lot of people that I've shot photos of because interaction and comfort level is important to snapping a good frame.  

Believe it or not though, this is relatively normal when it comes to someone that is anybody.  Not that families aren't anybody; hear me out.  I spend several days a month shooting in active retired communities, and holy cow these people are active.  In fact, in the last string of days I spent out at one of these places, I didn't even get the peoples names.  The PR person wanted to handle all of it, and Hey... Who am I to argue with easier for me?

(Canon 5D Mark II, 500ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@19mm.  1/30th@F7.1.  Canon 580EX SPeedlight set to 1/16th inside of a 16" FotoRosa Softbox to above camera left fired by Pocket wizard.  Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/32nd power zoomed to 70mm sitting on the kitchen floor aimed at the ceiling for a little bit of illumination. Also fired by Pocket Wizard)

That's Linda Wirth, a resident at Del Webb Active living community on the north side.  I probably could have taken longer with her than I did (after all I was in, set up, and out in 15 minutes...), but it was a straight forward assignment.  I needed to illustrate her in the house that she fell in love with .  This isn't the photo that ran, but this was my favorite out of the group.  Lots of shoots that I've done shooting or Del Webb have only lasted 15 minutes or less.  It can be crazy stressful, yet gratifying when done correctly.

(Canon 5D Mark II, 125ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@26mm.  1/160th@F11.  Single Canon 580EX Speedlight on a Stand to camera right zoomed to 105mm at 1/2 power aimed right at his face fired by pocket wizard. )
That's John Ditslear, the Mayor of Noblesville Indiana.  This isn't the final photo for this shoot, but I liked this one best.  Part of my assignment was to shoot the Mayor in front of City Hall, which could have been a nightmare since the sun was coming up over the building that morning.  If I had my Nikon gear I'd not have thought twice about it with the TTL, but Manual Flash out of  my Canon Speedlights saved the day.  Just in case though, I also shot him in his office. In Total his would have been a 15 minute or less shoot except that the Mayor popped a button off of his jacket and his assistant had to fix it real quick.  It gave us a few minutes to chat, and tell a few jokes (no no, not the Laffy Taffy jokes.....ok well maybe).  He was very personable and we got along which as I said; is important.  Being comfortable with your subject makes for great photos.  In fact at the end of the shoot he confessed that there is no such thing as the key to the city, but he gave me the closest thing to it; which was a Noblesville medallion with his name on it.  More Soon.