Jersey Boys

Barb and I went to the Fisher Theatre in mid-town Detroit last night and saw Jersey Boys. I was a little reluctant to go at first but man, I’m really glad I went. Jersey Boys is a “jukebox-musical” about the Four Seasons, from when they first met to where they matured and finished their careers. The pace is fast- almost too much so, but the music and performance is spectacular. I can honestly say it’s the best performance I’ve ever seen live. If it comes near you, try and see it. You get your money’s worth- it’s around two and a half hours long.

Here’s a couple of links:

http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Boys

 

Main Art Theatre

We went to the Main Art Theatre today in Royal Oak, Michigan to see Hyde Park on the Hudson with Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It’s about FDR’s affairs with women on the side mixed with a visit from King George and Queen Elizabeth looking for support for England on the eve of World War II. It’s pretty good and here’s a link to the trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477855/

It’s interesting to compare Samuel West’s performance of King George (Bertie) to Colin Firth’s in The King’s Speech.

I’ve always liked the Main’s old school marquee so I decided to go back and shoot it this evening. Here it is:

The Main Art Theater one of the last few art theaters around and we certainly value and support it.

 

Time of Year for Bokeh

This is a good time of year to practice Bokeh photography. What is Bokeh? Roughly translated, it’s a Japanese word that means blur. In photography, it’s a picture with an object in focus in the foreground with the background blurred. The cheesiest way to produce a reasonable representation of a Bokeh photo is to shoot an object in front of small lights. Since there are two Christmas trees in the house, I decided to try it out. This is an artificial flower with a Christmas tree in the background:

 What you want to do is keep your camera in aperture priority mode, use the lowest F-stop you can get, and shine a light on the foreground object. I have a little pocket LED flashlight that I use. Also use manual focus. The lights in the background should come out bubbly and diffused.

Here’s another:

The longer focal length lens you have (such as a good zoom) the fuzzier the background lights will be. This becomes problematic when shooting at close distances, like in our family room where I took these pictures. Bokeh is a cool trick to have in your bag, but like anything else, can become tiresome if overused. With so many Christmas lights and trees around, now’s the best time of year to practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimball Barber Shop

I got a haircut at Kimball Barber Shop this morning and asked Bert (the owner) if I could come back and take some photos, similar to the ones from the Krausmann’s service station. He said sure. Kimball, in the little strip mall on the corner of 13 Mile and Crooks Road in Royal Oak, Michigan is owned and operated by Bert and Shirley and has been in business as long as I can remember. People stop by to just say hello and shoot the breeze with them. It’s almost like a small social club. It’s as homey, friendly and comfortable as it gets and the walls are lined with everything from antique tools to fishing lures:

Here’s the front wall:

As you can see, it holds just about everything under the sun. Here’s a tighter shot of the chairs. Notice the wall hangings reflected in the mirrors:

Every year Bert sets up a little winter town for the holiday season. I think he told me he starts working on it around the end of October. You can see Bert in the mirror on the left:

Here’s a closer shot of the little winter town:

Old School entrepreneurs Bert and Shirley have built Kimball Barber Shop as truly a labor of love – and it shows.

Greenfield Village

Here are a few photos taken at Greenfield Village  in Dearborn, Michigan last summer. It’s like taking a walk back through time.

This is the small farm that’s near the entrance…

Here’s another:

Here’s the old English cottage: