Hi Ya Watha!

Everybody's heard of Hiawatha, Kansas, right? But how many of us have ever been there? Well, I got the chance Tuesday to photograph a project for one of my favorite, long-time clients, Rosin Preservation.

The project was the old bank building on the town square. As I understand it, a life-long resident of the town wanted to promote the area's history, so she donated money to the city to be used for the restoration of the building and it's use, in part, as a local history museum. Now competed, the bank building will also house some city government offices.

World of Wheels 2010

Just got back from the biggest annual indoor custom car and bike show in Kansas City! Along with the usual spotless, candy coated goodness was a greater number of old school, garage-built hot rods than last year and some fine new works from our local Anchor Motorcycle Shop.

Good stuff.

The Future(?) of Flash Photography

I often have to photograph interiors of boarded-up buildings with little or no lighting, so using a flash is essential, right? Well, it used to be; now, maybe not. Digital cameras are made with more light-sensitive sensors than ever before, so you can now literally take a shot in the dark with confidence. This would be a moot point if the results weren't significantly better than using a flash. Unfortunaltely for the flash, it's range is limited and it's strength is relative to the distance it has to cover; great for smaller spaces, not so great for big open spaces.

Here are two examples:

With flash . .


Without flash . .


And this building was lit only by an open door and a few frosted-glass windows:

With flash . .


Without flash . .

Thank you for your support.

This morning I was photographing a couple very nice apartment buildings that had suffered from very poor maintenance over the last, oh, 100 years or so. Here in the basement of one of the buildings we found a section of the 1st floor supported by an unusually decorative carved limestone column, and another area supported by an old sewer pipe. A case of, things that don't belong but you're glad they're there just the same.

Stuff found by accident . .

When your job is wandering around in old buildings you get used to surprises. Just don't fail to enjoy them.

Foundation Architectural Reclamation

If you thought an architectural photographer would have a big interest in architectural salvage, you'd be dead-on right! My favorite haunt is FOUNDATION located in the West Bottoms of KCMO. My friend Patrick Ottesen runs the place and you won't find a more knowledgeable person when it comes to reclaimed materials.

I enjoy photographing the shop for his website and covering events when I can. It's a perfect match for me!

More brutality . .

Here are a couple of my favorites.


Raymond Nichols Hall at KU in Lawrence.


Spencer Chemistry Building at UMKC.