Clearance Sale

Lots of good people shots from dinner at  Lohr and Carrie's house last week. I picked a few of the best to clear out the topic. There are four figures worth of shots from last weekend's Grand Center Theatre Crawl I have not finished sorting by show, let alone edited. Haven't even looked at Sunday's pix from the Pride Parade. Then there are big local and downtown July 4th celebrations later this week if the rain holds off (the forecast is not good) and the river don't rise. (But it probably will.)

Our wonderful host and hostess are in the last picture.     

BEEN THERE

Another interesting conversation at dinner the other night. Charles has lived in a number of places and made his living in several ways. He has cooked in fine restaurants. He is a musician and has an encyclopedic knowledge of guitars. (The necks on Martins are too thick.)

I shot a whole bunch of shows at the Grand Center Theatre Crawl. Still just sorting the images. The Pride Parade is today and it's going to be bloody hot. Careful, old guy.                

Through A Glass Darkly

I think this was shot through Jeanjoel's bottle of honey flavored whisky. Might be good for a sore throat. Might be a good way to end this series.

Today and tomorrow are travel days. We'll see what happens when. Veré mas tarde.

      

Compulsory Group Shots

If you shoot an event you gotta take group shots. It's mandatory. The quality varied because I had no control of the light except to move people a bit. Again, I regret that I did not write down names.

We are getting to the end of this series. I've got something a little strange for tomorrow. Then maybe a small break until we get to a rich coast.

The thing I really like about the second picture is the painting on the left. It turns the couple into a trio and makes the shot a little more interesting (although it's distracting). When I was studying photography teachers said that the photographer was always responsible for what's in the frame. True, but sometimes you have little choice.              

Logo

Every organization needs a visual hook to identify itself. Our tiny law firm has one. It's even more important for small arts organizations to gain recognition. Artica's logo celebrates the immolation of the iconic Our Lady of Artica, which I get because I went to Catholic schools. Fortunately, the Jesuits were stimulating enough to get me to think my own way out of it.

But I digress. When I go to the February pot luck I have to bring a little notebook just to record names. I'm bad at that. I'm going for images.

Running thin on material. I may have enough from this event to last me until Thursday, when we get to someplace very unlike St. Louis.            

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

There was an unopened violin case sitting around during the Creatives Pot Luck. As I was getting ready to leave I heard the unmistakable sound across the room and headed back over. I took five years of violin lessons when I was young. Good ear, poor coordination, general failure.

Heather Bell, who we have already met, was playing beautifully. (Some mystic connection to Joshua Bell?) You can't see it in this picture, which I chose for the best overall pose, but her left hand position is perfect, arched fingers hammering straight down on the strings. She's had some serious training.

Her companion,whose name I did not note, also played. His was more of a free-form, improvisatory style. I'm glad I got to hear them both.            

International Relations

Still circulating. This was an interesting couple sitting in a corner. She is a bit exotic. Turns out she is Hungarian. (Which makes me unable to get this out of my mind.) Note the small flag pin on her hat. Simply charming. 

There was some brief time to talk to her companion, below, but I didn't quite get what was going on. The double glasses get your attention and I have a guess about the reason. Eyeglasses are expensive in the US. Mine, complex trifocals, are horrifying. Only a limited number of people in this country have vision insurance. Almost all the many brands of optical shops are owned by the Italian parent company, Luxotica, which can charge what it wants. My theory is that the gentleman has monovision glasses, needs bifocals, and they just cost too much. If I'm right, it's another statement about healthcare in America.       

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I miss Ren and Stimpy and their Happy Happy Joy Joy dance. You can have fun without a cartoon show, of course, and Artica leader D. Lohr Barkley sure is. I don't know the woman on the left but she's with the program, too. So is the slogan on her hoodie. I hope it says something about Artica.       

Caravaggio-ish? Maybe?

I'm an art lover. Of course - I hang out with Artica. One of my favorite masters is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, the brilliant and mentally ill Italian who worked in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries. His career lasted only ten years. He murdered someone in a dispute over a tennis match and died young in unknown circumstances. 

His dramatic style is known for brightly illuminated faces and dark backgrounds. Since I do candid rather than studio photography I take the subjects and light as I find them. This photo may have found a bit of that style. Or perhaps I am being vain.  

Babies

I'm not particularly a photographer of babies and children, although I've had lots of practice with Ellie over the last five and a half years and a bit on her younger cousin Audrey in Michigan. My first grandson is due any day up north. We will go to Michigan in late March to meet him. The plan is to wear out my shutter button.

There were a few little ones at the Creatives Pot Luck event. I enjoy photographing them but the damn kids won't stay still and I prefer alert pictures to sleepy ones. This turned out pretty well. Might be some more tykes as I run through the shots.       

A Better Than Average Portrait IMHO

Shooting an event or crowd is like a treasure hunt. A photographer circulates, eyes open for interesting nuggets. Lighting is catch as catch can and the visual nuggets keep moving.

Sometimes you get lucky. This was back by the food table at the Creatives Pot Luck with some electric lights to camera left. The result was what my superb portrait photography teacher, Bobbi Lane, calls Rembrandt lighting. One side of the face is fully illuminated. The other is mostly dark but turned just enough into the light to catch a highlight on the cheek. The Dutch master used it a lot.          

Your Preference?

I enjoy doing candid portraits using little posing or direction. The Creatives Pot Luck certainly had plenty of opportunities. Not sure whether I prefer the color or monochrome here. Each has its merits. Which do you prefer?           

Creatives Pot Luck Dinner - The Conversation And Art Begin

People began to drift in. More food set out. Eddies of people and conversation forming and reforming. I got a kick out of drifting from one to another, landing each time in a new mini society. I'm terrible at remembering names. The woman in green, center top, was Heather, I think. She came with the man on frame left whose name I didn't get. Same for the woman with the expressive face on the right.

Some people came with art materials. Heather and her friend brought a violin, more about which later.