Here’s a wonderful gem from Philly Soul Singer Bilal courtesy of okayplayer.com. It inspired me to revisit the photo shoot we did in Culver City when he was passing through LA. We started out working in studio then hiked up the Baldwin Hills after sundown. Enjoy:

Bilal-Think It Over (acoustic) by okayplayer

We recently spent a week in Bogota, Colombia visiting family. As a child who grew up in the 80s, Colombia was associated with nothing more than guerillas with a penchant for kidnapping, Pablo Escobar, and violent government overthrows. Of course, every city has a depth that surpasses the headlines, but I was inspired and impressed with the metropolitan buzz that exists in Bogota. There’s a wonderful synergy between the old and the new, the history and the modern, the traditions and the fashions. The Bogota of the 80s is long gone. Our experience was comprised of visiting different museums, exploring both the modern and historic areas, and soaking in the cafes and restaurants that line the city streets. These images are not a comprehensive study on the city, but rather a window into the contrast that exists between the old and the new Bogota.

I recently photographed Sara & Matt at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This coming August I’ll be shooting their wedding at The Natural History Museum. They wanted relaxed and candid portraits, so we wandered around the museum grounds stopping to shoot at different locations along the way. Overall they were a pleasure to work with and I’m looking forward to collaborating with them on their wedding (and posting it when its edited and color corrected!) Here’s some outtakes from the shoot:

My younger brother Tim and his awesome wife Janelle brought together a wonderful group of people at Shaver Lake, located 6000 feet up in The Sierra National Forrest. My kids were thrilled to connect with their east coast roots and started a snowball fight immediately after exiting the car. I brought my Canon 5D mark 2 to take some family shots as well as some landscape studies of the beautiful redwoods.

As a photographer, when you visit the big hole in the ground, its hard to know how to shoot it and what equipment to bring. I approached the Grand Canyon with three of my favorite film cameras and left the digital rig out of the equation: My Hasselblad loaded with color negative, my holga loaded with E-6 film & my leica loaded with tri-x. After a day of hikes and crisp sundown light, a wonderful lighting storm passed by in the evening. Here’s a few rough scans from the day:

Tom Waits new LP “Bad As Me’ was released this week on ANTI- Records. I had the honor of photographing Tom Waits at The Ohio Theater in Columbus, while performing for his “Glitter & Doom” tour. I didn’t know it at the time, but the images would later be featured in the live LP “Glitter & Doom Live.” For more on that shoot see this post.

Here’s the title track to the new LP, enjoy:

I drove out to the desert yesterday for a commercial shoot in the town of Indio. As an east coaster, I’m still awe struck by the unusual landscape and the crisp, clear light. The trip inspired me to scan these images of a previous trip to Palm Springs, shot with my Hasselblad and Provia 120 E-6 film. More to come soon.

I recently photographed the Grammy nominated Philly soul singer Bilal after the release of his second album, “Airtight’s Revenge,” released on the LA label Plug Research. We started with a studio session in Culver City, followed by a location shoot atop The Baldwin Hills. It was a pleasure to work with a local Philly artist passing through Los Angeles to spread his love of music.

The Whole Love is Wilco’s eighth studio album and the first full length release on their own, dBpm Records. Recorded at The Loft in Chicago, The Whole Love boasts 12 new originals. Produced by Jeff Tweedy with Patrick Sansone and Tom Schick. Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway.

I took these photos of Jeff Tweedy at Wilco’s concert in Philadelphia on June 28th, 2003, while touring for their newly released (now legendary) album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.”

Here’s the setlist from the show:

1. I’m Always In Love
2. Muzzle Of Bees
3. I’m The Man Who Loves You
4. Poor Places
5. Reservations
6. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
7. War On War
8. At Least That’s What You Said
9. Via Chicago
10. Jesus, Etc.
11. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
12. Red-Eyed And Blue
13. I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
14. We’ve Been Had
15. Monday
16. Casino Queen
17. Not For The Season
18. Kicking Television
19. Misunderstood
20. California Stars

The third album from Alec Ounsworth’s band “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” was released this week. “Hysterical” is available on vinyl, CD, or MP3 and can be purchased directly from their website here.

This photograph was taken in Alec’s studio with my Leica M6 and tri-x film, using only natural light.