2015 Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

Had the good fortune to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train as it made it's stop in Columbus, WI.   The Holiday Train has 14 rail cars decorated with hundreds of thousands of LED lights and holiday designs.​  It starts in Montreal and visits 150 communities in Canada and the United States.

As they make a stop, the sides of one rail car opens up and there is a live music performance including an appearance by Santa.   Along with bringing holiday cheer, Canadian Pacific Rail encourages people to bring food and donate money to local food pantries.

The Canadian Pacific Train arrives in Columbus, WI as a large crowd of people looks on.

Viewers line the sides of the railroad tracks as the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train arrives in Columbus, WI.

Kelly Prescott performs during a stop of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train in Columbus, WI.

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train is decorated with thousands of lights during a stop in Columbus, WI.

Our Lives Magazine - Dave Eick

Dave Eick is the owner of Five Nightclub, a long running LGBT bar in Madison, WI. Due to a changing community and culture, the bar was slated to close in 2014. After the announcement, a outpouring of community support brought it back from the brink. Our Lives Magazine asked me to photograph Dave for an article in their September/October 2015 issue about Dave and Five Nightclub.  To read article download a PDF of the Our Lives issue.

Exedra - Italian Baroque Furniture Manufacturer

While photographing Riccado and his brother in their workshop Sicilia Intarsi, Riccardo offered to take me to visit Exedra, a family-owned baroque style furniture maker the next day.   Baroque furniture is an old style that came out of the Baroque era from the 1700 to 1800's.  It's a furniture style preserved by Exedra in the shadow of Mt. Etna in Belpasso, Italy.  Though much of the process is automated, the detailed carving and upholstery is still done by hand. 

Furniture makers carve the intricate baroque details on pieces of wood that will be used to make a chair.

Wood carving tools and shavings on a workbench in the Exedra workshop.

Furniture makers at their individual workbenches work on carving and shaping pieces of a baroque chair.

A furniture maker works on carving out the find details of a baroque chair at his workbench.

After details are carved out, the pieces are sanded and buffed using a rotary sander made of strips of cotton and sandpaper.

A baroque chair leg is sanded smooth with a handheld rotary sander.    Much time is sent to get the finish just right.

Assembled chair backs are glued and clamped together awaiting further assembly.

Chair backs are fitted with additional embellishment by a factory worker taking great pains to insure a perfect fit.

Assembled and painted chair frames waiting to be upholstered.

Upholsterer cuts fabric by hand the fabric that will be used to cover a chair.

Sewing and final touches of the upholstery fabric are done by hand.

Upholstery thread unwinds from it's spindle while the upholster sews the fabric at his sewing machine.

Upholsterer's tool drawer.

Fabric is trimmed after being secured to chair.

Upholsterer secures fabric to chair using a power stapler.

Handmade piping laying in the seat of a chair awaits installation by an upholsterer.

Sicilia Intarsi - Sicilian Inlay Company

While visiting Catania, I had the good fortune of finding a very nice apartment in the historic center of the city.  Tucked behind the apartment building, the owner Riccardo and his brother Giovanni D'Antonne operate a wood inlay company called Sicilia Intarsi.   I spent some time in the workshop one afternoon to learn about and observe the art of wood inlay.

It's comprised of designing and cutting multiple layers of wood veneer and putting the design together like a puzzle.   Once it is put together, masking tape is used to hold in place before it is glued and finished.  They use a brandishing technique on some pieces by dipping the edges of pieces in a pan of heated lava granules from nearby Mt. Etna.   It's very detailed and painstaking work, and a bit meditative as they work quietly together at the workbench.  Riccardo tells me they are one of the few companies left that don't use computerized laser cutting technology.  They still cut on a table saw guided by hand.

Riccardo and Giovanni assemble inlay projects on the central worktable in their workshop Sicilia Intarsi.

Giovanni manually guides the table saw with precision, cutting multiple layers of wood veneer. Sicilia Intarsi is one of the few inlay companies that does not use computerized laser cutting technologies.

A sampling of the tools used to create an inlay piece. 

Riccardo inspects the inventory of completed samples in a cabinet finished with their own inlay design, while Giovanni warms his hands on a cool winter day in their unheated workshop.

Small finished inlay wood items in the samples cabinets used to supplement their online catalog. 

Inlay pieces are grouped on the worktable after being burnished in a pan of heated lava granules.

Giovanni places a single piece in an inlay panel.

Riccardo trims a corner of an inlay panel border while Giovanni uses masking tape to hold his project in place.

Riccardo uses a hammer and razor blade to trim the corner of a panel border.

Inlay pieces are dipped in a pan of heated lava granules to burnish the edges for creative effect.

Riccardo tapes pieces of a panel while Giovanni burnishes individual pieces in a pan if heated lava granules.

Burnished inlay pieces with some residue of lava granules.

Riccardo treats me to Sicilian hospitality in the showroom featuring finished products using Sicilia Intarsi's inlay work. He is pouring a glass of Cantine Intorcia Vino Alla Mandorla.  A sweet almond wine of Sicily.

Catania, Sicily at Dusk

Catania is the provincial town of the Catania Province on the eastern coast of Sicily and the second largest city on the island after Palermo. Destroyed in the great earthquake of 1696, much of the reconstruction was done in the Baroque Style of the time. Being in the shadow of Mt. Etna, lava rock has been used as the main construction material for centuries. The Piazza del Duomo is wonderfully lighted at night and is a popular meeting point. It is also very good people watching.

Portraits - American Family Insurance 2013 Annual Report

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute portrait photography for the American Family Insurance 2013 Annual Report.

I enjoy this type of assignment and the challenge of working in multiple locations. I have to work efficiently to visualize and set up the shot, then tear down and move on to the next. I like the variety of people I get to meet and the AmFam folks are great to work with.

For the 2013 Annual Report,  American Family decided to publish it in an interactive online format instead of print.  The sampling of images here are screen shots of my work incorporated in the report. View the full report on American Family Insurance's web site.

(Center "PROTECT" image)

Isthmus Cover - Eldonna Hazen

I photographed Rev. Eldonna Hazen for an Isthmus cover story. Rev Hazen is the first woman and openly gay minister at Madison's First Congregational Church. She is the beloved leader and advocate for acceptance of all people in her congregation.

Read the full story on the Isthmus Daily Page web site.

Observation on Travel - Oaxaca, Mexico

As with many people, I love going to public markets when I travel.   It's a great way to get an insight into the culture since food plays such a significant part.  It's also a place to mingle with the locals.   Taking my camera with me is always fraught with a little anxiety and hesitation.   There are so many wonderful images that I see, but I also want to be respectful of the people and not view it all as just novelty.  I think this image below illustrates so well. 

I happened to be leaving the market just as a tour bus arrived.  Without so much as a simple greeting, they snapped their photos with cameras dangling from their necks completely ignoring the chapulines vendor. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't enjoying herself.  I feel when traveling, one needs to put the camera down and actually see and interact with what or whom is in front of you. 

Sometimes it can work in your favor, and you are invited to make some photos, like when I started talking and purchasing some wonderful food being prepared under a tent next to the cathedral.   The women where selling their freshly made food to raise money for the parish. I showed some interest, started asking some questions and before I knew I was being given the grand tour of all the vendors and what they where making.  It was a great interaction and they insisted I get in the picture with them.  Of course, I had to try some of the chicken empanadas too!

Endless Winter 2014

It seems that this is one of the coldest and snowy winters since my arrival in WI over 20 years ago. The first few snowfalls can be beautiful, but once we start moving close February, I keep asking myself, "what was I thinking by moving to WI?". For those with their own home, a snowblower and a good shovel is a must. In Madison, if you don't shovel your sidewalks by noon the day following a measurable snowfall, you run the risk of a $124.00 citation. It's a pain for the homeowner, but it sure makes life easier for the pedestrian.