I just edited the funniest photo I took in Key West last weekend–and maybe the funniest photo so far from 2010.  Because I brought my dog, Sergei, with me to Key West, I decided to bring him to Dog Beach.  Yes, that’s right.  There is a beach in Key West called Dog Beach.  It’s only about 50 feet wide but it’s just perfect to let him play in the sand and water.  Other dog owners come and go during the day but one in particular got my attention.  This guy rides up on a bike with this Jack Russell Terrier in the front basket and the man is carrying a surf/boogie board.  You could tell he was a local and it was confirmed by one of the other dog-owners there.  The man proceeded to wade through the water back-and-forth pulling his dog who is surfing on the board.  He did this for over an hour!  And no, the dog never fell once into the water.  Sergei looked at me quizzically and I told him that we would not be doing this.  But it was fun to watch.

P.S.  If you’re wondering what his t-shirt says, :”Born in America – These colors don’t run”

Boston, MA
I have to admit that social media is pretty cool.  Recently I received a LinkedIn invitation from Boston artist Seth Minkin.  I knew that I had heard that name before and sure enough, he had been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and I remember seeing that particular episode.  Anyway, after some back-and-forth email, Seth agreed to have me do his portrait at his studio which I plan on using in one of my upcoming exhibits.  Well, Seth’s studio is rather unique – it’s in the middle of a word-of-mouth marketing company  called BzzAgent.

I arrive at the agency and sure enough, Seth’s “studio” is in a big, open area nestled between offices and cubes–so that everyone at the firm walks by him as he paints.  Different, huh?

Also different was how Seth and I were connected.  It turns out he is good friends with my cousins in Hull, MA and had heard about me through my uncle Walter.

Seth’s work is colorful, unique and quite impressive and I photographed him as he was working on a piece for his upcoming show at the Liberty Hotel on Tuesday, May 18th at 6pm.  Check it out.

Miami Beach, FL

I know it’s a cliche but I just couldn’t resist posting this photo I took of my dog Sergei.  Yes, that’s him about to play fetch on Miami’s South Beach.  I’ve been taking him down every night.  A dog’s life!

Key West, FL

I just saw and boogied to the Spam Allstars at one of the best bars in the world, The Green Parrot in Key West, FL.  I had been to the Parrot many times before and they have a reputation for great music but the Spam Allstars literally blew the crowd away with their show.  I mean the entire place was hopping to the music.  If you haven’t heard them, check them out.  They are a Miami-based band but they do travel.  The photos I took with my iphone so the quality isn’t that great (when is Apple going to release a 10 megapixel iphone? .  And yes, that’s their trombone player playing a conch shell in honor of  the Conchs in attendance (Key Westers)–the crowd went crazy when he did this!

Hollywood, FL

I told my art director friend, Ashley Swanson, of AshAndBurn.com fame that I wanted to see more of the area outside Miami Beach.  That’s how I ended up sitting on a toilet outside at an infamous restaurant named Le Tub Saloon in Hollywood, FL right on the intra-coastal.

It truly is infamous: voted best burger by GQ magazine–absolutely enormous.  I mean Ash and I split one and there were still leftovers for the fish. You can probably visualize the place: shack-like, pieced together with abandoned and drift wood—forget even flooring–priceless.  And the view?  I mean right on the water–drop a fry and the fish fight each other for it.  Definitely worth checking out.

Stonington, ME

This winter I had the pleasure and fortune to photograph Maine lobsterman Ted Ames who was named a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow.  Ted has agreed to be in my upcoming portrait photography exhibit entitled: “Mainiacs – Portraits of Prominent Mainers”

So, one day Ted received a phone call from the MacArthur foundation informing him that he had been anonymously nominated and had been named a MacArthur fellow.  What does that mean?  It meant that Ted would receive $500,000.00 with no strings attached over a five-year period.  His selection was based on the remarkable research he has conducted on the fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine.

To read about the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow, click here.

Ted used the money to further his research on fishing in the Gulf of Maine by creating the Penobscot East Resource Center.

From the moment I met Ted, it was obvious that he is a man of very high intelligence.  Just his gaze–extremely penetrating–demonstrated his intense level of focus.  And his appearance is completely disarming, as he showed up for our portrait session in his regular work day clothes (which is what I asked him to do): Carhart jacket, Bean boots, denim jeans and red flannel shirt.

To start the portrait session, I told Ted I’d like to photograph him as he conducts a normal work day.  He said in his educated Maine accent, “Well, if you had arrived two hours earlier, you could have photographed me chopping the fire wood.  You know, I do that every day first thing.  But since you’re here now, I was planning on going down to shovel off the Mary Elizabeth.  She’s in dry dock at the boatyard.”  So I said, “Great.  Let’s go.”  And that’s how I came to photograph a genius shoveling snow.

When I asked Ted, “What’s it like being a genius?”  He replied, “Mistakes happen!”  Ted was one of the most interesting and entertaining of my subjects so far this year.  My favorite photo is of him driving us back to the office.

I just got home from seeing a GREAT show–Stephen Stills touring solo at The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater.  I hadn’t seen him live since summer of ’87 in Maine.  Yeah, we’ve both changed a little since then.  Great tunes: Southern Cross, Love the One Your With, Tree Top Flyer….

I just got back from marlin fishing with my brother Sean in Cabo San Lucas at the very tip of Baja.  I’m a big fan of Hemingway (accomplished deep sea fisherman) so Sean chartered our own boat as a birthday present.
You want to hear a great fish story?  Well, I had no idea that Cabo is considered one of the best marlin fishing sites in the world.  I mean, people come from all over just to try marlin fishing.  It is a HUGE thing here.  The marina is gigantic–hundreds of boats.  So, at 6:30am there were 130 boats all leaving at the same time—yes, you read it correctly–130 boats.  Well, Sean chose one of the best captains of the whole fleet and here’s why.  Most of the boats will go 10-20 miles out to get to their favorite fishing spot and then start trolling.  And that’s what we started to do.  We left the marina at 6:40am and we’re are going full throttle–I mean FAST.  20 minutes later we are only 6 miles out and the captain, Saul, up on the flying bridge yells down to his first mate, Rafael, MARLIN! MARLIN! MARLIN!  I have no idea how Saul spotted the marlin.  So, Rafael gets the gear ready and Sean says I should take the first one because it’s my birthday present.  Well, he’s hooked by 7:00am and it takes me 45 minutes to reel him in.  And I’m exhausted.  My left hand is scraped and cut up, and my left arm is cramped up.  But I get him to the boat.  And it takes all 4 of us to haul him into the boat.  So, out of 130 boats we’ve got the first marlin of the day in the boat by 7:45am.

And then we learn when we get back to the dock that we were one of only 4 boats (of 130) that caught a marlin, our’s was the first and was the biggest: just under 8 feet and 150 lbs!  There was 75 lbs of marlin steaks–we gave about half to the captain and first mate, gorged on marlin Friday and Saturday and I still have 54 steaks now in my freezer at home.

Oh, and by the way, we had a humpback whale breaching just off the port side of the boat.  HUGE!  The tail looked longer than our boat which was 30ft!  And did I mention the sea lion that climbed on the stern of the boat to check out the marlin on the back?! Check out the video….

What a great trip!

What a weekend!  Two days of skiing and snowshoeing in the White Mountain National Forest at Bretton Woods and it was 45 degrees both days!  Yes, that’s Mt. Washington in the background.

I first met Annie at a college alumni gathering at the Solo Bistro restaurant in Bath, ME.  Later that week I checked out her website,  and was so impressed with her work as a poet, I asked if she would like to participate in my upcoming photography exhibit: “Mainiacs – Portraits of Prominent Mainers.”  She agreed.

So, this Fall I photographed her at her home just outside Portland.  When I do portraits of people in their homes, I ask them which part of the home means the most to them.  Where do they spend most of their time?  This was easy for Annie to answer and there were four separate locations: a nook downstairs with a reading chair and a side table for her tea cup; a bookcase with a wonderful mask (a gift from a former student); her office upstairs and her writing desk which overlooks her back yard.

My favorite story Annie shared with me was about her husband Glen.  I had asked her to describe a special time in her writing.  She described one day when she was in the back yard, Glen came home and he was about to tell her about his day.  He stopped, looked at her face, and said, “You need time alone to write, don’t you?”  “She said yes.”  So, Glen went back inside.  Annie said that one moment she’ll always remember because it meant so much to her to have a husband who recognizes her needs.  What a great story?

Anyway, I truly enjoyed my portrait session with Annie and look forward to hearing about her upcoming work.

To view more photos from this portrait session or for prints, click here.

To receive an invitation to this exhibit, click here and submit your contact information.