Eliot is an Idiot

Do you know what this is?

Well, I didn't know what it was. That doesn't prove I'm an idiot.

I had just walked into the offices of Proclaim Promotions in Concord, and I figured these little gizmos were some promotional item - something for visitors to play with while they waited. That round thingy and the sets of plastic tabs were just hanging out on the counter, right?

So, I picked up one (see above image) and thought, "Cool - a toy!." Or did I think "Groovy - a toy?" or "Sweet - a toy?"

So I touched one of the metal disks (so nicely glued to the colorful tabs) to the top or the doohicky. I jumped when the big ugly thing started beeping (well, it had been pretty until it started beeping, which coincided with its descent into uglitude). I think that proves I'm an idiot: Why did I stupidly assume that these attractive playthings were toys, and not, say, part of a nuclear deterrent system? My nuclears were deterred, that's for sure!

Obviously the beeping and mechanical hoo-hah stopped, or I wouldn't be alive today to write this.

It turns out that by touching the red tab to Metallic Circle I was clocking some employee out - these playthings are actually a 22nd century time clock! Who knew?

The eight-foot-tall security guard came running, "Who did you clock in our out??"

(Right, like I'm going to say, "Don't you mean 'whom'?"

"Sorry, I'm just a photographer."

"Well, clock that person back in, or back out. Just undo whatever you did, idiot."

Okay, I made the eight-foot-tall person up. It was just the nice woman working behind the counter, and she was very nice about it, and she did NOT call me an idiot, at least not that I could hear.

By the way, Bill, the owner of Proclaim Promotions, and the owner of those things on the counter, is a really nice guy. The happy, relaxed employees show that Bill has created a good workplace.

Eliot is a Genius

Yesterday, Monday, I had a shoot out in Concord - about a freeway exit or so from where I bought my computer, actually. I was to photograph the owner of Proclaim Promotions:

This may look like a simple shot, unless you know the environment: Proclaim's large format ink-jet printers are jammed into an area of the warehouse that is protected from dust from above and sides. Interior dividers (just out of sight above subject's head) cut the ceiling area into four sections, so that light from one section does not spread into the next section.

The tight space precluded me from using one light in each section, and I also needed to be able to set up quickly for varied shots: printers, interior work area, external area, conference room. I could not be wasting the owner's time moving and setting up my lighting gear.

The ambient light (fluorescents) were way too dim and poorly placed to get both a good image of Proclaim Promotion's owner Bill Welland with the wide format printers.

Instead I used two battery-powered, light-weight flashes on light-duty light stands. As usual, I used a wireless remote attached to the camera to set off the flashes.

Notice that he is lit from the side, giving a more three-dimensional quality to his face. That light was positioned to light two sections of the ceiling to create the good portrait lighting. The area behind him was lit by a flash out just out of picture range, set below the partition height. It was aimed across the room so that the both printers behind the subject would be lit. Since these are the printers that produce Proclaim's most important products, the printers' importance demands that they be well lit. Given the baffles, low ceiling and tight quarters, it took some finesse to get the little light to cover the background so evenly.

My client, BizX in Seattle selected five images for their web page and monthly magazine.

More interesting than the technical details, and far more interesting than a straightforward business portrait for a mainstream-style company magazine, was how it felt to be at Proclaim Promotions.

Every employee I met there was not just "nice," but happy, relaxed, easy-going. I made a huge faux-pas (to be discussed in another post) and they still were nice to me. One of their computer guys was generous with his time, explaining technical details that fascinated me.

As I told Bill, I know he is a good boss because everyone I met there was friendly, happy and polite.

Engagement Session at UC Berkeley

While JR is building my new computer at Fry's, and the CEO of Renaissance Gift Baskets is waiting at my office, I am dropping off my car at Oceanworks on Tenth Street in Berkeley.

Angus, the owner, is my guy, or, rather, The Guy, at Oceanworks. He is Berkeley's most loved mechanic, and his specialty is Japanese cars. I drive a Toyota flavored car, the year and VIN of which Angus specified before I went out car-shopping (ask me about it).

Special Note: NEVER buy a car at Toyota of Berkeley. Go to the Toyota dealership by the Jelly Belly factory - Fairfield Toyota. I hope I can blog about the awful service at Berkeley Toyota someday. The underlying principle is that they can sell poorly serviced, i.e., crappy, used cars and Toyota can't do anything about it.

Angus and I went to Willard Junior High (on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley) together. He remembers me carrying my camera around school. So, we can reminisce a little about Ms. Prisk, our French teacher, and other jr. high school stuff. Do they still make Junior High schools, or does everyone go to "middle school" now? My kids went to middle school. What school did you go to - middle or junior high?

What a pleasure it was, then, when a bride-to-be, Janet called to book me for her wedding. "Angus told me to call you," she said. Eventually she told me that Angus was her fiancé.

There's a bit difference between, "Angus told me to call," and "Angus and I are getting married - please photograph our wedding." She definitely meant the latter. They were very pleased that I was available on their date for their Berkeley wedding on the UC Campus.

I love to hang out and chat. But the most intimate way that I connect with my fellow humans is with the camera. More accurately - as much as I wish that I could have dozens of close, intimate friends, I don't have the time nor psyche to be hail-fellow-well-met-best-friends-for-life to everyone who enriches my life. I love to hang out at Oceanworks and chat with Angus. But to take his picture, to engage in a photographic excursion with him and his fiancée is far more intimate, at least for me it is.

That is why I feel so comfortable totally integrating my photography and my life: when I am taking pictures of people, they are becoming, for the moment, intimate friends of mine.

Although most of my brides contact me via the contact form on my website, I would always opt for a phone conversation than email correspondence.

So, we have a happy Angus & Janet, we have a happy Toyota (mine) and a happy me (Eliot).

Customer Service: JR at Fry's in Concord

A big Thank You to JR - head of service - at Fry's in Concord, California.

One of my computers crashed on Monday. (At first I thought it was an earthquake or that a car had hit the house. Nope, just my C: drive crashing.)

I thought it was no big deal because I have several other computers, and all my client data is backed up both on external drives and DVDs. However, I hadn't backed up the system, so I couldn't restore it - I've learned my lesson.

At Fry's I bought a floor model of a pre-built Fry's computer. I set it up in my office, fired it up, and on a scale of 1 to 10, it didn't work very well.

I drove back out to Fry's (half an hour each way, at least) where JR, the head of service, immediately saw that I had a lemon and set a full refund in motion.

And, he took me by the hand, and I speak metaphorically here, as the store was closing, and picked out the components for a screaming fast (again with the metaphor) computer.

If you have ever met JR, you will never forget him! He is like the most likable character you would ever want to meet in a movie: He's expressive, fast on the uptake, knowledgeable, and eager to be on the customer's side when Corporate isn't. I told him, "When you get married, I'm going to photograph your wedding!"

In my mind, he rescued Fry's reputation: Fry's is not a soulless clot of dissipated losers posing as sales reps, but an oasis in the wilderness of contemporary American merchandising.

So:
1) THANK YOU to JR at Concord, CA, Fry's
2) I'm gonna have a durn-fast (sorry for the technical jargon) computer
3) If I ever make a movie, I'm going to make sure that there is a JR character in it to help our hero.

CONTEST: Correctly Identify This Guy, Win a Prize

The first reader to go to my Contact Page and send me a message with the name of this subject will win either an 8x10 of this image or a free portrait session in Berkeley, CA. Alternatively, you can email me: .

ISES - Wedding and Party Vendors Unite

I am a member of ISES - International Society of Edible Scones.

No, International Special Event Society.

The Northern California Chapter held a Gala at Treasure Island (the person-made island attached to the naturally-made island Yerba Buena, which yields, via tunnel, to the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge) last night - July 24, 2007.

Some of the Bay Area's great caterers provided the food:
Taste Catering
Elaine Bell Catering
Paula LeDuc Fine Catering
Betty Zlatchin Catering
Melon's Catering
Patrick David's Catering
Jane Hammond Events and
Catered Too

Living in the Bay Area, I could easily be a foodie. But I'm really happiest with a chicken burrito and a diet coke. On the other hand, I recently had some meals at Andersen Pea Soup in Buellton, and I found it close to inedible. Yet, the place is very popular. McDonalds hasn't gone out of business (yet) due to the sudden upsurge in American's devotion to fine cuisine.

I'm still a sucker for a hot-carmel sundae - as long as the carmel is home-made. The canned stuff will not do.

I'm not a fan of long posts.

Home Sweet Chocolate

I drove back home - too far to walk - today. It was overcast all the way up 101 (from Buellton) until I got to Berkeley. It wasn't too long until sunset, and the sun was indeed shining on the usually fogged-in Berkeley.
I couldn't wait to get into the office.
My office was, until the digital age, a darkroom. Now it's a chocolate room.
For the past few months I have been photographing chocolate for Renaissance Gift Baskets. Their web site isn't up yet, but once it is, I'll let you know where it is.
In the meantime, here is just one of hundreds of photos of chocolates that I have created in the past eight months:

My office barely has room for walking as it is still filled with chocolates and gift baskets. Fortunately for Rene Bien, the CEO of Renaissance Gift Baskets, I have had my fill of chocolate, and I'm not eating up the gifts between shoots anymore