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The Boys

Or, two out of three of my guys.

Spooky Suzuki

A series of portraits made for the Suzuki School's "Spooky Suzuki":

Letter to Theo

It is not easier, I am convinced, to make a good picture than it is to find a diamond or a pearl: it means taking trouble, and you risk your life on it.

Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo

A.

Farewell, Ms. Chrissy

Well, darn it...

Our friend and super-assistant/retoucher, the "quirky and kind of snuggly" Chrissy Mayor is headed out to pursue her dreams in the Seattle, Washington area.

We will greatly miss Chrissy's effervescent personality, positive attitude and terrific work ethic. Plus, she gave all kinds of awesome-cool toys to the boys, crazy stuff like the Tribot:



Good luck in Seattle, Chrissy and Jon!

The Week in Pictures

Apologies for the green fuzzy stuff growing on the blog, but we here at Parker Smith Portraits have been swamped, with 44 portrait sessions last week, plus two commercial projects. Dude, I about fell over. Evenings consisted of a glass of merlot and falling asleep with the boys while trying to get them to bed.

I'll try to get some of this stuff blogged if I find the time.

Of course, none of this is possible without my lovely wife Kristin to keep everything on track. (Big Smooch) It's good to do what you love for a living. :-)

Cloudy, with Meatballs

Last week, the boys and I took the opportunity of a rainy afternoon to catch the 3D version of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

It's a terrific film with a great "misfit makes good" story line. Being a lifelong misfit -- if I cut my hair just the right way, I look like Hermie, the Elf Who Wanted to be a Dentist, from the old Rankin-Bass "Rudolph" -- that's a literary theme close to my heart.



Great voice characterizations by James Cann, Andy Samberg, Mr. T and more. The 3D is truly awesome too. My only complaint is movie ticket prices: $12 a ticket? Oof! But, you do get to keep the fancy glasses.

Before the film, they showed a preview of the new Disney "A Christmas Carol" in 3D, which looks amazing.

With every Pixar film an instant classic, and great new stuff like Monsters vs. Aliens, I think we're in a new Golden Age of children's cinema!

A visit from Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Our favorite kid's music artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is heading back to Atlanta next month! 23 will be performing with local favorites, The Baby Grands. We'll be there, and we hope to see you too! This event benefits our favorite charity Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

We were very lucky to have them come all the way from Asheville and perform at our studio last Valentine's Day. Click here to see a video from the event.

Ruby

Ruby makes me think of Hokusai's "The Great Wave."

Celebrate Mediocrity

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"It's psychotic. They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity."
-Bob Parr a.k.a. Mr. Incredible

Irving Penn, RIP

Irving Penn, the American portrait, fashion and still life photographer extraordinaire, has died at the age of 92. His career began in the 1940s at Vogue magazine, and continued fervently right up until his death. I can think of no other photographer whose work is so dear to my heart and so deeply influential on my own photography. In my mind, he was the greatest.

In the last few months of his life, pianist Bill Evans called his friend and collaborator Tony Bennett and told the singer "Forget about everything else. Just concentrate on truth and beauty, that's it."

Truth and beauty: those two words describe Penn's work so well. Whether a skull or a spilled purse, a portrait of Picasso or of a cigarette butt, Irving Penn created spaces where you could see truth and beauty in the world. I flew to DC and back in one day just to see his his 2005 show Irving Penn: Platinum Prints at the National Gallery. We all have certain days when we feel we have crossed some threshold and been increased by the passage. That day was one for me. The National Gallery is a wonder in itself, both in its architecture and its holdings. Penn's radiant platinum prints held me captive for hours. I just couldn't stop looking at them.

John Szarkowski wrote of Irving Penn “The grace, wit, and inventiveness of his pattern-making, the lively and surprising elegance of his line, and his sensitivity to the character, the idiosyncratic humors, of light make Penn’s pictures, even the slighter ones, a pleasure for our eyes.” He will be sorely missed.

Andy Grundberg has an obituary here.

Fred

This past Saturday, we had two family sessions and eight (!) dog portraits in the studio. Haven't had a chance to edit everything yet, but here's Fred, a super dog. He smelled Gracie and Puccini and gave me a good sniffin'.

S.

The Incredible Sheet Film Dryer

Tired of drying my sheet film with the old twine and clothespin method, last night I McGyvered this incredible new, fully featured, automatic sheet film dryer, using only the following, easily available ingredients: Bulldog Clips (available at Office Depot); Alligator Clips (available at Radio Shack); and, a plastic coat hanger (available in your closet). If you can't figure out how to assemble it, you probably can't make a duckbill out of two Pringles, either.

You can easily fit eight sheets per hanger. Be sure to space your roll films out so they don't stick together.

Directions for use are as follows: Remove the film from the PhotoFlo solution. Hang to dry. Stick film in a box under your bed. Ignore for many years.

Parker