|
Three images I included here include the main image used for the article, 90 year old Bob Bennet performing like he has for many years and poet Terry Wooten, founder of the Stone Circle. Each Saturday night during the summer people are invited to sit around the campfire and simply listen or participate–the only rule for performing is that your work must be recited from memory.
|
This little guy, Owen, wise beyond his years, turned one recently and I couldn’t help admiring his cake eating method at his birthday party. Brilliant–I think we all should eat cake like this on our birthdays! |
|
In late May I visited Farmer Todd’s 3 generation cherry farm as the Honey Bees were busy pollinating the orchards. Honey bees are rented out by cherry farmers in the spring to insure pollination. The bees are delivered for a 1 to 2 week period when the bees cover up to a mile in radius visiting blooming cherry trees. I caught them at the end of the pollination period, but was nonetheless was easily mesmerized by the bees work, structure and soothing sounds.
Images by Gary L Howe. For more Honey Bee Images: Honey Bees |
|
I participated in ISLAND’s 2nd annual Skill swap at the Wagbo Peace Center in East Jordan earlier in the spring. I went to learn about garden irrigation, seed transplanting, fire starting with friction and, gulp, chicken processing. The Radio Anyway piece I produced is at the link above (archive May 24th show). ISLAND also has a ncie online resource for skill swapping. Images below Seed Transplanting and Chicken processing.
Check out this resource: TheCityChicken.com. It’s a web site to encourage city folks to take the plunge into poultry! Missed the swap, check out How to Butcher a Chicken. If you’re really interested in the state of chicken processing, there have been several recent articles written in the national press.
|
|
I don’t shoot many sporting events, but yesterday I shot the Tour de Leelanau, a bike race in Leelanau county that is in its 4th year. The Record Eagle was interested mainly in images of the winners at the finish line, and as far as these types of shots go, I succeeded. I particularly like the image above of the women’s winner (Anne Samplonius of Montreal Canada) out of focus as she approaches the shadow of the finish line through puffs of pollen. I might be the only one who likes it though. Taylor Tolleson celebrated heroically after winning the final sprint to the finish and the race overall (below).
The rest of these images are of groups of riders. If you’re interested in seeing more images, go to my digital archive at this link: Tour de Leelanau Images
|
|
I happened to be in Minneapolis over the weekend and was able to experience the annual Mayday parade, ceremony and festival. It was fantastic– Complete with bureaucratic puppet heads (above) and blood donations to save those addicted to oil (below).
This year’s theme, A New Bridge: Infrastructure for Future Beings, was an obvious call out to the spending of funds to re-build other countries rather than on the infrastructure needs in the U.S. Still fresh on the minds in Minneapolis was the I-35 bridge that collapsed last year. Still, we are too busy chasing the carrots that our promised in front of us.
I also took audio, and will let you know when I get something put together for a quick slide show.
|
|
It is also reflective of photography as a practice of seeing the complete picture. Seeing the unexpected. Seeing the subtle. Seeing, and capturing, what otherwise would be missed. It is a practice. Just like driving. |
|
The Leelanau Cheese Company is located in Suttons Bay, Michigan. The owners, John and Anne Hoyt make their artisan raclette in large batches that are aged around 8 months. The Free Press’s Sylvia Rector did a nice job describing the process, but also captured the uniqueness of the Hoyt’s mission–fine cheese, made right, from the cow to the plate. See more pictures, and read her article online at: It’s the best cheese in America Below, John Hoyt squeezes excess whey and water out of a fresh wheel of cheese. The cheese will sit with weights on top of it for another 12 hours before being placed in a cellar for 8-10 months.
|
|
Although i haven’t been posting to the BLOG of late, I have been shooting more than usual for this time of year. Some of the jobs I’ve are below. The New York Times covered a Home Repo Tour that I covered, the Detroit Free Press ran a snowmobile article on the front page and a new magazine, Edible Grande Traverse, launched and can be picked up around the region. My first of hopefully many assignments with them was a profile of Grand Traverse Resort Chef, Ted Cizma. In addition, there is a stock image in the March issue of Traverse Magazine (try to find it) and Dome Magazine ran a cover portrait of a Traverse City mover-and-shaker. Now, it’s time to get out there and shoot. Do you have any ideas? |
|
Q&A with Chris & Jody Treter of Higher Grounds Trading Co. I’m still trying to post some work from my January trip to Colombia with coffee roasters Jody & Chris Treter. I’m working on a slide show to post soon. For now, if you want to learn a little more about what we were doing in Colombia, listen to this radio interview that will air on Radio Anyway on February 16, or you can listen to a clip of it here: Q&A with Chris & Jody Treter
(Above) Chris and Jody introduce themselves, and their mission of high quality, Fair Trade coffee, to a community of coffee farmers in the community of El Maco. The group is a part of the producer cooperative, Fondo Paez. |
|
恭喜發財, KungHeiFatChoi, is a Cantonese New Year greeting for “Congratulations and be prosperous”. We can only hope! This is the year of the Rat, and it stands to be a year of change for us rats, culminating in a gloomy and pessimistic December. Yikes! The cure, according to one reading of the Chinese zodiac– Rats should travel abroad and learn something new. In particular, if you were born in the fall, head south. That’s convenient, as my recent trip to Colombia left me wanting more (images soon). To celebrate here are some New Year inspired images from my 2005 trip to China.
It is always a good time to eat Chinese sausages, shown here hanging on a telephone line on a sunny day in December in the then frigid city of Nanchang.
The Chinese New Year time is also called the Spring Festival and it is the time of the year when almost everyone takes a vacation and heads home for a week or two. The parks are full and the restaurants are packed
This year is particular special for China as Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympics from August 8 to August 24. This Olympic logo was hung on a construction site in the southern city of Nanjing. The promotional blitz for the Olympics has countrywide and extensive ever since the announcement in 2001.
In the end, it is all about family. Here, an elder couple walk home from a Nanjing market.
|
|
El perroito, Guardia, inspects the arrival of a group of strange visitors to the Cafinorte coffee warehouse in the Colombian city of Santander on January 16, 2008. The warehouse is a collection point for the indigenous coffee producer cooperative, Fondo Paez. I spent over a week touring coffee growing regions in Colombia with Jody and Chris Treter of Higher Grounds Trading Co . I’m just getting back into the swing of things, the frigid weather hasn’t helped, but I’ll have more images, as well as audio soon. * Note: If you’re a bicycle promoter, you must check out when they are doing in Bogotá. Watch this video and tell me you don’t want something like this in your town: Ciclovia: Bogotá
|
|
I’m honored to be on another adventure exploring the world of coffee and indigenous rights. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be traveling with my pals, Jody and Chris Treter from Higher Grounds Trading Co., in Colombia.
After that, we will head to the mountains near Cali in the south to meet farmers from the Treter’s current partner, Fondo Paez. Caught between the on-going war between the government and guerrilla fighters, the farmers of Fondo Paez are committed to building a community of peace and permaculture. Check back next week as I’ll try to write a few passages while on the road, and when i return I’ll share some of the images.
|
|
The last wedding assignment of the 2007 season was in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Ben & Sherry took a chance that it wouldn’t snow in mid-October and threw a great party. Here are a few images focusing on the details, the humor and friendships.
For each wedding, I choose a selection to proof as black & white. B & W allows the viewer to focus on the subject of the images. The colors were amazing in October, but so were the relationships.
Images by Gary L Howe |
|
Click through to view a multimedia piece created by myself and audio reporter, Linnaea Melcarek, covering the grand opening of the Traverse City State Theatre on November 17, 2007. Hundreds of people were downtown to celebrate the re-opening of the 91 year old, and newly, renovated theater. |
|
Jason & Erika were married back in late September in St. Joseph, Michigan, with the reception at the Blue Dress Barn. They are a beautiful couple, both with lots of character. It was difficult to choose what images to display here, so I focused on showing their personalities when together.
I have a few more weddings from 2007 to BLOG (soon), but previous entries can be viewed here: 2007 Weddings
Images by Gary L Howe |
|
Michael Moore waves to the Saturday night crowd as he enters the State Theatre in Traverse City during the grand opening on Saturday, November 17, 2007. Moore is one of the founders of the Traverse City Film Festival that now owns the theater and is responsible for the $850 thousand dollar renovations.
The bright lights and big stars were out in Traverse City on opening night. Special guests to the event arrived to the renovated State Theatre by limousine
Director Terry George has a little fun with fans waiting along the red carpet as special guests enter the State Theatre along a red carpet.
The interior of the State Theatre, complete with celestial ceiling. As well, the 500 plus theater seats are completely Michigan made from a company out of Grand Rapids. For more images of the State Theatre, visit my archive: Gary L Howe |
|
The recently renovated State Theatre opened in Traverse City, Michigan on November 17, 2007. The film, The Kite Runner, made its Michigan premier as part of the grand opening celebration. More soon…
|
|
Images by Gary L Howe |
|
I’ve been busy with the Great Lakes Bioneers Conference, planning a fundraiser around the screening of War/Dance, and in general Taking Back Time. I’ll get some more images up soon, but these are images of Elayna. Her mother, Katie, wanted some candid images of this quick moving child. We did our best.
Images by Gary L Howe |
|
I spent the weekend in the U.P. shooting a wedding, camping with my beagle, and getting a tour of the area around the Yellow Dog and Salmon Trout River where a proposed sulfide mine is meeting stern resistance. I’ll have more of the wedding and the river story soon, but wanted to share a few images on my birthday.
Lima waiting patiently as I take far too long shooting a scene.
Images by me, Gary L Howe |
|
Fall–simply, it is just a beautiful time of the year. On September 15th, Andrea & Brian chose a fantastic place to get married in the Snowmoon Ranch. The farm overlooks rolling hills, Glen Lake and comes complete with a population of Llamas. It was a full participatory wedding with several friends lending their musical talents to accompany the sounds of local fav New Third Coast. Unfortunately, we all can’t make it on the new couples’ mega-moon that is taking them across the globe for 8 months.
|
|
Erlewine’s latest solo album, Mother Moon features images in the insert that were taken by me during the recording in Big Rapids in December 2006. You can listen to and purchase a DVD at her Web site.
Image by Gary L Howe |
|
Announcing an exhibition of images focusing on Fair Trade coffee producers.
Examining green beans in Rwanda. This has been a part of my work over the last four years working in coordination with Higher Grounds Trading Co. and their buying cooperative, Cooperative Coffees. Higher Grounds recently opened their new roasting facility/cafe bar on the campus of the Traverse City Commons. If you want to learn a lot about the coffee industry and what goes into making a throughly enjoyable cup of coffee, one that is delicious and at the same time being socially just, head over to their place (map below). And, while there, peruse a few photos from Mexico, Bolivia and Rwanda.
Picking :cherries”, or ripe beans, also seen below, in Chiapas, Mexico.
The Higher Grounds Trading Company’s Cafe Bar is located behind Building 50, and just west of Munson Medical Center.
Images by Gary L. Howe. Click here for more Fair Trade coffee images
|
|
The wait for a wave is a little longer than you would have in Maui, but that doesn’t stop Elloy Molano & Matt Dobrowolski from surfing off of Van’s Beach in Leland in late August. I was shooting for a travel story about Leland & Fishtown–link below. Molano suggested that we all check out the film, Unsalted, for more about surfing in the Great Lakes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Leland, Michigan: A Lower Peninsula Spot Draws a Wider Crowd
photography by Gary Howe |
|
When I take a vacation, it is very hard not to take a camera. Instead, I just try to shoot things that aren’t so obvious or in the norm. North Manitou Island is full of scenic vistas and beaches, but what I’m attracted to most is often the smallest of things. So, while camping there in mid-August I took out my favorite lens, the Nikon 105mm macro, to do things like capture a monarch caterpillar representing the letter “J”, a unidentified object in the breakwater (shell, rock bone??) and other interesting angles of larger things.
All Images by Gary L Howe |
|
It’s not often that I get to shoot a couple’s wedding where I was present when they first met! Kate & Abe met at a party a couple of year’s ago and were married August 4th at their country home in West Michigan. Kate is the owner of Zany Consignment Boutique in Traverse City. The farm was beautiful, Kate was gorgeous, Abe was a little silly and Kate’s cousin, on leave from the military, was ready to get his groove on.
All photography by Gary L Howe. |
|
In the August 7th print of the New York Times Escapes section, you can read about Mario Batali’s choice of Northern Michigan for a vacation home. A few images run with the story and also, online, there is an audio slide show of Batali making Pizza al Fresco in his backyard pizza oven. Audio capture by the reporter & produced by the New York Times. Oh, he also shared his very simple Pizza Dough recipe.
|
|
Sara and Ryan’s Northern Michigan Wedding had glamour, lots of emotion, plenty of humor and good ol’ excitement. Strangely enough, a lot of weddings skip past the big moment–The Kiss. If you blink, you miss it. Sara and Ryan seemed to forget that there were other people present–and then remembered, making for a pretty funny expression.
It can sometimes be a sad state of affairs when the bouquet is tossed out. Many women flee as far as they can from the floral toss. Sara’s friends put on a good show for the cause, although the enthusiasm seemed to wane once the bouquet was airborne. |
|
The 2007 Traverse City Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday and now we enter the quiet days of summer. I didn’t shoot too much on the last day of the festival, but I did have the honor of placing the letters on the marquee for the 4PM show at the State Theater–”Please Vote For Me“. Cool. I always wanted to do that. The exciting news from the festival, for locals, is that the State Theatre will be an operational community theatre once again on November 17. I can’t wait. I didn’t realize what Traverse City had lost when it closed in 1991, but I’m thrilled that we will get it back. The documentary “Please Vote For Me” made me cry because it was so funny, honest, and revealing of some very universal traits. It also depicted a classroom of Chinese students who I felt like I knew. I have taught in China, and the children in this movie brought it all back. Rent this film if you get a chance. My favorite film from the 2007 TC Film Festival was War Dance. War Dance told the story of three Uganda refugee students who strive to re-invent their identity from a war torn past. The children, at 12 years old, showed more perspective, insight and maturity than I see in most adults.
This is the view from the marquee. The Traverse City Film Festival Photo BLOG will be getting updates in the coming weeks. There were about 16 festival photographers who were set loose on the streets of Traverse City. Check out what we came with: Traverse City Film Festival Photography |
Powered by WordPress
Take this test. It is short. It has everything to do with seeing. Used here to promote driver awareness of bicyclists. 
I can see the light! Yesterday the winter tires came off and spring is here! Right? …..
View the multi-media slide show 
In today’s New York Times is an emotionally moving article by By JERÉ LONGMAN and AIMEE BERG, “
The 
