Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

As a kid, I spent many Sunday mornings staring at the beautiful colored-glass windows and the lofty rib vaulting of the ancient Roman Catholic church in the small town in Switzerland where I grew up.

Never mind that I wasn't a catholic. But I volunteered to go to church with my catholic friends, just so that I could sit and examine the tall gothic windows, detailed painted ceilings, and intricate wooden carvings at my leisure during mass. My protestant parents didn't mind.

And it was here that I fell in love with architecture, probably without even fully realizing it. To this day, I relish the quiet, almost magical quality of a church - the creaking of those old wooden benches, the hushed voices, the distinct smell of old, musty stone.

There's also something awe-inspiring and symbolic about the art and architecture of a church, especially an ancient European one. But I've learnt to appreciate a religious painting or sculpture for the pure artistic value of it, without letting its subject matter affect me.

So on my recent trip to Vienna I stopped off at one of the city's most commanding sights - the St. Stephan's Cathedral. The weather was dull and grey outside, so the church's interior seemed darker and gloomier than I'm sure it would have been usually.

Yet when a sudden sun burst briefly lit up the windows, the effect was wonderous:

Labels: architectural photographer Bend Oregon, architectural photography, Editorial Photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

Here's another snippet from the European travel files, as they trickle in...

The Emperor's Crypt in Vienna is truly a place of beauty as much as it is of death. The bronze coffins from the 16th and 17th century are enduring artistic masterpieces from their time, never mind their morbid suject matter. Lavishly encrusted with symbols of death and religion, they hold the remains of the 146 proud kings, queens, and noblemen that once ruled the extended Austrian kingdom. The last one was buried there in 1990.

Labels: architectural photographer Bend Oregon, architectural photography, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

I *was* going to save this image for Halloween - but as I browsed through the new pictures from my Europe trip, I found this one really struck me. So I figured, what the heck...


Crowned skull figure at corner of 16th Century crypt, Emperor's Crypt, Kapuziner Church, Vienna, Austria

I'll try and post at least one pic a day as I make my way through the approx. 1000 images, so please hang in there with me.

Labels: editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

My sister and her boyfriend have been dating and living together for nearly 20 years. Two and a half weeks ago, they finally made it legal, official, "till' death do us part".

Of course I was assigned to the task of being their wedding photographer. That I would have to fly half-way around the world for that was a just one of those things you gladly do for the happiness of your family.

The ceremony was beautiful, the dinner was delicious, and of course my sister looked absolutely gorgeous and radiant. So here are a couple of pics for the curious (more to come in the near future):

Labels: photography, portrait photographer Bend Oregon

And another great one is gone: Richard Avedon is dead.

This is really a shame. Although he was already 81 and certainly leaves an astounding photographic legacy, I think Avedon still had a lot to give.

For the uninitiated, here's a look at Avedon's work and life:

His own site
A PBS bio
Pics at the NY Met
Avedon @ Artnet
Excerpts of Avedon's book "The Sixties" at PDN

Labels: photography

I'm back from my trip. Since I'm still a bit jetlagged, and haven't completely joined the living again, y'all have to wait a wee bit longer until I'm ready to post pics and stories from the trip.

In the meantime however, I do have a special little nugget for the alert reader interested in photography: an article I wrote for O'Reilly on food photography.

The article's been well received so far - the Digital Photography Blog has included it into their lineup of useful articles on the topic, and
USA Today Online has mentioned it in conjunction with highlighting the O'Reilly Digital Media site as one of their picks for "Hot Site".

Labels: editorial photographer Bend Oregon, food, food photographer Bend OR, food photography, photography

I'm leaving for Europe - or more precisely Switzerland and Austria - tomorrow morning. I will try and post random updates whenever I get access to a computer over there - but I'm not making any promises.

It will be a whirlwind visit of friends, relatives, a wedding and a 3-day trip to Vienna - so the only thing that's guaranteed is a lot of cool eye-candy, given it doesn't rain non-stop while I'm over there.

In the meantime, here's a look at one of my home town Basel's most prominent buildings - the Rathaus (seat of the city counsil):

Labels: photography, travel, travel photographer