Yay! New pictures!

Shot this one 20 minutes ago on the train tracks.  Got in the door 5 minutes before the rain started.

Ok, I know it looks like I jumped back to “Nature,” but this weeks theme just happens to encompass some nature photography: Macro photography.

Macro photography involves using a very good lens with a very short focal distance.  Since you can focus on things that are very close to the lens, you can make tiny things appear very large.  Macro is a very detail oriented branch of photography – catching fine textures in wood grain and textiles, capturing half of the face of a tiny statuette, really bringing attention to the minutest details in the world around us. I do most of my macro work with a fairly long 105mm f/2.8 Nikkor-Micro.  I recently acquired a set of close-up filters as well, so now I can do some macros with my 50mm f/1.4, too!

Today’s image is out from deep storage, going back to ’09. I shot a wedding on Saturday and I helped my mother-in-law move on Sunday, so I just barely had time this weekend to dig this up, much less create any new images, but I aim for all the rest of the PotD’s this week to be new work, shot the day of then processed and published to all of you.

The Spirit of Union Depot

One of the best guitars I’ve ever heard!  This is my buddy’s Breedlove.

Seems an appropriate name for a guitar.

Dustin Lee

From Dustin’s website:

Dustin Lee is an American singer-songwriter hailing from Fort Madison, Iowa.  Currently living in Minneapolis, he has just released his second full-length solo album, “This Is How The Story Goes.”

Special thanks go out to Dustin and his band, who played a benefit gig this past weekend in Minneapolis at Aster Cafe, where I took this picture.  I was in attendance on Saturday to help support MusicWorks MN - a non-profit organization that promotes the creation of new music, because music is good for you and is best when shared – of which I am a board member. And, since I wasn’t playing… I was shooting (those tend to be the two options at these events). Tim, my friend and the executive director of MusicWorks opened for Dustin.

I got a few shots of Tim playing, but I didn’t notice the mirror on the wall til after he was done.  As it turned out, you can get the “Aster” lighted sign framed in the mirror along with the frontman of whoever is playing if you play the angles a little. I was also given to understand that Dustin plays Aster Cafe with some regularity, a pic of him with the sign might be appropriate.  Took a few tries, but in the end I got this! One tradeoff is that I have to appear in the pic as well to get the angle right so Dustin’s steel player’s head doesn’t cover the “s” in “Aster.” If you look close, you can see my freshly shaven head in the mirror under the “t”.

So, as a member of the board of directors for MusicWorks MN and as someone who appreciates artists that support the arts, I would like to say:

Thank you, Dustin Lee!

Neal Swanger

From Neal’s website:

Neal Swanger has been teaching, writing, and performing music for over ten years in Minnesota.  For the past five years, he’s been making his living as a musician.

I saw Neal play a few months back at Dunn Bros. in St. Paul. Great guitar and harmonica!

In other news:

The MN state senate passed the Marriage Equality bill today! Tomorrow Governor Dayton will sign it into law and same-sex couples will be able to enjoy all the benefits and protections of marriage starting August 1st, 2013! This is a great step for our state and for our Nation, as MN becomes the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

I have always been proud to be a Minnesotan.

We have great schools. We are steeped in the arts of all stripes. We have miles and miles of fertile farmland and we have the source of the Mighty Mississippi. And today our elected officials took action to progress human rights and equality one more step.

I have always been proud to be a Minnesotan; but even more so today.

I listened to the debate in the senate today over a live web stream while I was at work making gallery wraps. My heartstrings were tugged many, many times. Once or twice I welled up with tears (yes, I can sometimes be an emotional wreck) listening to the personal stories of those senators and the struggles they and their constituents overcame (Majority Leader Tom Bakk, I’m looking at you (happy for Ray!)). I also heard a great many arguments warning that this legislation constituted an attack on religious liberties.

The bill makes provisions for the protection of religious institutions and religiously affiliated organizations to refuse services to same-sex couples based on “sincerely held religious beliefs” without fear of penalty.  It was pointed out, though, that there is no language in the bill to protect private businesses and individuals in wedding related fields (photographers, florists, bakers, caterers, musicians, DJ’s, etc.) from penalties if they choose to discriminate based on sexual orientation. As an aside, I was gratified to hear that so many high government officials felt so strongly that those in my profession need protection. It was fun to hear them talk about photographers, period. Even if I do disagree with the “protection” they feel I need, should I choose to discriminate based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Then it occurred to me that there are going to be A LOT of weddings coming up in August 2013. All of those families so long denied the benefits of legal marriage will be exuberantly exercising their newly granted rights. In this particular situation, I can’t imagine the photographer that would take a pass on that much business based on a disagreement in world-view.  I, for one, want to make my services available to anyone and everyone that wants it.

I proudly support the GLBT community and stand ready to work hard through the coming months to help happy couples capture the memories from their special day.  In the hopes of drawing as many weddings as my schedule will allow, I will be offering 25% off of my normal wedding packages to EVERYONE (in honor of marriage equality) through the months of August, September and October and as a special offer to the same-sex community I will give 33% off on family pictures through the end of 2013 to celebrate the newly legitimized families of same-sex couples.

I look forward to many years serving families of ALL compositions with wonderful images of their lives!

Cheers!!!

Alrighty, then!

This week, for the first time, I’ll only be posting pics of people, musicians all.  I was at a show getting some coverage for a friend (for whom I also occasionally play bass) this past weekend. I got a few good images of the guy my buddy was opening for, as well.  Then I remembered that I do this a lot and I have quite a few good photos of people making music.

I think I will share a few.

Today’s image features Shaun Daniel.

Text stolen from Facebook:

Shaun Daniel is a singer-songwriter whose style shies from easy genre classification, though much of his music is anchored in acoustic folk rock and Americana. Constantly exploring musical possibilities, Shaun pairs solid guitar-playing and intelligent lyrics with dynamic, multi-octave vocals marked by a bluesy tenor and ethereal falsetto.

From me:

I’ve seen Shaun play on a few occasions and I’ve found his music to indeed be soulful and he’s a hell of a nice guy.

Find Shaun on Facebook at /shaunmdaniel to see where he’ll be playing next. Highly recommended!

The iconic St. Paul Waterfront (from Harriet Island).

This week has been lots of fun!  It’s great to have a chance to flip through and use a lot of the images I’ve taken of St. Paul over the last few years.

Thank you to everybody who is Sharing and Liking these on Facebook.  Referrals are the name of the game and you guys are doing great. Special shout-out to my cousin Leeann, who has, to date, Shared every single one of these Pics of the Day.  Thanks, Leeann!

More next week! Theme TBD.