It was a foodie kind of week

So last week, I ran part one of Mark's 8th Annual Teen Photo Workshop. I think I may have had more fun than some of the kids.

Day one was spectacularly up my ally - we toured local restaurants in Central Square to photograph and talk to their owners and chefs. This first one is my favorite photo of the whole week.

Steve Johnson, owner and chef of Rendevous on Mass Ave. He was amazingly sweet, and very funny.

Tony Maws, founder and chef of Craigie on Main. I noticed he had a rubber duck sitting in the kitchen, and of course, with my penchant for duckies, I could not pass up the opportunity for this photo:

We also very serendipitously ran into Gus Rancatore, founder of Toscanini's ice cream (which, I have to say, has the most amazing spicy mango sorbet I have ever had in my entire life).

The next day, to continue with our food trend, we had the privilege of touring the Equal Exchange factory in West Bridgewater, MA.

"Equal Exchange has created Big Change since 1986. Our founders envisioned a food system that empowers farmers and consumers, supports small farmer co-ops, and uses sustainable farming methods. They started with fairly traded coffee from Nicaragua and didn't look back."

Our wonderful tour guide of the day, Brian:

I also loved all the crazy machinery everywhere, use to grind coffee, sort coffee, test for quality, etc.

This is a view of the sheer size of the place. Imagine how caffeinated you would be working here:

And lastly, some of my girls with the new line of Equal Exchange mini-chocolates:

I think they make good product models, don't you?

I think that will conclude this particular post. Things to look forward to: portraits of my wonderful interns, kids, and various accosted subjects; outtakes from the workshop; and, of course, a sampling from the beautiful mock wedding and engagement shoot we did.

Til then!

Boston Marine Week

So after shooting with Mark on Tuesday, I spent the rest of the day wandering around the Downtown Boston area, just looking for people to photograph. Turns out that May 3-6 is Marine Week in Boston, with a concentrated focus in Faneiul Hall. They had dozens of marines in dress uniform and not, a a half dozen guns and trucks that I can't even begin to name.

Also, how entertaining is it to see tiny kids on gigantic armored trucks?








And of course, the marines themselves.










And this is Sergeant Timothy Hubert, who was kind enough not only to pose for a portrait for me, but also very patiently attempted to explain the huge gun to me which, of course, I attempted to process but did not retain. He was very sweet.

God bless in all your travels, Sergeant.

HONK! Festival, 2009

"First and foremost, they honk their horns – or beat their drums, or wave their flags – to enliven and embolden their audience. Members vary widely in age, class, ethnicity and background, and although they often wear some kind of uniform, there is also always an emphasis on individuality and a “DIY” (do-it-yourself) sensibility to their instrumentation and attire. These bands play music that is by, for, and of “the people.” The distinction between performer and audience, just like the distinctions between different musical genres, is just one more arbitrary social boundary they aspire to overcome. Spectators often think “Hey, I could do that!” and, indeed, these bands often recruit new members right off the street." (From About HONK!)

So these, again, are from a couple months ago, but I only just got to them. The HONK! Festival in Davis Square happens every October, and it's a day I high anticipate every year.

These two are my absolute favorites of the day. This first one because of how precious this lone child appears, enthralled by the performers:

And this one, because it harkens back to my first favorite portrait, taken at the HONK! 2007 festival:

Its more or less why I ever considered pursuing photography :)

Newport, RI

Just a day trip to Newport. It was cloudy, but I have a newfound love of arcades :)

Of course, token water shot :)

Rockport, MA

Hours have been scarce at the Portrait Simple front, and with so many days off, some of the girls and I decided to go on what will hopefully be the first of many photo adventures. This one took us to Rockport, MA.

There were way too many photos to choose from, so here's a little sampling:

And, of course, portraiture! Because, really, I am a people person at heart :)

Chrystine, Liz and Jenna choosing cupcakes at Rockin' Cupcakes.

Our wonderful, and very patient, cupcake guy.

Jenna and cupcakes!

Chrystine and cupcakes!

There was a beautiful and random tree formation on a cliff, so of course, we had to make use of that.

Jenna on the rocks. Like a margarita :)

Chrystine on the rocks. More like, tequila :)

You can find the rest on my flickr!

Boston Marathon 2010

A couple tidbits from the 2010 Boston Marathon.

I didn't have much from the day because we spent so much time looking for food. We ended up on the wrong side of the race from Copley and the Pru, with no way to cross over. So I spent a lot of time hungry, and not enough time hunting. Oh well. Til next event.