Dana Zipkin needed new photos for her web site. Dana happens to be a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant and you can learn more about her on her web site. She also happens to be the lady that married Lindsay and myself. Downtown Nutley, New Jersey served as our backdrop. The photos of Dana sitting on the steps have been nicknamed “The Huxtable Look” because they remind us of the surburban dwelling on “The Cosby Show”.

The photos on the steps were taken just before the sun had completely set, so I brought back some daylight by adding an orange gel to my flash. For other locations, we embraced the darkness.

I get excited when I get to combine two of my favorite things; food and photography. Sometimes food photography is a lot of trickery to get a good result. Weird things are added to the food to make it look better on camera. Not the case here, folks! One huge semi-sweet chocolate bar was melted and CAREFULLY poured into the machine baffle. The chocolate had to sit in the bowl without dripping down the sides. The whole place smelled like a Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

When I think of positive reasons for living in the state of New Jersey, residents like Patricia Krentcil come to mind. I was unaware that tanning booths had an “incinerate” feature. I dedicate this meme to all the sun worshippers out there rapidly aging their skin beyond its years.

I’ve been reassembling my 1981 DeLorean DMC-12. Parts courtesy of P.J. Grady DeLorean in West Sayville, New York. Nobody knows more about this special car than Rob Grady.

This is something I did not expect. My cousin posted this yesterday about “Bring Your Daughter To Work Day”. She brought her daughter Grace.

“They were asked Whom They Most Admire…. And ummm this is what Grace drew….
My Cousin Christopher…. Because she feels she would like to pursue photography and bring out her inner artist in the future….
I thought it was very cool….”

CRAZINESS! I get so wrapped up in making sure I love my work and a nice result of that is others do too. It’s a huge compliment that someone would recognize my work like that. It’s important that my work strikes a chord with the younger generation.

Always strive for perfection, but know when it cannot be attained. Keep snapping away with your camera, Grace. See if you can convince your parents to get you a small camera to shoot black & white film. I still develop my own black & white film at home. Working in a darkroom will help you further appreciate the power of a single photograph. Keep having fun with whatever you choose to do!

This is the second book trailer I created for illustrator/writer Lorraine Dey and it features Hector-Armando and all of his rain forest buddies. I animated portions of the storybook in Adobe After Effects before importing the footage into Adobe Premiere Pro for final editing. My voiceover was recorded using Adobe Soundbooth using a Behringer B-2 PRO condenser microphone. Enjoy!

For more information about the book: http://www.hector-armando.com

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Central Park, formerly the Cavalier Diner, is a great place to grab a bite to eat. During the day it’s a casual/quasi-upscale restaurant. Most entreees are priced around $20.00 and there is an extensive wine/cocktail list as well as an equally impressive sushi list.

During the night they move many of the tables out of the restaurant and the space is transformed into a nightclub. DJs and dozens of large high definition televisions are mounted to the walls. If you enjoy sports, this would be a great place to watch every major sporting event.

Here is a photo of my burger. I love the “CP” branding on the bun. Nice touch!

Quick sketch I did this morning in Adobe Ideas.

I like to write about the food I eat. If nothing else, New Jersey is great for its massive selection of tasty restaurants.

Boogs and I had a delicious dinner at Fresco. The food was beyond delicious and I couldn’t believe how fresh the seafood was. We ordered lump crab meat and a lobster bisque for an appetizer. My entrée was surf and turf and I had to take some photos of this magnificent meal. It’s a shame I could only enjoy this meal once. It’d be great if you could DVR dinners like this and enjoy them a second or third time. (Don’t forget that you can now “pin” things you see on this site.)