a rare occurrence...

I hardly ever get the chance to take pictures of Sherri and Terri together. Neither of them like their picture being taken and they always seem to have an excuse why I shouldn't take it right now.  Plus when I do take pictures, Terri has the ability to ALWAYS blink exactly when the shutter is pressed.  So my original intent of taking this photo with my SX-70 on Impossible film was not exactly a good idea.  I now have taken around five instant photos of Terri, including today's photo, and her eyes are closed (or nearly closed) in all of them.  Oh well, this is what digital cameras were made to overcome.  I "settled" with an photo from my Leica...

carnival art...

Took a little time one morning, a few weeks ago, to stop by and get some pictures of the images/murals painted on some of the County Fair carnival props.  The carnival wasn't open at the time so of course one of the workers was bound to stop by and ask me what I was doing there.  Took the opportunity to start up a conversation that ended with "can I get a picture of you?"...  ...he happily obliged.  Afterwards he showed me several pictures/videos that he had taken of various carnival venues.  ...interesting...

All of the images below were taken with my Leica M8 and the 50mm Summicron lens.  

a visit to schaeffer's garment hotel...

Sometimes opportunities come along totally unexpected...  

Robert Schaeffer, the owner of Schaeffer's Garment Hotel, is the cousin of a co-worker of mine (John Hughes).  During one of my visits to LA, John and I stopped by so that he could say hi to his cousin.  I was absolutely amazed by the space that Robert had created.  He has vintage clothing, boots and belts.  He repairs jeans and fabricates/sells custom made denims.  On top of all of that (no pun intended) he has a custom hatter, Gunner Foxx, that operates out of the back of his shop.  After this visit I just couldn't quit talking with John about the shop.  I asked John to call Robert and ask if I could come back during my next visit and take some photos of the place.  A few weeks passed and I returned.  Robert was such a gracious host!  After I had taken a few instant and digital photos of the shop with my SX-70 and Leica, Robert introduced me to Gunner Fox.  They were both cordial enough to let me photograph Gunner in action.  One word:  AMAZING!  

If you're ever in LA around Sunset Blvd and N Gardner Street, make sure and stop by.  You will not be disappointed...

Hopefully I can get another opportunity some day to do this again.  I have thought about all of the things that I would do different.  So many details about the shop that I missed. 

That being said, below are my seven favorites from the Leica...

the piano...

some dogs have it good...

not so sure this is accurate...

about to start the fire...

watching it burn...

a unique way of putting out the fire...

mr. gunner foxx...

today's photos...

Been posting mostly my instant camera collection lately, but the Leica is always ready to take a great picture right out of the bag.  Love how it just seems to be an extension of my vision.  Matched with the Summicron 50mm Leica lens, the results are always stunning.  Unfortunately, I can only take a small part of the credit here.  The camera and the subjects make it easy...

expressions of pyper - photosets

One of my favorite things to do. Sit around, with my Leica in hand, watching Pyper play and capture her expressions.  To me, this will be priceless later on...

photoset #1

photoset #2

friends taking pictures...

If friends can take pictures of one another why can't cameras.  Leica and Polaroid got together a couple of weeks ago and took pictures of each other.  They both summoned me for a little help in pushing the button...

the (fish)erman...

Another picture from my latest Seattle trip.  Took this one at night with the M8.  The closest that I will probably get to a real Seattle fisherman...

SX70 in Seattle...

Back in November I expanded my camera collection to include a few Polaroid cameras.  Since that time, my interest in shooting with the Polaroid has increased even more than my collection has grown.  Seems that I can't quit taking the pictures (or buying the film from The Impossible Project).  On this trip to Seattle, I took two Polaroid cameras (SX70 and 250 Pack Film) and my Leica M8.  The M8 was a last minute add because I chickened out on only taking Polaroid cameras.  However, most of my pictures were taken with the SX70.  Honestly, I got a few amazing shots with this camera that I never could have taken with any other camera.  The only down side is that the SX70 got me a full pat down by a TSA agent (that is a separate item to blog on later).  

I should have the Polaroids up by the end of the week on my instant film blog.  In the mean time, I used the Leica to document the travels of the SX70 (the Leica of the Polaroid world)...

don't delete this one...

Set up all of my studio stuff today to take pictures of Sadi and Jace before they headed to Prom.  Actually, Tyler did most of the shooting.  I just set everything up, assisted him with the photo session and took a few Polaroids (check out my Polaroids later here).  After the setup, we did a few test shots to check out the lighting and background.  Most of the time these photos get deleted because they are just test shots.  Not this one...

the blues...

Blue clothes, blue eyes and blue bow.  Amazing how the blues feed off of each other...  Lots of posts lately with Pyper in them.  She is so easy to photograph and it seems that every time that I start taking pictures of her I come away with a keeper.  This one is not the best in terms of composition, but I love the colors and the bokeh that the Leica 50mm Summicron paints on the M8 sensor.  It is just amazing!!!

the afternoon with Pyper...

What would people think of me if I spent the afternoon with Pyper and didn't take pictures?  I am not willing to find out.  Took these today...

today at the park...

Took a couple of cameras with me to the park today.  Got a couple of instant photos and then I took these with my Leica M8.  I took the first one as a joke.  I was holding Pyper at the top of the slide and I just pointed the camera down at Sadi, Maci & Tyler and let Pyper act like she was taking the picture.  Because it is manual focus (and Pyper doesn't know how to focus yet), the image was really blurry.  When I saw it on the computer, I knew it was a keeper.  In the second one, Pyper was starting to feel bad again (her teeth are coming in).  That seems to be the only time she slows down enough for me to take a picture.  The third one is the main reason that I have spent all of this money over the years on my many cameras.  To take pictures of my two beautiful girls...

15 days and counting...

til Sadi gets her driver's license...  After that, I am sure that I won't be in the passenger seat often to take these crazy pictures.  Took this one on Saturday while we were waiting on our drinks at Sonic.  Love the shallow depth of field, but most of all love any picture of my Sadi.

out on the town with Pyper...

Friday night out on the town with Pyper (at CiCis).  Took my Leica M8 along to document the occasion.  Pyper wasn't exactly feeling well, but we thought she would like the pizza.  Not for sure if she was telling me that she was full or tired of me taking her picture (in the second one)...

wilco...

So Wilco stayed with me on Saturday and he spent quite a bit of time on top of the chair back.  This is becoming his way of either being lazy or posing (see the second image).  I like how his eyes were following me in the first image as I moved around.  As you have noticed, I haven't posted much on this blog lately.  I have been taking instant photos and scanning them and placing them on my newest blog.  This weekend seemed to be a great weekend to pick up my Leica M8 and 50mm Summicron again.  I converted these using the Kodak Porta 160NC film effect in Color Efex Pro.  I think I got some good keepers...

she has left her print...

Found this on the glass door today.  Sometime this week Pyper left this for us to find.  Love the fact that such a thing can become a memory and also that the Leica, along with a 75mm f/2.5 CV lens, can capture the print in such a vivid way...

just a visit to the park...

Had a great time today getting to see Maci and Tyler take Pyper to the park.  This definitely brings back memories of Sherri and me taking Maci or Sadi to the park and playing.  We have lived in Greenville since before Maci was 1 year old.  We have a lot of memories of the parks in Greenville Texas.  I guess things such as this are what keep us here (besides the fact that I am too lazy to commute).  Right now our family and all of my fondest memories of Sherri and I growing old together are right here...

the simple things...

I hate it when I get caught up in my daily life, get busy and forget to enjoy those closest to me.  I sometimes forget how precious the times are until they are gone.  Enjoyed this day getting to spend lunch with Sadi at Chic-fil-a.  She really hates the fact that I take a camera with me almost everywhere.  Someday, she will be glad...  Wait a minute, that really seems like something a parent would say...  This particular day the camera of choice was my Leica.  It does such a great job of isolating the subject from the background.  To me the image represents our time together that day.  I don't remember anything else about the day there.  I couldn't tell you who else was in the restaurant.  All I know is that I got to spend 15-20 minutes across the table from someone that is so very precious to me.  We ate, talked, laughed and just enjoyed the simple things...