A few days ago I was cleaning out my basement when I came across an unmarked mystery box. It was your standard, run-of-the-mill brown cardboard box with no special markings. What was strange about it is that it was taped shut with packing tape. When my wife and I moved into our house almost 3 years ago I was sure that I unpacked and sorted pretty much everything that we brought from the old apartment. It seemed like this mystery box somehow got lost in the shuffle and spent the last 3 years obscurely hidden behind old camping and rock climbing gear. To make a long story short, the box contained about 40 rolls of medium format Kodak Tri-X, a bunch of assorted rolls of 35mm film and enough black-and-white film chemicals to either process all the film in the box or to kill every living plant in my backyard. As I started sorting through this newly found treasure I felt a wave of nostalgia for the time in my life, many years ago, when I first got into photography. I realized how much I missed the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of mechanical film cameras and the skill required to take and print a decent photograph. I missed the times when you bought a camera and 10 years later you could still use it. When you could literally drive a nail with your camera body and take amazing photos with it the next day. I remembered when back in 1998 I lost my car keys while hiking in the Shenandoah mountains. I had a spare set of keys in my glove box, but to get to them I had to break my car window. After a few unsuccessful attempts of breaking a window with my fist and with a large branch (there were no rocks nearby), I took the motor drive off of my Nikon F3 and broke the window on the first try. The motor drive went back on the camera with hardly a scratch. I miss the days when you could use your camera as a blunt instrument and still take photos with it. But most of all, I miss film… I miss opening a fresh roll of film; it’s almost like opening a brand-new book – it smell wonderful and feels like unwrapping a tiny present. I miss the wonderful whirring noise that my Nikon F3’s motor drive made while advancing to the next frame. I miss picking up rolls of film from the lab. I even miss the hassle of requesting my film to be hand-checked at the airport. Looking at all that film and at all the film cameras that are lying around my house but have not been picked up in years made me realize a few things. First of all, I miss doing personal work. The last few years I’ve been so wrapped up in getting my business up and running that I haven’t really done any personal work. I did not make any New Year’s resolutions this year, but I think I’d like to make one now – this year I’ll compile all my notes on personal projects that I have wanted to do for years and actually do those projects. Secondly, I’d like to scan and organize my collection of negatives. I have a bookshelf full of large negative binders, probably a few thousands of rolls of film. My next photography-related purchase will be a film scanner – I am actually curious to see my own work from 10 years ago. And who knows – maybe I’ll start shooting film again on daily basis.

A few weeks ago I had an incredible opportunity to photograph Gerald`s and Lois` 50th wedding anniversary. To be honest, it was probably the most emotional event I have ever photographed in my life. I have never seen a couple to be so much in love, especially considering that they have been together for 50 years. Congratulations Gerard and Lois – you are an amazing couple and you have a wonderful, wonderful family!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I had an amazing year in pretty much every aspect. I photographed 31 events, me incredible new people, attended several conferences, visited New Orleans, Montreal and Quebec and most importantly, watched my beautiful daughter grow and learn. Wow, that was a long sentence… I am taking a few weeks off from my insane schedule to relax and spend some time with my family and friends. For the next week both my phone service and my internet connection will be spotty at best. I promise to answer all emails when I come back to Pittsburgh on January 3rd. Happy New Year! http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Last night I found an amazing app and wanted to share it with the world in general and with photographers and videographers in particular. I am well aware that most likely my find is akin to rediscovering the wheel, but here it goes anyway. This little marvel of an app is called Shazam and it is available for pretty much any platform, including Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad). And here’s is how it’s used… This Saturday I had the honor of photographing the most amazing couple’s 50th anniversary. As they danced to an Andrea Bocelli’s song, I switched my camera from still capture to video so that I could record a short clip. Since I’m not a videographer and only shoot video on rare occasions, I did not have the proper audio equipment to record the sound – only whatever my onboard mic could capture. Obviously, the sound quality was less then stellar. When I came home and started going through the photos and video clips from the photoshoot, I realized that I really needed to fix the audio from that dance. Unfortunately, I did not know the name of the song. After a quick Google search, I came across Shazam and immediately downloaded and installed it on my cell phone. Then I simply played the terrible audio from the video clip on my laptop while holding my cell phone close to the laptop’s speakers. A few seconds later Shazam graciously informed me that the song I was looking for was Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partirò” Of course, being the geek that I am, I got really excited and started testing the app on pretty much everything from TV to half of my iTunes library to radio in my car. Yes, I actually went outside, started my car and turned on the radio to test an app. And you know what – it worked every time. You can download this amazing app from http://www.shazam.com/. Have fun!

I am very attached to old film cameras. OK, maybe attached is not an accurate description of how I feel about them – ADDICTION would probably be a more appropriate word. I cannot walk or drive past a yard sale or a thrift store without succumbing to a completely irresistible urge to stop and see if from piles of ever-present junk I can dig up a photographic jewel. I saw this little beauty on a yard sale table, cowering behind rusty power tools and bits of antique-looking plumbing equipment. It was covered and dust and grime and was begging to be rescued. Of course, I could not resist. I took it home, cleaned it, replaced bad seals and fixed stuck mirror. I replaced the lens mount – the old one actually fused with the lens. Now that it was restored to its former glory (minus a few scratches here and there), I loaded it with a roll of Kodak Tri-X and went out for a photo walk. There is something truly magical in what these old cameras can do.

Dear friends, I wanted to thank everyone who offered to help with the photography event that I was planning for February 6, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Women’s Shelter. Unfortunately, it does not look like this event will happen, at least not on February 6. Due to some communication (or rather miscommunication) issues, I was not aware that there is already a Help Portrait event that will take place on December 18th (next Saturday) at the Women’s shelter. Since it does not make sense to have two similar events so close together, we decided not to pursue the February 6 date. However, there is a possibility that we`ll try to plan something closer to Mother`s Day. Meanwhile, I will be helping at the Help Portrait event on December 18th. If you are free, swing by.

Dear friends, About a month ago I found out about Help Portrait help-portrait.com from an amazing photographer Jen McKen. The idea behind Help Portrait is simple – find someone in need, take their portrait, print their portrait, give them the prints. Unfortunately I found out about it too late to participate in their November 4th event. As I watched video clips on the Help Portrait’s website and read blog entries, I started thinking about how lucky I am. I have a beautiful wife, an amazing daughter and a lot to be thankful for. I would like to give something back to the community. I am trying to organize a photography event at the Pittsburgh Women`s Shelter on Sunday, February 6. We need photographers, photo editors, makeup artists and volunteers who would help with the organization of this event. If you are available on Sunday, February 6 and would like to donate your time, talent and skills, please let me know. It would be amazing if we could all pull together and make this event happen. Please email me as soon as you can if you would like to help.