The Papaioannous

It gives me great pleasure to post the video from Mary Kathryn and Jan-Paul Papaioannou's wedding. It was an honor to be apart of such an amazing celebration. Watch below, or for better resolution, click here.

Engagement: Marianne/Brent

Aiden

My wonderful boss at Apple, Leslie, asked me to take some pictures of her son, Aiden. Much to the chagrin of Amber Tatum, I said I'd love to.

LOST: my interpretation

****SPOILERS*****

So yeah, this is a photo blog. But more importantly, it's things that have impact in my life. It's 1 a.m. and I just finished a 6 hour long lost event. I also spent 6 years of my life on this show. These are my thoughts.

First, Alan Mykitta had the initial perception of most of this, so he is the insightful one.

Going into tonight, I didn't think there would actually be a "big reveal." I thought we were way past that. Even when the show ended, I thought it was confusing. Now, I think I was wrong.

All along, I wanted the writers to tell us that the Man in Black was Esau (As in the biblical "Jacob and Esau"). In the penultimate episode, we still never got a name. I believe the writers respected us so much, they knew WE KNEW he was Esau--so why belittle us by actually saying the name.

So we know about Jacob already, but what about some details we have forgotten? How about that strangely placed Ladder where "Locke" died. Thank you Alan Mykitta--Jacob's Ladder.

Biblically, Jacob's Ladder is a ladder to heaven, described in the Book of Genesis, which the biblical patriarch Jacob envisions during his flight from his brother Esau.

"Jacob left Beersheba, and went toward Haran. He came to the place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it [or "beside him"] and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you." Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it." And he was afraid, and said, "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

And now, a more recent interpretation of Jacob's Ladder, the Vietnam movie (with the very same name) starring Tim Robbins. To make a long story short, the movie begins with a battle where our hero is bayonetted. The story that unfolds shifts between the war and the future (an all too familiar flash-forward, sideways, back, etc.) The movie ends with the same character in triage from the opening-scene-wound. The entire movie was a hallucination/life flashing before his eyes. Nothing actually took place between his wound, and being placed on a stretcher.

A recent info leak from the set had a production location as "INT: Cavern/Jack in Hell." In the film, a character quotes an old Christian Philosopher "the only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you,' he said. 'They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.'"

Our epic journey was a cataclysmic plane crash ending with our Hero opening and closing his eyes in the same location and same manner. What was the reality, everything on the island? The flash-sideways? Both? Did Jack every get up from that bamboo field, or did any of it actually happen? All we know is that only some of our characters made it to heaven.

Kelli Winn

Kelli Winn is a rockstar. Well, she's an actress, but when it comes to taking pictures--Rockstar. She starts a 15-month stint at the famous Barter Theatre in Virginia next week.

Alana

Alana contacted me a couple of weeks ago, and just wanted "pictures." Not for anything in particular, other than to have some pictures, which is awesome. No guidelines, just for the fun of it.

Jones Preview

This shot was actually taken by Alan Mykitta while he was shooting Missy and Chris Jones's wedding with me this past weekend. He really found two great reactions right before Missy walked down the aisle. I love that, in this moment, the cameras are no longer a factor and this beautiful occasion is setting in.

The Foremans

Gerhard Mathangani

Gerhard is an old friend of mine, who just signed on with Real People (Modeling and Talent Agency here in Birmingham.)

The Halls

John and Rebecca Hall had their wedding back in February at The Sonnet House in Leeds. They lucked out, and had the most perfect weather of the entire month.

Chicago (Video)

Chicago

Last week I traveled to Chicago to be with dear friends.

This is a (purposefully) crude patchwork of photos from downtown

At the top of the Sears Tower, they have added glass boxes that extend over the edge of the building. When you look down, you see 106 floors of nothingness. In case you couldn't tell, this photo was done by the folks at the Tower.

An actual panorama. I took four photos and spliced them together. We were down near Millennium Park and the Art Institute.

MINI Cooper

I recently did a project for Rives Construction to update their project photos. They built this MINI dealership, and it looks awesome.

Bobby Smith

Bobby Smith is a very talented musician from Birmingham. Check him out here

Colorado

So it's been a while, I know. Over the break, I made a trip to Glenwood Springs, CO. Glenwood is where one Mr. Doc Holliday retired after he developed TB. Upon his death, Wyatt Earp carried him up this mountain and buried him.

In Alan's backyard: