Remember the Milwaukee Circus Parade?

Just Clowning Around...

This was July 17, 2001 and could have been one of the the last Circus Parades to roll down Wisconsin Avenue, if it wasn't for the support to bring it back next summer.

In this year's "state of the city" address, Mayor Tom Barrett called for the parade's revival, adding that 2009 would be an ideal date because it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Circus World Museum and would be the 30th time the parade would be held in Milwaukee. Could be a CoPA photo Op!

This was taken with my first digital camera - the Canon D30. I'm reviving some images to work with in Painter X. This one was kind of cheating by using an auto-clone method to create the abstract under painting. The face of the clown was hand painted to bring back detail.

Change is a good thing...

Change is a good thing, especially if things aren't working to well. Maybe thinking outside the box is a better thing. Like, what if?

Well, I'm getting out of the box and going out on a limb with this by pursuing a painterly approach to my portrait photography. This is something I've had on my mind to do for quite a while - it requires learning the Painter software, and study of art history and contemporary art. I will also promote this on my portrait photography website.

The couple in this image are two people I've been working with to help them promote their modelling and professional careers. It's certainly a romantic image, and rendered in a way to heighten the perceptual experience that can be emulated more closely in a painting than in a photograph. Hope you like it - vote for me. This is a change that is good for America! I endorse this message.

Go ahead, click on it...

Self-published books

CoPA members had an introduction to self-published books earlier this year. This aroused my interest, as I had quite a collection of images already taken of the Marquette Interchange Construction Project. I had planned on continuing with this photography through the completion of the Project this last August.

I decided to use blurb.com for my books and sampled their work with a few smaller projects. The quality was great, turnaround was adequate and the price was right!. I have been in regular contact with one of the Project Managers from Marquette Constructors - who said that he would be interested in seeing a proof of the book when it was ready.

Long story, short... I gave him a soft cover and a hard cover book with a dust jacket, he showed it around - and the consortium made an initial purchase of 140 books! It was the top seller on blurb.com for the week it was sold. Those involved with the Project, do like the images as well as the book form. Thought others would like to know that. Here's the book on blurb.

Creating virtual paintings from photographs...

I like to tinker.

I do enjoy creating a technically sound, well composed and enjoyable photographs. But sometimes that's just not enough. I'd like a little more excitement.


These images were digitally captured with my Canon 20D and a 100mm f2.8 macro lens. The files were adjusted in Adobe Camera RAW for colour and contrast. The images of the leaves were opened in Corel Painter X and rendered in Color Pencil. This last one was layered in Photoshop with the bare tree limbs image and a texture.

I call it "After the Fall". Go ahead... click on it!

The 105th Anniversary

The Anniversary went on from Thursday, August 28, 2008 to Sunday, August 31, 2008. I photographed the public street parties, Veterans Park and the parade of motorcycles in downtown Milwaukee, celebrating the 105th anniversary of the worlds premier motorcycle.

This four day event featured musical entertainment, workshops, dealership, plant and museum tours, and of course the gatherings—to share stories, meet new people and renew past acquaintances—what better a place for this than in Milwaukee, a city known for it's gemütlichkeit.

BIG Bikes. BIB Party. BIG Parade is offered at Blurb.com.

The Marquette Interchange construction is now completed.

Above is the "Skyline Bridge" which carries I-94 traffic from the south over the Marquette Interchangs.

The new Marquette Interchange has gained national recognition in engineering and management practices - and finished three months ahead of schedule and under budget. With a lifespan of 75 years, the new interchange will be a permanent part of the Milwaukee cityscape - as an architectural element standing amongst other Milwaukee landmarks such as the Milwaukee County Courthouse, the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Discovery World, the new Harley-Davidson Museum and the Marquette University Campus.

I offer a 160 page book with over 300 images of the construction project at Blurb.com.