Shot this morning at 6am. Saw the early morning light and felt inspired to take my D7000 out and try a skyline landscape. Did a hand full of exposures, but this image is my favorite. It was still chilly in the air, and I think the photo captures that.

Blues Legend Rounds the Corner on Another Year

I first heard Filipowicz years ago at the Azatlan Inn, near Lake Mills Wisconsin. Aztalan is the site of one of the Midwest's oldest sacred Indian mounds, and I later found out is where Paul makes his home.

A native of Chicago, Filipowicz moved to Wisconsin in the mid 70's, bringing his guitar and his searing blues guitar style with him. It was in Chicago, home of many legendary blues players, that Paul heard the music of  Muddy Waters and decided to be a blues player.

Forty years later I'm at the Knuckle Down Saloon, one of  the best places in Madison to hear the blues, to catch Paul playing a gig that's his and club owner Chris Kalmbach's birthday bash. The place was packed and Filipowicz wowed the crowd with his searing brand of blues guitar. 

http://youtu.be/It2YDncd3-s

                                                            

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Rockin' Johnny Burgin at the Knuckle Down Saloon

Johnny Burgin is a Chicago based blues musican. Madison, WI is a short drive from the Windy City, so we're fortunate to be able to catch a lot of great Chicago blues players in our local clubs. Johnny played the Knuckle Down Saloon on Mar 7th, 2013. Bundled up my equipment, a Nikon D800 for the vids and 7000 for the stills, and headed to the club a little early to set up. 

I covered a gig of Johnny's at the Locker Room in Madison a couple of years ago. He remembered me and gave me a nice greeting when he saw me setting up. Very nice guy, and a great blues player. Joining him on stage were Madison musicians A.J. Love on 2nd guitar, Joey B. Banks on drums, and Beloit native Eric Sheffield on bass.

Lighting at the Knuckle Down was pretty dim. I set the D800 at 3200 iso and the 24 - 70/f2.8 Nikkor lens at f/3.5. Recording quality was 1080P at 30 frames/sec. Shot the stills with the D7000, 18-200 lens, set at iso 1600 on manual f/5.6 at 30th sec.

After Johnny's first set he invited local blues players to join him on stage for a jam session. One of my favorite local players, Paul Filipowicz, was first to get on stage. Paul is a Texas style blues player, like Stevie Ray Vaughn, and works really hard on stage. He and Rockin' Johnny were a great match. 

After Paul, Kyle Henderson sat in on vocals. After that Cadillac Rob took the stage, and was joined by Chicago native Hannah John Taylor on sax. It was a rockin blues night!

Rockin' Johnny Burgin "Chicago Jump"

A Snowy Day at the Capitol

Heard the snow plows working the street early this am as I lay in bed trying to catch a few extra zzz's. Heard on the news last night there was going to be a winter weather watch today, so it wasn't surprising to me when I peeked out the window and saw the snow flakes falling. Noticed most of the cars normally gone to work were still parked on the street, so I decided to call it a snow day at the shop and worked from home. But I did get out later on in the  day and got some grab shots around town ...

Later on I stopped by the shop to check on things and grabbed another shot of the snow still coming down on Atwood Ave.

Maria was supposed to fly in from Jamaica tonight and I was going to pick her up at Madison International at 10pm. She called a bit ago to let me know her connection out of Chicago was canceled and she'd be grabbing a Van Galder bus instead, arriving at the Union at 10:30. Not  bad, the bus always gets through. Welcome back to the land of snow white Maria!

I became part Catholic at their wedding 25 years ago ...

I  shot their wedding 25 years ago. Jack called while I was out on the golf course, and yes, I have poor golf manners and answered my phone while out on the links. Jack said he'd noticed my new studio gallery on Atwood Ave. Very nice. Then he asked if I might be available to shoot his wedding vows renewal ceremony at St Dennis that night after mass. Be delighted I told him. Be great to see he and Colleen again after 25 years. 

Jack reminded me that I became part Catholic that day. I was backing up the aisle during the recessional and bumped into the baptismal fount and got some holy water on my coat tails. Father Klink exclaimed that I was now part Catholic. A gal standing near to him laughed and said yes, and it's the best part! 

During the ceremony I thought about that day 25 years ago, and how things have changed. Back then I carried a large studio camera, an RZ 67 6X7cm film camera. Fitted with a motor drive the thing was a monster, in weight and in performance. The 220 roll film went into a removable film back that attached to the camera. You got 20 shots then you had to put on another back to keep shooting. Now days I'm shooting with a Nikon D700 DSLR with a motor drive. It too is a monster in weight and performance, but I get more than 20 shots at a time. ...

I also thought about father Klink. When he was reassigned from St Dennis in Madison to a new church in Janesville half the congregation went with him and traveled 45 minutes out of town to attend his masses. Del Klink was a wonderful human being and the most popular 
religious figure I ever encountered. And no, I'm not Catholic (well, maybe part of me if you believe father Klink).


So here I am 25 years later back at St Dennis with Jack and Collen. They were kind enough to say I hadn't changed a bit ( Jack and Colleen are gentile folks). It was a very sweet renewal ceremony.

It Takes a Long Time ...

Spotted in a family cafe in Lake Mills Wisconsin. Nice sentiment.

Dar among the flowers

Darlene in her backyard garden

Night Time Photography Tips – PictureCorrect

Night Time Photography Tips – PictureCorrect

These guys worked all morning to make a nice arrangement of the company products for the photographer (me). I asked them pose for me after I finished the necessary shots. Nice job guys! Photo taken at the Resco Co. in Middletin WI.

I got lost on the way to the church, but so did everybody else ...

I shot a wedding at this little church in LaValle Wisconsin a few weeks ago. My GPS took me to the middle of a farmers field. The farmers wife comes out and laughs and says "Must've followed your gps looking for Avent Chrisitan eh". Apparently lots of folks looking for the church end up in the middle of the farmers field. Farmers wife handed me directions to the church and off I went. Next time I'm using a map ...

Wedding and portrait photography - products and services from Artful Imagery - Weddings & Portraits by Terry Talbot

Wedding and portrait photography - products and services from Artful Imagery - Weddings & Portraits by Terry Talbot

Elena Gets Married

I've known Elena since she was knee high to a grasshopper. Now she's all grown up and what a beauty she's turned out to be. Elena and Luis work and live in Wilmington Delaware, but decided to tie the knot in Elena's hometown. The ceremony and reception were both held at the Overture Center in downtown Madison, WI, and the Capitol, Monona Terrace, and Memorial Union all served as backdrops for some terrifically fun photos. Congrats Elena and Luis Rivera!

Madison WI wedding photographer Terry Talbot