Ah, the photographer's go-to for a giggle, What the Duck. Alas, I DID in fact get the studio up and running, and it's marvelous. No job too big or small now, or at least without a half-day of packing and location setup; it's all ready to go, and open for business.

Lessee, what's new? I have covered a few North Shore Animal League America events, and finally scored a glimpse of the calendar for 2010 - there are 8 of my shots in it, I think, including the cover. Good stuff, great cause. I'll get some shots of Cesar Milan's visit up in a few weeks, too.

And I can't forget to mention meeting the ever-charming and beautiful actor Jane Alexander, who has been nominated for more Oscars and Emmys than I can count. From her role alongside James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope, to Kramer vs. Kramer, Brubaker, and so on...what a career she's had. She was even in one of my recent Indy favs, Gigantic, and the more mainsteam Terminator: Salvation. She was an absolute delight to meet and work with, and I'm looking forward to getting her an 11x14 print of the shot here, her fav.

Lastly, a rare portrait of the artist as a not-so-young man. Beth Ostrosky Stern was in Huntington Village for a book signing, so we popped in line to get a signed copy of her great book on dogs, which is noted in the blog below for the cover photograph we made together. I'd just gotten some sun while photographing helicopters for a local defense contractor and thought for a sec it might give me a healthy glow in a photo, but looking at this shot I seemed to have forgotten the photo was with Beth, and that there's nothing I could have done.