Back to the original intent of the last blog...

I started to share some images with you from a recent shoot I had at Cains Ballroom and got wound up talking about Jackson Browne. SORRRRRRRRRRRRRY !!!
My original intent for creating these images was twofold. One to document for the Band that they played at the Historical birthplace of some great Oklahoma musicians and secondly that they would have some images for future publications, posters etc.
It was a very hot evening and the crowd was packed in the hall. Fortunately I did have my earplugs with me as being that close to the band and the amps hearing is affected in an adverse way. It was a fun shoot.

Rock and Roll

I've photographed bands since I was in college and it has always been somewhat of a hoot. I was asked by my business partner in California, Byron, to fly out to LA and photograph a Jackson Browne Concert in the 80's and I took him up on it. I was expecting a huge gathering in a stadium or hall as the event was to raise funds for the Catholic Church to fund the care and education of the homeless children that were sent up to the US from El Salvador during the Iran Contra situation. Their parents thought that even living on the street in LA was safer than being in the country with the "war" going on. The church was known as a sanctuary for the children and they all tried to get there.

Byron picked me up at the airport and we went to his apartment and settled for a while. He then told me that the concert was to be attended by about 400 people and was to be held in the courtyard of the oldest Catholic church in the City. I didn't know what to expect....400 people...how much money could that bring in ? The next day we loaded up and drove to the church. Arriving there walked into the courtyard and the area was ready for the gathering. NOTHING like what I expected. An open area with tables of finger food, a couple of bars and tables for the guests to sit at while they ate and drank. There was a stool and a chair with a microphone sitting alone some distance from the tables. I really didn't know what to expect. The light was good and with only 400 people I should be able to get some great shots. I was standing around talking to Byron and I started noticing faces I recognized from Television and the movies. Byron stepped away from me to speak with someone a a guy came up and said, " My name is Kris, where ya from, ya talk funny." I promptly told him I was from the Ozarks and gave him my name. We shook hands and he turned to Jimmy Smits who was one of the stars of LA Law and said," Hey Jimmy come here and listen to this, he's from the Ozarks. I spent the rest of the night photographing and eating dinner with LA Law and the Hill Blues guys while they listened to me talk. Never knew I had an accent.....

The Interview Part 2

My interview was aired this morning and it was very good...thank God for editing. Dick took about an hour and a half interview and edited it into a 20 minute segment and quite frankly did a great job of making my rambling sound like I had good sense. Of course that has always been in question ....I've been able to bluff well. I'm sorry that I seem to have neglected the Blog but I have been very busy with new business, and clients. I had a great time last week photographing the introduction party of "119 Downtown" a building of Historical significance that is poised for repurposing as Residential Lofts. I will be doing the interior imagery soon and will post some of them here. The project is amazing. Outside of the building was a spotlight opening up the heavens overhead and that brought back memories from my childhood in Missouri in the 50's.

I was 9 or 10 and there was a spotlight searching the sky one night as we looked toward town. We had never seen anything like it and the family piled into the car and headed to town. Bear in mind that things were simpler then, we may have just gotten our first Black and White TV. As we approached the center of town, it was a "square" as it had the county Courthouse in the center, the light seemed to reach up from that area. NO it was from the East side !! As we drove to that side we ran into what had to be the first traffic jam I had ever been in. Cars were everywhere!!! Located on the East side of the square was the Fox theater.......and it was playing "I Married the Monster from Outer Space." I guess we were to believe they were searching for more space ships. The searchlight got the town out and all of the kids saw the movie............and knew from that night on, the monsters were in the dark basements, closets with slightly open doors at night, and always under their beds.

"The Story"

Tomorrow is the day my "Japanese Iraqi Hostage" story gets full airing on National Public Radio. It will be carried under the program "The Story" with Dick Gordon. I just checked locations of stations carrying the program and the closest is KOSU - FM 91.7 in Stillwater. There are however 100 stations Nationwide that will be airing it. On KOSU it will air at 11:00 tomorrow morning. If you want to hear it and can't get it on your radio you may stream it from the net by going to thestory.org and hear it. They will leave it on their website for a week or so so that if the 11:00 time is not convenient you can catch it at another time. It is an amazing piece of unknown history of the times in Iraq immediately before Desert Storm kicked of the war. Interesting escapade..........to say the least. There will be some images featured on the site that have never been published before

RAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a session yesterday that the rain helped. The sky was overcast and I could shoot anywhere. It was so easy to control and see the light, I live for overcast days.I finished the new floor in my set that I put up this last weekend and have decided what I'll do with my last area. I've added pictures at the request of one of my followers of my reception area and working office. The studio area will not be seen as there are too many great ideas that I really don't want to give anyone that may need ideas for their studio locally. Sorry....but a great place to visit.

I have been negligent in making calls to potential clients...I get distracted easily..Tuesday I'll start as summer is over officially and we all need to be looking to the needs of fall and next year. This weekend I'll get a marketing plan down on paper as that is the only way it really works. I generally get the ideas, put them down on paper, rearrange them into a logical order and as projects are finished they can be checked off the list. It is sort of a bucket list of "to do's". Stay tuned for pictures of my studio.......coming soon to your computer.