February 2012
31 posts
Day Sixty
Happy Leap Day everyone! Those born on this day will be eternally young because, technically, they only have a ‘birthday’ every four years. So, unlucky Patrick, who happened to be working at the studio today was dragged before the camera because he is 10 years old today! Our friends at Highland Bakery whipped up a cake in his honor.
Day Fifty-Nine
Digger. Of course, what else would he be named? Y’know, I have these random thoughts and theories about how the universe works. Here’s one: God comes to work in the morning. (S)he’s the boss and the angels are the assistants. Their big job is soul placement. The way it works is the souls are unpacked from their crates. They’ve recently been outsourced to China because of...
Day Fifty-Eight
Say hello to Ras Mausi. Today was his first day on a new construction job after being out of work for four months. He agreed to get together for a studio session in the future. In that image we will be able to see all his hair which is down to his ankles. Stay tuned.
Day Fifty-Seven
As I wrapped my visit to the beach a conversation emerged about taking an alternate route home to Atlanta. It’s nice to get off the Super-Slab when you can. Looking at the map, I realized one route could veer close to the Monastery near Conyers. I’d heard about it for years but never got around to visiting. That was it. Goal set. I would shoot a monk for Day 57! I arrived at the...
Day Fifty-Six
Google Lee Fidler. Or, http://running.competitor.com/2011/01/features/the-top-5-bearded-runners-of-all-time_21006/attachment/durden1
Lee’s history and dedication to the sport of running is nothing short of amazing. Aside from the mountains of medals and accolades, sponsorship by Nike, and all that, he confided an interesting stat to me: In 37 years of running he’s missed only 12...
Day Fifty-Five
A few days of compromised technology have slowed things down but Apple has come through for me with a new mother board and I’m up and running. Day 55 was a travel day to Tybee Island with some neighborhood friends to the beach home of Henry. (Day 21) A lot of poker playing took up some time as well as turned my pockets inside out. Took plenty of guitar breaks and wrote the letters and...
Day Fifty-Four
11:10am. My Powerbook has been in the shop for several days and working from the iPhone is growing weary. Guitar work done for the day. I had an ‘Aha!’ moment this morning while playing…like I was ‘in it’….everything had come back! This weekend I’ll be at Tybee Island and intend to get a lot of playing in. Maybe writing? We’ll see. Portraits will...
Day Fifty-Three
The Dead Letter Office. We’ve heard of it all our lives, but I never stopped to think about a physical place where all misguided mail or packages that the postman didn’t feel like delivering end up. I’m putting a twist on it today. I mailed a thank-you letter to an old friend who passed away years ago. Gene Allcott was a prolific painter who was legally blind. I met him on the...
Day Fifty-Two
Today my little girl turned thirty. How is that possible? After a dinner of sushi with the family, we returned to the house to celebrate with presents and Oreo cheesecake (Lauren’s fav). Our portrait was shot in the bedroom that was hers as a teenager. Quite different now. And so is she…..still as beautiful but wiser and stronger. Love you.
Day Fifty-One
My son-in-law, Daniel and I swapped some tunes on guitar today. As the sun got late in the sky we ventured out to shoot.
Day Fifty
This started as a much wider, busier scene trying to create a mood and story with accessories, but I decided the real story was told well enough by just the face. Meet Lizzie Murphy. Friend to the Burns family for 28 years. After dinner at our house Lizzie and I moved to the living room to make pictures. Here it is.
Day Forty-Nine
Thank -you and guitar done. Now it’s time to meet some more of my family. Lauren, Daniel and Grayson are visiting for Lauren’s birthday. Grayson and I got this just before the rain. Enjoy.
Day Forty-Eight
Take a good look at this one. My macbook has fallen ill and it may be fatal. Until the doc takes a look at it, I’ll be limping along.
That being said, the analog portions are zipping along.Today’s thank-you will be so totally unexpected! I love that.
Our subject today is Atlanta architect Jose Tavel. http://www.tacstudios.com/ Here, Jose is in his new home situated nicely near the...
Day Forty-Seven
Just to mix it up today, I wanted to share with you the power of Thank-You. Over the years, I’ve hosted many a visit to StudioBurns for school groups. The teacher brings a class over and we do a setup and take some ‘pechrs’ and act crazy. Lots of fun. Then a couple days later I get these wonderful Thank-You notes from the kids. Priceless!
Here’s one from Corrye when she...
Day Forty-Six
“According to Plan’……..c’mon, how often does that really happen? And beyond that, how much is it really worth? So you didn’t get your way…….wah, wah, wah! My 4pm sitting cancelled so I hit the streets and within minutes found ‘Day Forty-Six’ at the local skate park. Like the artist said….’Could Be Better’, but it Could...
Day Forty-Five
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! I don’t know any Valentine songs, so I just played songs with the word ‘love’ in the title. There are plenty.
And nothing says love like a crusty old biker! Meet Van who can wear any hat you like…actor, musician, rider, philosopher, you name it. He slowed down long enough for me to capture one facet of his character.
Day Forty-Four, a+b
Today we have a two-fer. A rather conventional portrait and an experimental one. The first one is Matt & George at home with their pups. Beautiful dogs, and the humans aren’t bad either.
Fast forward to the evening and we have Ansar. This one is lit entirely by candles.
Day Forty-Three
Sunday ‘Dunch’ at the Earl. http://badearl.com/ Good live music and food and a chance to rest your head from the night before…if you need that. I caught up with The Front Porch Session Players’ http://www.myspace.com/frontporchsessionplayers for a rousing set. During break, I pulled Aaron, guitarist and vocals, into the back room for a portrait. Fun times and great tunes!...
Day Forty-Two
Tonight brings us to the basement laboratory of Dave Stanhope, revered brewmaster of Decatur. He and Buddy (standing) just back from a day at the Marlay House in brewing competition. This is where the magic happens, overseen by Dixie (lying down). Yum!
Day Forty-One
About ten years ago I had one of my first interns at the studio. Dana Haugaard. Dana was great because he was enthusiastic and didn’t need hand holding. Always working and finding a way to be helpful. Through him, I met his dad, John who is an avid and accomplished photographer. Turns out we had a lot in common, birth year, kids the same age and love of Walker Evans. Here we are in his home...
Day Forty
Well, well, well. Forty Days! Sounds almost Biblical. Forty Days and Forty Nights, Noah and the flood, Forty nights in the desert, Forty years wandering in the wilderness, and forty minutes on the internet reading about all things ‘forty’. Anyway, I met up with a former student and friend, Joe Martinez http://www.joemartinezphotography.com/ for lunch today. Joe is moving to NYC soon...
Day Thirty-Nine
About fifteen minutes guitar this morning before I had to scoot off to work. Shooting at St. Regis today, call time 8:00. Lots of waiting around due to unpredictable schedules of UPS board members. Penned thank-you to a former assistant and friend from long ago.
End of day crew shot is today’s portrait. Reminds me of an Olde English nursery ryhme from 1798.
“Rub-a-dub-dub, three men...
Day Thirty-Eight
Pre-light day at the St Regis. Gotta do some real work once in a while ;-) Yolanda standing in.
Day Thirty-Seven
Welcome back! Day Thirty-Seven begins with a letter to a dear friend of 27 years whose occupation was listening to the problems of others (among many other things). He listened plenty to me and I hope I did the same in return.
Made the journey to my old stompin’ ground, Grant Park, to give the three stringer back to John. You may know him as Day 20. I got a few last licks in while waiting...
Day Thirty-Six
I’m running out of thank-you cards. That’s a good thing. I suspect that the last month has surpassed my lifetime’s output of analog correspondence. One more temporary replenishment should hold me until the real deal arrives.
I’m meeting my friend, John, to turn in the 3 string guitar tomorrow, so I’ll have my last session with it today.
This morning I headed out for...
Day Thirty-Five
The memory is a tricky thing…….the thank you card seems so long ago. It’s 2:22am and it was a awhile since I wrote it at 9:00.
Joined friends for dinner tonight. Peg hosted and cooked tonight. She was one of the great food stylists who made me look good in the 90’s when I shot a lot of food. Wonderful night of conversation and song.
Say hello to George and Bob in the...
Day Thirty-Four
One of my favorite records of all time is ‘The Koln Concerts’ by Keith Jarrett. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80ek9_keith-jarret-the-koln-concert-part_music Every time I hear it time is suspended and the world around me melts away. Just like the very first time it met my ears on a Sunday in 1976 walking through Rizolli’s Book Store in the long gone Omni in downtown Atlanta....
Bonus Pic
Day Thirty-Three
My brilliant postal carrier actually found my mailbox today and delivered new strings to me. Studio Acoustic is restrung and will stretch overnight. Home guitar will get it tonight.
Thank you done to a supporter and confidant.
Today’s portrait is Randy. It takes dedication to grow a beard for this long. Kudos to people with patience.
The technique is different today. For the...
Day Thirty-Two
Boy, do I have something for you today! But first let me tell you about the note. This is the first of many that will go out with a wax seal. The seal kit was a gift from my dear friend, Rick Berg who will receive this note which is congratulations as much as thank you.
Guitar playing will come after this post…six string acoustic Larrivee rosewood sides, cedar top.
Now, the portrait....
Day Thirty-One
Welcome to Day Thirty-one….first full month complete! Thanks goes to a fellow photographer friend. Guitar work was done on my Pee-Wee Les Paul. A scaled down version of the original. I used to take it with me when I flew a lot. It fit easily in the overhead compartment and I had it rigged to a discman ( dating myself, I know) and headphones so I could get in some practice on long flights....