Sleep Brushing

Magali fell asleep before she brushed her teeth so Sara brushed them for her while she was asleep.

More of today's pictures: HERE

Magali Gets a Haircut

Magali has refused to get a haircut since Marc's wedding (June 14, 2005). Here's what she looked like then:



She's being held by Toby. Magali has changed shape a lot since then.

Anyway, she wouldn't let a barber do it so Sara had to. Magali also decided she wanted to keep her "curtains" or "jungle vines" and not get bangs. She doesn't really look all that different... just neater.

More of today's pictures: HERE

Sibling Rivalry

We haven't seen it yet.

Seriously.

More of today's pictures: HERE

Lensbaby- I Love Low Tech

My favorite piece of camera technology costs $150. It's a cheap little plastic springy lens that I use for a huge percentage of my shots, weddings included. It's called a Lensbaby (dumb name, I know). It is basically, a flexible tube lens that allows you to bend the plane of focus any way you like. You focus on an object by pushing or pulling the lens, then you can twist it away from the focal point creating amazing, dreamy shots. It is also very primitive and many shots look like pinhole or Holga cameras with strange light shafts and diffuse glows. Here's what the thing looks like:



And here are some wedding shots:







More of today's pictures: HERE

The Blues

My life can be mapped out into a series of focused obsessions. I become interested in something, say World War Two aviation, for example, and I study it to the exclusion of near everything else. I read every book, play every game, watch every movie, buy paraphernalia on eBay, until my next "thing" comes along.

There are also two constants- obsessions that never leave: music and visual art. Sometimes one of my "things" will merge with one of the two constants and then the intensity of interest almost forms it's own inescapable field of gravity.

In the past, for example, my visual art constant was sculpture and one of my things became gothic architecture- they merged into gargoyles. So I sculpted gargoyles for many years. I even had a little store in Cambridge where I sold them.

Usually, as was this case, unfortunately, my obsessions are uniquely non money making. I tend to be interested in things that people don't want to buy. Perhaps that is one of the aspects that attracts me... that nobody else seems to care.

Well, my latest thing is acoustic blues music of the 20s, 30s and 40s. I bought a steel guitar, started taking slide lessons from a New Orleans virtuoso, and got National Guitar F holes tattooed on my neck...

I've been learning these amazing tunes and just decided I needed to perform them so I bought a portable amp and set up outside the candy store in Harvard Square. Yesterday and today I played out in the baking sun and just had the best time. At one point, pictured above, Magali got some tuning pipes and started honking along with me. I bought her a harmonica on the way home that day.

The second picture above was actually shot by Magali (the first was shot by Sara). Magali and Dash seem to have inherited a little of both of my constants. They are both interested in music in different ways and they both love to draw and take photographs.

Photographs... that might be the one that makes money. More people are interested in weird black and white photography than I thought. This might be good for us :)

More of today's pictures: HERE

Discriminating Skunks Prefer PB&J With the Crusts Cut Off

Magali doesn't ever eat the whole sandwich. So she left it outside our sliding glass door on a bench. As I was locking up for the night I saw it and thought, "I'll just clean it up tomorrow." Then around 2am I saw a little something out of the corner of my eye. I grabbed my camera and took these very low light stealth images of this little guy.

Now, we live in Cambridge, Massachusetts which is a sizable city. We don't often see skunks so it was cool enough for me to wake Sara, "Hey Sara, sorry to wake you, but there is a skunk hanging out eating a sandwich outside our door. Do you want to see?"

Without a second thought she grabbed her glasses and leaped out of bed. I told her I was taking some pictures of it for the kids. She asked me to just not piss it off.

Let me share with you some wonderful lyrics to an old blues song by Barbecue Bob. It called "Black Skunk Blues"

I caught a pretty little animal
It was all stripy black and white
I caught a pretty little animal
It was all stripy black and white
What it done to me
spoiled me the rest of my life

I thought it was a squirrel
I took him into my camp
I thought it was a squirrel
I took him into my camp
When I put him down
all my clothes was damp

All the people around me
They give me plenty of air
All the people around me
They give me plenty of air
It was so dog gone strong
I smelled it everywhere

I never smelled a smell
That smelled so dog gone bad
I never smelled a smell
That smelled so dog gone bad
It was the worst old smell
Baby I ever had

I jumped into the water
I scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub
But I just smell stronger
Baby, the harder I rub

It was a dog gone pole cat
And he ain't no friend of mine
It was a dog gone pole cat
And he ain't no friend of mine
He had pretty little white stripes
But he ain't worth a dog gone damn

More of today's pictures: HERE

First Day of First Grade for Our First Born

Today was Dash's first day of first grade. We walked him and his friend, Ryan, to school.

I told Dash that when we got there I wanted him to cry and hug my leg and beg us not to leave him. But, just like the last two years of kindergarten, he basically went, "See ya." and dove right in.

Oh, well.

More of today's pictures: HERE

Rob Kanigel Pictures

This weekend I had the pleasure of shooting author portraits of my neighbor, Rob, for use in his next book. These were three of my favorites.

I asked him how creative we get to be and his answer is brilliant:

" How creative? If you conceive a spectrum between, at one end, the stiffest, most hopelessly formal corporate head shot you can imagine and, on the other, an almost unrecognizably loosey-goosy image that screams Art from every pixel or grain of silver, I'd say about two-thirds of the way towards the Art side; that, anyway, is probably where I'd be most comfortable."

I like to think we walked that line.

Our Babies Are Sick

This is just in case she needs to throw up... she didn't.



Both of our kids have a fever and have been in and out of bed all day- kind of walking around in a daze. Dash has gotten a lot better about this recently but some kids get all quiet and sweet when they are sick. And some kids do not.

Dash used to get furious when he was sick. When his nose got stopped up he would punch his nose over and over screaming, "It's not letting me SMELL!"

When he has an ear infection he hits his head and screams, "I'm going to PUNCH the PAIN out of my head!"

He argues and fights about taking medicine of any sort.

Magali is the opposite. She asks for meds and gets all cuddly and sweet when she's sick.

But, as I say, Dash has gotten a lot better about this and today he just wanted to snuggle and be read to. Can do.

More of today's pictures: HERE