Philladelphia - the city of brotherly love.  Even though I grew up in NJ, I had never actually visited Philly until 2001.  Yes, I was already living in Texas before I visited.  Unbelievable, but true.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to spend a bit of time in Philladelphia back in November, so I took advantage of it and went out to do some street photography.

Whenever I travel, I enjoy going out and seeing what it’s like to be a “local”.  This varies so much by city - but yet there is so much consistency.  The tourist spots are nice, but to get a feel for the city, you have to go to the neighborhoods.  And so, I headed down to South Street and the Italian Market areas.

Here’s what I saw.

It was a great little side trip - with some great food (Philly Cheesesteaks really are pretty darn good!)  It was cool, but not cold.  It was overcast but it didn’t rain.  Overall, a great day for walking around and getting a feel for these neighborhoods.

I can’t believe I had not blogged about this.  I’ve been so busy I had totally forgotten about it.

Back in May, I had an amazing week attending the Texas School - the best little photography school in Texas!  I spent a week learning from Carl Caylor who I thought was AMAZING.  If you are a photographer and want to learn some great stuff when it comes to natural light, composition, posing, and all that stuff - RUSH to see him!

While the weather didn’t fully cooperate - it was overcast the entire time so the light was not very directional, nor harsh - it was a great experience and I took away quite a bit.

Of course, this is a photography blog, so here are some of the images I got during the class.  Oh, all the subjects are volunteers from the community - not professional models!  This gives us the ability to work with “normal people”!

My BIG thanks to Carl for sharing his knowledge.  My thanks also to Walter and Jill - the “Wranglers” for the class - and all my classmates.  I learned a lot from all of you!

See you all around sometime.

I had an opportunity to photograph guitar great Ottmar Liebert and his band Luna Negra at the Houston House of Blues for Live Nation.

I’ve been a fan of Ottmar Liebert for quite a while so when the opportunity came up, I was thrilled.  If you haven’t heard his music, go out there and find some (YouTube has some videos) and become a fan also!

This was also my first visit to House of Blues and let me tell you, it is a very nice venue.  The acoustics were great and the band sounded absolutely perfect.  The staff was very friendly (special thanks to Robert for chatting before the show!) and from what I hear, the food is pretty darn good.

So, here are some images from the show.  Let’s start with a panoramic view of the stage - six images stiched together.

That’s it.  It was a fantastic show and thanks to Live Nation once again for the opportunity to shoot one of their shows.

Rod Stewart is a rock legend with a musical career that started in the late 1960s.  I remember as a kid learning the lyrics to “Maggie May” and later on dancing to “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Young Turks”.

So, when a friend called me and asked if I could cover an assignment for him as he had to be out of town, I said “of course, what do you need?”  When he said “can you cover the Rod Stewart concert for Live Nation“, my answer was “hell yeah”.

The show was held at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion at The Woodlands - one of the nicest concert venues you could be at.  The only down side was the shooting location.  Normally, you get to shoot from the area between the stage and the security barricade or from the sound mixing area.  On this night, it was neither of those.  It was from an area directly in front of the columns that support the projectors and some spotlights.  Now, please don’t get me wrong, there is not a single bad spot to see a show at the Pavillion, but for photography you like to have a clear shot without arms waving in the air - and they were on their feet and waving their arms from the moment Rod stepped on stage.

Rod Stewart still sounds the same and he put on a great show.  He truly is a legend.  So, here are some of the photos from the show.

Like I said, it was a great show and “Some Guys Have All The Luck” certainly applied to me in this case!  I don’t get to shoot many concerts - OK, I’ve only shot two but they’ve been legends:  Depeche Mode (my absolutely favorite band) and now Rod Stewart - but I hope to shoot more of them in the future.

I’ve been so busy lately that I had not finished this series so…

This is the final installment and it is dedicated to the learning aspects of the trip.  This part of the trip was five intensive days of seminars, workshops, and one-on-one conversations with some of the best photographers in the world.

The keynote seminar was delivered by my friend David A. Williams, from Australia, whose “Almost Alone” workshop I’ve had the priviledge of attending in Houston.  David is passionate about the work he does and the impact it has on those it is performed for.  He has been a great influence on me.

The other “highlight” seminar was by my friend John Michael Cooper, aka Alt-F, from Las Vegas.  John is known as the “creator” of the “trash the dress” movement - but I think he’s more of the “instigator” for all things creative.  He calls his version of “trash the dress” the “anti-bridal” and his creative influence on me has been amazing since the first time I met him back in November of 2006.  Ever since that week, my eyes have seen differently and I thank him for it.

These next images show John as he demonstrated some techniques, with my good friends Milissa and Rene Tirado as models.

Of course, on the way to John’s seminar, there were some photo opportunities as dusk approached and we had dinner.

The last of the images were taken on the grounds of the Carefree Resort & Villas - the site of the Digital Wedding Forum Convention.

So, that concludes the Arizona series.  The trip was amazing.  It was inspiring in many ways, I had a chance to learn from some of the top photographers in the world, see some old friends, make some new ones, and see a part of the country that is absolutely stunning.