Was just in New York City a couple weeks back for a whirlwind/action-packed week.

In 8 days and 7 nights, I had 50+ portfolio meetings and sit-downs to discuss the work and my newly printed portfolio.

Was a super fruitful journey getting facetime with a number of industry professionals at the NYCFotoworks, PDN Reviews at the Javits and a few other meetings I was able to line up on my own.

Even met up with a few advocates/industry (bald) heads.

And this guy who was the absolute truth.

Also made it out for NYC’s Halloween parade where I met a cast of characters.

Halloween Parade was bananas.

In an attempt to decompress from that, I sought out some old friends, acquaintances and loved ones.

Friend time with the Mittenbergs in around Chinatown and Union Square.

Hung out with the Blizz to see the Giants win the World Series.

Family time with the Garcias and my mom’s sister.

Oh, and I shot a lot of trash.

And ate a lot of food.

Then wrapped it all up at the Jane Hotel.

Can’t wait to make it back. I’ll be hitting the blog with further updates and the like in the coming weeks, so keep them eyes peeled.

More soon,

Mike

Jokingly, I asked a stander-by if the President was in one of those houses to which she calmly replied, ‘yes.’ In a move straight of Nascar, I angled the car into the first available spot and joined the droves of anxious-ites willing to brave to the cold just to get a peek of the man himself and the baby elephant he was attempting to corral for a homeowner.

Below are a couple photos. It’s my hope that one day I’ll be closer than 30 yards away when capturing this stuff. . .

With a baby elephant on the loose, many folks showed up to catch a glimpse. They’d heard President Barack Obama was around, too.

People photographing the ‘Baby Elephant Containment Unit of Greater Seattle’ on NE 75th St and 40th Ave NE in Seattle.

The press junket was there looking ‘just so’ showing off this year’s must have item: laptop in transport to wherever you’re walking.

Mayor McGinn was in attendance and pulled out a Larabar he had in his biking shorts.

Gov. Christine Gregoire tried her best but was rushed away when her husband lobbied her for the Denny’s ‘all-you-can-eat’ breakfast buffet that ended at 11am.

President Barack Obama decided he’d come out and handle it. In fact was told later by a friend, that his exact words were “hold up, I got this.”

With the baby elephant back in it’s baby elephant sleeping quarters at the Foss residence, Obama decided he’d caravan over to UW’s HecEd and give a speech just for the ‘Hec’ of it.

People losing their minds over the President’s ability to handle baby elephant corralling.

Everyone disheartened by their inability to capture any photos of the baby elephant. Thankfully, they got a couple of the President ‘gettin’ it done.’

Above is an image of us after exchanging nuptials on August 22nd at Kubota Gardens here in Seattle. She’s stuck with me for six years after our first meeting in the photo lab at the University of Iowa while she pursued graduate studies in printmaking, I in photography/intermedia. Can’t imagine life without her by my side, for she’s a continual grounding force that inspires strength and stability each and every day.

In other news, and completely under the radar, I updated the website to coincide with an upcoming trip to NYC I’ll be making for portfolio meetings. If you catch a sec hit http://www.michaelclinard.com to see the website refresh.

Above is the virtual Rosetta Stone of the image names that made the cut and those that have now found their way into the archives. Many thanks to all who’ve been beta-testing it and lending thoughts, suggestions and ideas. Much appreciated.

Outside that, I recently made a trek through Eastern Washington to visit a sight I’ve longed to see since childhood: The Grand Coulee Dam. Hope you enjoy taking a gander at some of the images below.

Scorched Earth somewhere in Eastern WA.

Grand Coulee Dam itself. Walked out on to the edge of a cliff to nab this one. The visitors were awestruck by my dedication to capture an unfettered view of the dam.

Official historical marker that looks like it’s been taken a time or two.

Weird murals galore.

Weird mural galore, part 2.

Old sign telling of the nightly Laser Light show. Would’ve loved to stuck around but had to get home to the Mrs.

Says it all. This thing ain’t teeny weeny.

New friends I made on the tour of one of the power plants.

Drink the Kool-aid, just not the water.

For some reason, this reminds me of Woody Guthrie.

More soon,

Mike

Couple months back, I had a lull in work travels and made some time to photograph Ron Miller, the former Naval Commanding Officer at Magnuson/Sand Point here in Seattle.

Before getting in studio, I was lucky enough to hear stories and tour his old offices in what is now ‘Building 30,’ a multi-use complex that hosts a number of community events here in Seattle.

The ballroom floor above no doubt saw quite a bit of traffic, and as he reminisced about the good ole’ days, Ron revealed a number of old cassettes buried deep in his bomber jacket. Apparently, they contained the daily motivational speeches he was often known to give to his newer recruits.

One title, “Prescription for Relief from Stress” was a favorite. **(As an aside: some days later, I received a compendium of these speeches in printed form. . .)

While it’s sad to admit that Building 30 now lays in a state of semi-disrepair, there’s quite a bit of community effort to preserve it by transforming it to artists’ studios and small naval museum. The image above shows an installation undertaken by a number of Magnuson Park artists as a means to draw attention to the building’s state.

Either way, it’d be great to breathe new life into 30 and get someone else in there besides the ducks.

As we made our way out, I couldn’t help but notice Ron’s sweet bomber jacket.

Asked him about picking one up in a large, but was informed that it only came in two sizes, 1) no and 2) just Ron’s.

Much appreciation to Ron for taking the time to sit for me. Happy Fourth to everyone!

More always,

Mike

Road Warrior Grip Kit and Wardrobe Bundle. Shot in a hotel right around Billings, Montana.

Now that I’m back in the Emerald City for what I think will be at least a couple weeks, I’ll be bringing everyone up to speed on recent happenings: portfolio updates, recent projects, a NEW new Website look . . .

A gaggle of geese seen near the tulip fields outside La Conner, Washington.

Stay tuned as I leave you (for the moment) with the sentiment best expressed by the Marlboro Man in the image seen below.

The Marlboro Man seems to be pretty broken up about the whole thing. General Information board in Seattle, Washington.

More always,

Mike

Image above is the one that ran, but I had the time to do a couple versions on account of John’s relaxed nature and willingness to help a fellow artist experiment. That said, I was quite fond of the two images below.

Either way, do yourself a favor and head on over to the full post to read more about John and his longtime efforts helping artists and the SODO community.

In other exciting news, I now have prototype/1st round versions of my new portfolios that will be hitting photo editor/creative desks very soon.

How can I show you and not allow a peek inside?

The scan above is from inside the editorial book. Then here’s a grab from the portrait book.

These first round looks comes courtesy of none other than photo consultant extraordinaire Amanda Sosa-Stone. She did an amazing job pairing and juxtaposing themes/subjects/events that had been unobserved to my own eyes.

**A word of advice: get someone to lay your book out for you. If anything, it’s just another set of eyes on the ground suggesting what stays and what goes. I’m not speaking to every photographer, but I know I can oftentimes be a little too close to the work I love creating. It was certainly helpful to get someone else’s take.

More always,

Mike

Gave my buddy Knuteson a call and he was more than game to help me out.

Had a great time shooting it, and it’s fun to see the results.

Stay tuned as there should be more of these bad boys in the coming months.

More always,

Mike

postscript: Lucien says ‘sure, I can help you out on that, but you’re going to have to do something for me. . .‘

This is her home back in yonder days.

So much cool stuff to shoot, it’s a photographer’s paradise.

Desi, her boyfriend, has great taste in music.

Makes me wish I still had my own Technics turntable hooked up.

My outfit still works but the amp blew sometime back. Great to see Desi’s keeping it real though.

Nothing sounds as good as vinyl in a well-lit room.

Scorpion and Cobra Tequila one procured in Vietnam probably doesn’t hurt either.

A painting of Leyla by Desi after sipping Cobra Tequila.

All the tequila, music and pups in the room have led to the plants taking their lives into their own hands . . .

. . . reaching for that beautiful window light. While here, I laid on my back and pretended to be one of Leyla’s pampered pooches.

In fact, here’s Benita aka “Benny.” The new addition to the family.

And this is Leyla reaching down to pet Koda: the friendliest, kindest dog I’ve ever known.

Here’s my friend looking over at Leyla for something, a treat maybe . . .

. . . oh, nope. It’s just to remind her of all the hair on her butt.

More always,

Mike

Seen above is Muna, a graphic design friend kind enough to sit for me as the first subject of the day. I realized pretty quickly that math was not Muna’s strong suit, and she had no problem telling me about it. Wanted to push it another layer, so I got a few more folks into the studio who do math pretty much the entire day.

This is Kasey, my favorite teller from the local bank where I do most of my financial business. They’re the nicest folks and when I ran the idea by them, they jumped at the idea of sitting for these left-of-center portraits.

Here’s Cat, manager of the bank. She was always at me about getting that business account. When I came through on that for her, I told her she owed me one. She’s a sport and delivered quite exceptionally on that promise.

And finally, Sam, the lone guy at the bank. Don’t think he’s smiling because there’s a 5:1 ratio of guys to girls. Oh no, it’s because he was the quickest calculator in the bunch.

Several interesting projects in the works, so stay tuned for new posts over the next couple weeks.

More always,

Mike

*quick note on the project: the left panel image was captured from behind the camera by way of cable release. The right panel image was captured about a half-second to second after by way of ‘capture’ button on a tethered laptop by a completely different DSLR system set up in profile to my subject. Diptychs composed from chronologically symmetrically-sequenced images from either capture system.

There was one minor hitch though: neither of my subjects were all that keen on the typical portrait. In fact, they wanted to see what I might be able to do if I ‘weren’t’ to show their faces.

I’m all about client services, so I was happy to oblige. In fact, I’m quite liking the results.

More always,

Mike