He and his wife, Ha, were visiting Seattle on vacation from Massachusetts back in July of 2008. They were taking the ferry over to Bainbridge with their two kids when I encountered Ron feeding the seagulls pieces of bread from his hand. This seemed kind of Superman-ish to me b/c I’d worry about them nipping at my fingertips, but Ron was unphased by it.

Ha informed me that Ron passed away from cancer last year, and the news absolutely broke me up. Through their blog, I learned so much about the man so many cared about, and the resiliency he and his family showed until his eventual passing.

My best friend died at 19 from leukemia which was was devastating. The first instance really that I — and my friends — realized we were not invincible. A lot of folks, me included, sweat the small things that really don’t matter all that much, and Ha’s message really grounded me back down to the reality of what’s important.

With that, I ask two things of anyone that happens to be reading this:

1) hug your wife/husband/domestic partner/boyfriend/girlfriend. Squeeze your son/daughter/mom/dad/friend today. Tell them how much they mean to you.

2) give blood any time you have the opportunity to as this saves lives.

Ha asked if I had any pictures of him from that day, and I did which brought great satisfaction to me knowing that she had more images of the man she so deeply loved. Better still, I had one piece of footage from that day.

If you get a sec, head to the clip on my server here or here (won’t work on mobile) OR see Ron in all his glory from that day below on Vimeo. . .

Gabrielle’s House – Wallingford, Seattle.

Down by the Water – Magnuson Park, Seattle.

Gail and her fancy note-taking abilities – Varsity Inn, Seattle.

Apple Lisa Computer – RE-PC, Seattle.

Ecuador vs. Mexico Game – Qwest (now CenturyLink) Field, Seattle

Wall in Seattle – Lake Union, Seattle.

Prep for Phoot Camp – The Lab (aka my Studio), Seattle.

The Sticky (w/ Laura Healy for Seattle Met Feature) – The Lab (aka my Studio) Seattle.

Spadaccini’s Pad – Capitol Hill, Seattle.

Pretty Pink Packing Peanuts (Reprise. . . I did an art project with these back in the day) – Kill Room, Seattle.

Jim Pridgeon’s Studio – Bldg 11, Seattle.

Proscenium Stage – Bldg 11, Seattle.

Dinner with the Quadd’s – Captiol Hill, Seattle.

NYC Daze – NYC, NY.

Tara aka “T-bone” of Thom Browne – NYC, NY.

Our lighting is otherworldly and defies physcis – Studio in SODO, Seattle.

Saw my first Sounders Game – Qwest (now CenturyLink) Field, Seattle.

I shot Charlie Sheen – International District, Seattle.

Those New Duct Tape Nikes finally dropped – Breezeway, Seattle.

Way to get born USA – Northgate, Seattle.

The World – Convention Center, Seattle.

Summer Wedding Duds – Arboretum, Seattle.

Lowriders – Magnuson Park, Seattle.

Knoxville, TN

Porn in the South (Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops Catalogs)

Washington, DC (Reagan Airport?)

Parking Lot – Washington, DC.

Spoiled kid picking his boogers – In-the-air, DC to MSP.

Display and Costume – Northgate, Seattle.

Metaphor for sumpthin’ – Bldg 11, Seattle.

Lindsey Watkins prepping Andrea Clinkscales for ‘Can’t Look Away’ Branding imagery – SIFF Theater, Seattle.

Inflated Heart – Wedgwood, Seattle.

Red Green – University District, Seattle.

Photographer at Space Needle – Lake Union, Seattle.

Bags Pickup – Airport in Baltimore, MD.

At a Wal-Mart in Baltimore, MD.

The Hugest Crab Cakes Ever – Baltimore, MD.

At a party – Bellevue, WA.

Old Hand-painted Signage – Capitol Hill, Seattle.

John Galliano shopping at Costco – Shoreline, WA.

In n’ Out Burger – San Diego, CA.

Our House (where Dogs are Cats and Cats are Dogs) – Wedgwood, Seattle.

Chateau Ste. Michelle (for Jeff Bridges concert) – Woodinville, Seattle.

My wife sneaking cookies at Chateau Ste. Michelle. . .

Phew. I’ll have more posts very soon. Thanks for looking and enjoy the day off!

Clinard.

1) got married to the most beautiful woman in the world.

2) been making great headway with my photography after my trip to New York.

(above is my first feature! shot for Benjamen Purvis and Seattle Met magazine. . . more on that in a later post.)

3) am to a point in my life where I feel super content and relaxed (sorry, I couldn’t resist using the image below for those who know my freneticism and inclination toward lateral thinking).

I’m very thankful to have a supportive network of friends, loved ones and terribly creative colleagues. I’m excited to see what the new year holds and wish each and everyone the best in 2011.

I’ve been shooting a host of new personal projects and exciting assignments, so stay tuned in the coming weeks for updates.

More soon,
Mike

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

Yeah that’s me in a Masonic Grandmaster’s Hat. Don’t look too hard as my brain explodes after this. . .

Sorry I’ve been incognito as of late, but I’m back in full force. February has been a mad cover-up of jobs after taking January off to grieve for lost loved ones:

The pretty smiling ladies above are from the era of one Nellie Mae Pittman who passed in late January. She was my grandmother and the coolest girl on two feet! She used to let me watch HBO when I was four and taught me everything I know in the kitchen. . . Much love to you Nanny!

A two-week car shoot and an upcoming Adidas job has had me buried as of late, but I’m hoping to post current projects very soon. . . Amanda, don’t kill me. . .

More soon,

Mike

I can’t say it looks all that futuristic to me, but I am indeed rocking the Jetsetters/George Jetson T-shirt from Dope Couture I got a couple months back. Why? Because I’m hoping to be wearing hater blockers more and more on account of how bright I hope 2010 will prove to be.

Seen above is me accompanied by my camera case riding shotty in first class. Why you ask? Because that’s what 2010 is about. Respecting and pampering my photographic vision and style.

There have been quite a number of developments over the last couple months, so I’ll just jump right in and start going down the line.

1) I was not even in Seattle at all during mid-to-late November in through early-to-mid December. During that time I was in: Miami->Chicago->DC, then back to Seattle for Thanksgiving. Then the next week it was Boston->New York->Los Angeles, then back to Seattle at the first of December.

First week of December had me in New Brunswick, NJ and right outside of Houston, TX where I picked up this fat T-shirt from Buc-EE’s. The girl who we made our purchase from said ‘Buc-EE’s is like the best gas station I’ve ever been to. . .’ and I whole-heartedly agree random gas clerk:

That’s me above in Buc-ee’s regalia in my last week of work in December in Hartford, CT. When I got back to Seattle, it was right on the next plane out for some much needed Holiday family time with my parents, brother and grandmother in Alabama.

2) While in New York, I got word that the Brand Identity and System conjured up with Tim Lahan was written up on the esteemed Heather Morton Art Buyer Blog, and subsequently picked up by Rob Haggert (A Photo Editor) and Chase Jarvis.

Above are a few images of the system in action and how it will look when in the hands of potential clients.

3) I’m working with the amazing consultant, Amanda Sosa-Stone on my marketing plan for 2010 and a tighter edit of my portfolio. Our first phone meeting last week was amazing and already I’ve gotten some amazing insight on where I stand and where I need to go. Stay tuned for further updates.

4) Yes, I have indeed been shooting. In fact, here are a few images from the last several weeks for your bemusement:

Portrait of a Portrait of Scott Urban, Chicago. 2009.

In the Workshop of Scott Urban, Chicago. 2009.

Texas Lunch. 2009.

My Dad (in Personal Garage/Playpen/Sandbox/Laboratory). 2009.

Laura #1. 2009.

Laura #2. 2009.

Outtake (Stephen). 2009.

Karaoke Outtake (Josh Collins). 2009.

That’s about it for now mein Freunds. Keep checking back for updates and late breaking news from the Office of Michael Clinard, General Photography. Here’s to a hard rocking, fruitful and happening 2010!

More always,
Mike

I got an email a couple hours back saying that the editorial team selected my project from the several hundred that folks post everyday. Pretty neat being that a couple days ago I decided to pull some images together that I’ve shot over the last year or so in anticipation for the new site that’s being developed. Figured I’d give folks a preview of some of the visuals to expect, and here it goes getting some neat attention!

I suspect that project will drop from the front pages after a week or so, but in the meantime, feel free to visit the gallery and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy looking at them as I had a great time creating them. Big shout of thanks to all the nice folks that sat for me!

More soon,

Mike

It’s been a busy month for me: the website look is finally being hashed out and collateral material printing for the Office of Michael Clinard, General Photography is gearing up.

Outside of the recent happenings, I found some time to steal away and edit through the 1600 or so photos from the recent trip to Ecuador. I’ve gone ahead and put them up on Picasa here.

When you arrive, I encourage you to click the slideshow option to see them larger; from there, you can pause it to click through at your own pace or turn off the captions if you’d prefer.

Above is an image shot inside the monument La Virgin del Panecillo which overlooks Quito–Ecuador’s capital. It’s a large monument of the Virgin Mary constructed of large steel plates, each one welded and screwed together as seen above.

When I finally stopped to appreciate it’s inner construction, I found myself standing in front of plate 79. Specifically important to me given that it was the year of my birth: 1979.

More soon,

Mike

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting pictures, stories and reflections to ye’ olde blog. For now, I present a couple pieces of art from my 100% adorable, 6 year old cousin, Paola.

Literally everything she did was cute, and I found myself just smiling every time she was around. Paola made these for us on the night of our departure, and they read something equivalent to Mike + Jenna = Paola.

So now you want to see her, right? Alright, I just can’t resist. . . here she is enjoying Parque Historico seven feet off the ground with Jenna.

More always,

Mike

Jenna, aka ‘The Boss’ (pictured above), made it happen. She engineered a low-cost, very effective way of making prints from a short list of supplies found at any Value Village, Goodwill or retail store. The list goes a little something like this:

1) Obtain a few frames from said store. These can be picture frames or those wooden frames that pre-stretched canvas comes on. You know, the canvases that you used to paint your high school masterpieces on. . . exactly, the ones that now reside at above-noted Goodwill store.

2) Find some very sheer curtain tulle that someone has discarded. Probably on the back wall, wedged between the quilts with the stains on them and the Saved by the Bell sweatshirts.

3) Rolls of Contact Paper. It’s probably the case the ones you find at Value Village are still tacky enough to affix to your tulle, but if concerned, feel free to go out and pick up a new roll.

Basically, you staple your tulle very taut to your frame as if making a drum. Affix your contact paper with design cut out and you’re good to go. I found a couple nice tutorials on the process here and here that pretty much break things down.

Above is my contribution. It’s the new brand identity I’ve been bringing into existence with the aid of a fantastic designer in NYC named Tim Lahan. I’m super excited to start the process of spreading the word and getting it out on market.

That said, keep your eyes peeled for exciting new updates from the Office of Michael Clinard: General Photography.

Always,

Mike