(by free I mean, sticking your camera through a fence)

Bret’s commencement speaker that evening was the Bill Cosby!  It was cool to see him speak in person… even if it wasn’t comedic material

The next morning, before heading our separate ways, the five of us took a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary.  We did the self-guided tour featuring audio narration by none other than… Steve Bushemi!

It was such a cool place… and it was also super-sunny!  The ghostly presence of the building worked especially well with the dreamy Holga effect.

We started our journey by driving from Michigan to New Jersey, to stay with my dear friend Laura.  From there we were able to take the train or bus into New York City.  It was quite like I expected it to be… an overwhelming amount to see, but I sure had fun trying to take it all in!  I would like to take a moment to brag that we got to see a Cindy Sherman exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art!

After having trouble finding a good film lab here in SE Michigan, I am happy to report that I received wonderful service from Huron Camera (just outside of Ann Arbor).  Also, all of these rolls were from my 10+ years expired stash!  (there’s something powerful to me about the idea of making something that almost went to waste see the light of day).  The following are digitally composited diptychs from the Fujica — Can you identify where they were taken in NYC?

And although it was generally too overcast of a day to get good photos from the Holga, I did get a few of the new World Trade Center skyline.  Here’s one (two) of those:

Philadelphia will hit the blog soon… Boston could be a smidge longer because I have to finish the roll … A sunny weekend in Petoskey should do the trick!

I was thrilled that my old Petoskey friend Randall Erno asked me to photograph his newest musical project, MEGAskyfish, this past weekend. The members have been evolving, and they are now a six-piece! Randy and I go back to the days of ‘02, when our friend group was heavily into music / local concerts. Although many of us scattered about the country after graduation, Randall has worked the hardest at promoting the “231″ music scene.

Other things that made me happy about this project: (1) I hadn’t touched my digital camera since October!! (2) I’ve tried several times to do promos for various bands – but the scheduling never worked out until now! (I hope to do more in the future). (3) This is one of my favorite photographic locations.

Here are my favorite group shots… I took some individuals on film, but they’re at the lab… which for a change, is not me!!

These were taken with my vintage Rolleiflex on Fuji NHG 400. If you’ve never heard of that film, it’s because they stopped making it a decade ago! I love the unexpected color shifts that happen with expired film.

Jimmy Eat World: Movielike

This example, although not literal in that I didn’t move to NY, I believe universally describes why so many of my friends and I moved away from the Midwest. It doesn’t matter how many people told me I grew up in the most beautiful town: if I didn’t go out into the world to compare it, I couldn’t appreciate it.

“Waiting to see a sign that they’ve seen the best already”

The Head and the Heart: Ghosts (Live on KEXP)

This song works on a couple levels: the first being that the band is made up of Seattle transplants, and most of their songs are based on that experience. Secondly, this clip was recorded at KEXP. My first job in Seattle was driving to schools up to an hour away each morning to do portraits. I tuned into John in the Morning on KEXP every trip and the quality of music programming helped make me feel like I made the right choice in moving out here.

My favorite lyrics from this song are:
“Is it any wonder why we all leave home?
People say, “I knew you when you were six years old”
And you say, “But I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed.”

It puzzles me that people often point out how different I am than I used to be: why wouldn’t I be? I don’t want to remain stagnent: I want to always improve. That’s why I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to change locations a few times in my life already.

Great Lakes Myth Society: Across The Bridge (live)

And lastly, I had to include a song showing that I am quite excited to return back to my home state. The snow is cold, but the people are warm. I could have chosen any number of their songs; but this one brings back childhood memories of living near Mackinaw. I look forward to seeing some of the national & state parks that I took for granted and never got around to visiting!