This was shot with self timer counting down to zero, at which precise moment I burst the water balloon with a pin. Took 10 frames to be sure, and this is the only one where all the elements came together. Did it out on our patio in front of a sheet of blue paper. Never got so soaked in my life.
Shot on Fuji Reala 100 ISO color print film, negative scanned to Photoshop. This was the first image I ever had published in a magazine: Amateur Photographer (US).

No post processing was used for the final image.
Canon EOS 100, EF 100 mm Macro. f 11, 1/125 sec.

Waterburst

Me and our daughter Melanie in her teens, battling it out. Took the shot myself with the camera on self timer. Just told her to yell as loud as she could. It was scary how natural this came to her.

Raising a daughter, especially through her teens, is about as emotionally draining as it gets. I knew support groups were available, but I opted for the mental scars… time will tell if that was the right path!!

Shot on Fuji Reala 100 ISO color print film with Canon EOS-100 + EF 100 mm, negative scanned with Canon FS 2710 film scanner, then converted to BW in Photoshop 6.0.

Growing Pain

Maud is the wife of John, my friend of over 45 years who owns the recording studio where I work (and do other stuff that fits under the ‘work’ description but isn’t actually work at all :-).
She’s also an amazing artist. She works with brushes and spatulas and possibly a finger here and there, and she wears cool clothes (doesn’t get much cooler than skull shirts) and sixties jewelry that acytually inspired me to look for my peace sign cuff links which I amazingly FOUND !!
She unfortunately doesn’t smell of turpentine cause she uses mainly acrylic paints but she’s got a sweet smile that makes up for that… and she digs a photo shoot now and again which gave me about 150 fabulous pictures, a couple of which she’ll probably use for some artistic project… most of which will probably get buried on my hard drive and never see the light of day.

Most of the shots were full body to show off what she was wearing. But at one point I asked her to shove her tools within a few inches of my wide angle lens. Because I was shooting in relatively low light with no flash, I couldn’t get much DOF as I needed a wide aperture to keep my shutter speed fast enough to avoid camera shake. So I took one shot with her face in focus and another with her tools in focus…

and combined the two in CS4. Also did a bit of stretching to get the verticals straight in the background, cropped to a square-ish format (I find this adds dynamic to portraits), cloned out some stuff that cluttered and did lots of adjustments to levels, tones and contrast.

Oh, and I also needed to make sure her peace bracelet was part of the mix so I found a shot where it was more prominent and transplanted its DNA to measure …

Maud

Art is my son in law.
He lives with my daughter Melanie in Montreal.

And above all, Art is Italian. No matter where he lives, Italy is his ancestral home and he supports A.S. Roma and he digs strong espresso and telling waiters in Italian restaurants how he wants his Prosciutto prepared in fluent Italian. And he digs biting into real buffalo mozzarella and feeling the milk drool down his chin… and most of all, he digs going back to his ancestral town of Ventosa outside of Cassino in southern Italy and showing his dad-in-law first hand and in person, and emphatically, how his family’s history made him the amazing guy he is today.

This picture was taken of Art in the yard of the home that was his father’s family home since the beginning of time. His pride shows in his face, and that’s why I dig this portrait of him even though he asked me why I didn’t just do a nice one of him cuddling my daughter.

Sorry Art, it just comes with the package.
You are art. Whether you dig it or not.

Canon EOS 5D MkI, EF 16-35L, f5,6; 1/30 sec @ 200 ISO. Converted to B/W in CS3.

This is OJ. Alas, no longer with us as he passed away very young. Here his eyes were just changeing color and I thought I’d try to get a pose out of him. Trouble was keeping him awake long enough to get a shot. Seconds after taking this, he slumped down into the jar, deep in little kitty dreamland. It wasn’t even easy getting him out !

I shot this with a Canon EOS 100 SLR + EF 100 mm fixed focal on Fuji Reala 100 ISO color print film, using a homemade softbox which was my first venture into `studio’ flash. As a result, there were reflections all over the glass and especially on the neck of the jar which totally hid OJ`s fur. So I scanned the neg (Canon FS 2710 scanner) and cloned over the reflections with the few bits of fur that were visible through the glass in Photoshop 6. I also took advantage of Photoshop to adjust colors and levels till I was OK with his contrast against the background. It was one of my first delves into Photoshop and I learned lots about cloning, selecting, feathering and so much else through this… so not only does the nostalgia pertain to the subject, but to the processing as well.

Kandy Kit

My daughter (right) in her teens, with a friend. Getting mad. Probably at the photographer.

Melanie's left hand was clenched so it was hard to resist adding the bat. So I gave in.

Canon EOS 100 + EF 100 mm fixed focal on Fuji Reala 100 ISO print film. Negatives (portrait and bat) scanned to digital on a Canon FS 2710 film scanner.

Get Mad

Introducing our first grandson, Luigi Gallucci.

I took this shot of the little guy as a room filled with loving family helped him celebrate his baptism.

EOS 5D MkI + EF 100 mm f2.8 fixed focal . Natural light, soft focus effect using a gaussian blur layer at 25% opacity.

Lookin' Sharp

Introducing Deagol.
He’s my sister Barb's amazing cross breed of Siamese and Sphinx. As unbelievable as that sounds.
He's grown up a bit since my previous photo shoot with the little guy, and I can even say he's actually pretty much grown into his ears.
BUT… he hasn't grown up much on the attitude front and still has me in stitches when he's revved up.

Don’t even know how I manged to get him in a serious moment.
Having said that, it was more of a nanosec :-)
Natural light, no drugs.

Canon EOS 5D MkI + EF 100mm fixed focal lens.

Deagol

Daughter Mel and hubby Art at Flagler Beach, Florida.

I just got my 16-35mm lens and as I couldn't put it down, thought I'd just try going in super close. Which is why the proportions are on acid and Mel's wishing I'd just get the camera out of her face...

And just to finish off any grip on reality, I did it with 2 bracketed shots and processed them in Photomatix. Which works for me better in monochrome as I find the colors often distract from the HDR effect when it's done subtly.

Beached

I Was actually doing shots of a friend’s Chihuahuas (did I spell that right?), and this black cocker from next door just sauntered in, curled up and posed and said “You fool… WHY are you wasting time on those idiots… take me now while I’m in the mood”. So I did. The Chihuahuas hated me and the cocker, whos name it turns out was Sally.

Don't know what ultimately became of her. But she is now immortal. And has an Oscar from me.

Canon EOS 100 + EF 100 mm f2,8 fixed focal, on Fuji Reala 100 ISO print film.

Negative scanned on a Canon FS 2710 film scanner, converted to B/W in Photoshop 6.0.

Sally

Grandson Matteo is about as cute as it gets.

But when he's just come out the bath, it all just goes berzerk. It's like 'OK grampa, we're squeaky clean, nappy's done so nuthin' smells bad, the shirt rocks, hair's lookin' cool and the lighting's fabulous…

So that's what we did.
He's a star. Proves it every day since he was born…
'hurry up gramps, I got a date !'

Canon EOS 5D MkIII, EF 100 mm fixed focal.

Matteo

Introducing our Grandson Matteo. Just after his birth, between myself, my wife and his dad we got some cool shots of the little guy on the fly between feeds and nappy changes.

But on the fly was never gonna be good enough, so we went shopping and bought Matteo a rockin’ new outfit, got back home and fed him and burped him and changed his nappy (again!), got him smellin’ sweet and lookin’ cute and dressed him up for his first proper photo shoot !

We found a place where the sun came in dispersed through venetian blinds and all that was left to do was put his mommy in the mix and let the magic happen. And of course I took a truckload of shots with and without fill-in flash. But this particular one did it for me. Only post pro was a bit of soft focus and vignetting round the edges to highlight the faces.

I love it when beauty happens in the Gallucci family. And it just doesn’t get more beautiful than this.
At least till the next one comes along…:-)

Canon EOS 5D MkI, EF 100 mm f2,8 fixed focal.

New Arrival !

Daughter Melanie with grandson Luigi, caught in a moment of closeness.

Original color image converted to BW in CS4.

Close

The mission: take a family picture of mum & dad with both kids wearing their new mint green striped shirts with everyone looking at the camera and looking happy at the same time. Well that was never gonna happen. When the little guy wasn't falling asleep in his mommy's arms, the other guy was being totally uncooperative and refusing to look at the camera and dad was looking like he hadn't slept for days… which was partially true cause between never ending feeds and nappy changes and bathings and baptism preparations and generally everybody going nutz, life has been kinda hectic chez Gallucci these days.

So I took the easy way out and Photoshopped the kids' heads with ones I'd taken on the rare occasions when things were calm… and I also exchanged the suitcases under Art's eyes for a pair of light handbags.
Now everybody looks happy. And at the camera.

Mission: Impossible

Image started out with our Siamese kitten, Scratch, wondering why I'd dropped him in a flower vase.

Apart from Scratch, the vase was actually empty, I added the sunflowers afterwards in Photoshop 6.0 and changed the vase from green to a much more coordinated blue. Not cool to have the vase not matching the eyes.

Shot with Fuji Reala ISO 100 print film on a Canon EOS-100 SLR.
Scanned to digital on a Canon FS 2710 film scanner.

Sunflower Scratch

When I think back on bringing our daughter up during those early teen years, I’ve got to admit it’s hard not to remember the worst of the raging hormones… the defiance of parental authority, the costly phone abuse (it actually requested psychological compensation!), the temper tantrums, the iron shaped burn marks (notice plural) on our bedroom carpet… I know most of you have been there and hopefully back without lasting damage.

But every time I see this picture it all melts away. Cause there were moments like this one more often than my memory alone will allow. The fading scars from when she cuddled a stray cat she found in the back yard before she knew better… the crazy hairdo that hinted to her sense of style that so loved my camera over the years… those amazing deep blue eyes she inherited from her mom… and that infinitely complex expression that couldn’t decide whether to love me back or smack my face. It all makes me realize that it’s all about dynamic. It’s the thrilling highs and the desperate lows that generate the love. Like it or not.

She’s now happily married to an amazing guy. She embraces family values with all her heart… and she's doing a fabulous job of raising 4 kids of her own.
So something beautiful must have been brewing even during the worst of times.
Thank God I had a camera :-)

Canon EOS 100 + EF 100 mm fixed focal on Fuji Reala 100 ISO color print film.

One Elinchrom 250 Watt studio flash with 60 x 60 cm softbox. No post processing.

Growing Pain - Not !

This is Smeagol. My sister Barb's amazing cross between Siamese and Sphynx breeds, alas no longer with us...

He grew into a fine adult cat, remaining no less photogenic throughout his life.

But during this particular photo shoot, I was lucky enough to capture him during that fleeting period over barely a couple of months when he looked and acted like nothing I'd ever seen on this planet.

Such a cool little family jewel for years, he's sadly missed and fondly remembered.

Smeagol

Our first Christmas since the birth of our first grandson, Luigi.
Which incidentally could be the most fabulous Christmas we’ve ever had chez Funk. Good food, good drink, great laughs, high adventure… and the kid never vomited once. Well, at least not in MY lap…:-)

Chilling out on the sofa after Christmas dinner with his dad… while everyone else was watching Walking Dead trailers, the little guy was busy texting his girlfriend. Got a sneaky feeling hearts are gonna be broken before his time’s done !

EOS 5D MkI + EF 100 mm f2.8 fixed focal, natural light.

iLuigi

Looking through my old print negatives, as I do from time to time, I fell upon a few portraits of our cats. Essential family members for many years who virtually ruled our lives… Scratch being the last having passed on already some time ago.

This one was taken on Ilford 400 ISO film on my EOS-100 SLR with EF 100 mm f2,8 fixed focal lens… it got me thinking about the little guy and how he amazingly put up with my incessant teasing and name-calling throughout his life. Things are defintely different now without him.

There has never been a pet who’s had that much power my soul… who could melt me right down through the floor boards just looking at him staring at me and telling ME how stoopid I look.

So with this poor excuse for a newly inspired image, I’m simply taking a moment to tell you all how much I loved him and how much he impacted my life.

Now please excuse me while I go cry my eyes out.

Scratch In The Pot

He left us years ago, but he was a pedigree Blue Point Siamese and he knew it and had grown into as arrogant a feline as any other pedigree of his race.

Our other Siamese was Pepsi, who was a dime a dozen Apple Head and didn’t know it and was totally OK.

Canon EOS 100 + EF 100 mm fixed focal, Shot on Fuji Reala 100 ISO color print film.

These Boots Were Made for Scratchin'

Maud Toussaint is an abstract painter. I am a photographer. And so it’s been my job to take pictures of her work (and of her with her work) for cataloging, website gallery… and for keeping me out of trouble doing normal stuff with my camera.
Which is what I was doing at a Brussels boutique one Sunday morning a few years back: there was one of her paintings we’d somehow overlooked so she hopped me down to where it was on sale to take its picture.

So I’m crouched down in full ‘Blow Up’ mode doing my thing with the painting on the floor leaning against the wall… when the boutique owner’s dog Clyde decided to be a nuisance and slip into my viewfinder.
OK, if it had been a black & white Jack Russell I’d have shoo’d it away with my foot and re-framed. But it struck me in a nanosec that Clyde was color co-ordinated 

 with Maud’s painting and the shutter just clicked in a natural and uncontrolled reflex…

And so this is what I got:
The pooch stole the show and has thus become art at the same time.
And I got a cool picture.
And Maud can now market her work as not only compatible with home furnishings, but with home pets.
Win/win/win !!!

Clyde

Daughter Melanie.
At Flagler Beach, Florida.
Don’t remember the date, but it was the very day she turned from a teenager to a woman.
Kinda glad I got that moment on film…

Canon EOS-100 + EF-100 mm fixed focal lens on T-Max 100 ISO B/W print film.

Scanned to digital on a Canon FS 2710 film scanner.

Soft focus effect using a blur layer at 25% opacity in Photoshop 6.0.

Day One

Our 3rd grandson Romeo, cuddled tenderly by his godmother aunt Arianna on the day of his baptism.

EOS 5D MkIII, EF 24-105L. Natural light. Original color image converted to BW in CS4.

Bill Funk

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