Kung Hei Fat Choi

Once again, Chinese New Year is upon us. A few years ago I spent a day in New York City's Chinatown making pictures of the celebrations, the first day and the last day. I was lucky to make a contact who was able to get me inside the bars (marchers at the front of the parade use wooden bars to push back the crowds that would otherwise overwhelm the lion dancers). One of the guys in the parade was a telephone installer who had participated in the installation of a PBX network for one of the major stock picture companies (not the one I'm contracted to) and as soon as I mentioned I was shooting for stock, that was it, I was in! You really can't get better luck than that.

So I spent the better part of the day walking backwards and making lots and lots of pictures of the parade. My assistant kept feeding me loaded cameras with different lenses and flash units with fresh batteries so I could shoot really fast and I wouldn't have to do anything but concentrate on making pictures. The photography went very well, I got some great stuff.

I also nearly got my foot blown off! Doug was so busy changing film and lenses and keeping everything in the bag in the bag, that he never warned me (I guess because he didn't notice) that I was standing on a mat of freshly lit firecrackers. Not only was there a lot of noise under foot, but there was this burning sensation as well. By the time I realized what was happening it was all over... my left foot was both burning and soaking wet. The firecrackers had blown a huge hole in the sole of my left boot (I was wearing Timberlands with very thick soles) and the street was wet from a recent snowfall.

I guess it's just part of the cost of doing business.

Welcome To The Colonel's Kitchen

It's been a month since I was last here, so if you're wondering where I've been...

Well... after a generally sedate fourth quarter of 2006, business in the new year has taken off like a rocket. Can't really complain about that, I've been busier in the past two months than I would have imagined.

Last year I finally committed to "going digital," and I spent quite a while getting myself oriented. It was really difficult for me to abandon the film-based workflow that has sustained me in my craft since I was just a kid, but in the first five weeks of 2007 I've finally arrived in the digital world. Film, for me, is a thing of the past. While I did only a small portion of my work digitally last year, I'm done with film, I'm gone, my feet are firmly planted in the world of digital photography.

I've most recently taken the cameras, lights, meters and laptop on a tour of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, photographing for the company that makes the tables, chairs, booths, counters, signage, etc. As my client told me about the KFC in Williamport, Pennsylvania: "We need a great image of the front counter, we made everyting from the floor to the ceiling."

My M.O. was to be in the restaurant as early as possible, generally arriving around five o'clock in the morning, doing my work and being packed-up and in the wind before the first customer walks through the door at ten thirty. Can you believe it? People are eating fried chicken at ten thirty in the morning? Neither can I.

My motto throughout: Don't eat the food!