Kellogg Smart Start Ad Campaign

After showing yesterdays blog post to my youngest daughter who was featured in the LIFE book and seeing her reaction, I decided it was best to keep the peace at home among the siblings by posting an older tear-sheet showcasing my other daughter. They get a real kick out of seeing themselves in print or web. This use was particularity fun for me and my family. A simple snap of a moment that use to happen daily, naps. Those days are long gone. This campaign for Kellogg Smart Start Cereal ran for 6 months and was in many different publications. It ran as a DPS and a full page version too. This one was pulled out of Oprah Magazine.

LIFE Books, The life of Dogs

This new book just hit the shelves. LIFE books published it and this DPS of my daughter and my brother's dog Emma was fun to see in print. I rarely collect tear-sheets, it's just not on my priority list, but this one, to me, is worth sharing. The bonus to the printed piece was the great quote by comedian Gilda Radner.

Lobstering, Eggs and all

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to head out into Casco Bay on a lobster boat. I had approached the lobsterman many months ago while enjoying some fresh seafood at the lobster shack where he docks his boat. I asked if I could photograph him and his livelihood. He graciously said sure. And that's how it came together. We had a picture perfect morning and created some good images along the way. I had never seen lobster eggs loaded up on the underside of a lobster tail and found it kind of fascinating. Any lobster that carries eggs, and each lobster caught is inspected and measured, needs to be returned to the sea.

Maine Huts and Trails, Flagstaff Hut

I am posting this wintery image because National Geographic Traveler just contacted me about wanting to use an image from the Poplar Stream Hut that I shot a couple seasons ago. So, while on my mind and wanting to re-engage with my long untouched blog, here it goes. I shot this last winter during my second visit to the newly built Maine Huts and Trails system. This winter wonderland is the Flagstaff Hut which is on the shores of Flagstaff Lake and below the Bigelow Mountain range. It's a gem of a spot. 19 of us, 10 adults and 9 kids skied and snowshoed the mile or so into the hut. The hut is spacious and built off-the grid and generates their own power through a combo of solar, hydro and wind. Check out their site for more details if you want a great mix of Maine adventure and cozy comfort.

Smile

surprise!

Lobsters

On my way home from work yesterday, this sight caught my eye. That's the point obviously. The woman/owner in the photo told me that the giant lobster makes a big difference in the amount of people that stop and buy. She pull out the monster lobster every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and parks the stand on the main road into downtown.

Hovering

Yesterday evening two neighbors came down to play with my girls. The four girls were running, playing and just being kids outdoors. That was until one of the girls started to hover about 6 inches above the grass. None of us could believe it! We all stared as she floated above the green grass for what seemed like minutes. It was actually about 30 seconds in full hovering mode. At this point I am guessing some of you might believe what i am saying. I am totally making this up, but the concept of feet hovering above the grass is exactly what I was going for here. One sister held up the other off the ground as a snapped a few frames.

Bees and Pollen

I am on a run now! 7 days and counting riding the 365 train. These were shot this weekend at Sebago Lake. The bee kindly perched himself on a dead oak leaf and let me snap a few frames of his pollen covered body. The pollen was insane. Probably the worst we have ever seen it. The motion of the water on Sebago pushed and trapped the pollen in our cove for an entire day. It looked like bright yellow paint was covering the entire surface. It was thick and coated anything in its path. The other frame is one of my daughters kicking her feet, from the dock, through the yellow allergy producing tree pollen.

Agua

Summer is Maine means water is constantly on the brain. I do all I can to surround myself and my family with water. This includes the ocean, lakes, creeks and our pool. These were shot last night on "daddy daughter night." After work, me and my girls started by taking a short ocean excursion a few miles from where we live and spent about an hour wading through the water catching horseshoe crabs and watching how they move through the shallows. We then departed back home for another swim sesh in the pool. It was great watching them race each other from end to end, giggling along the way.

I am not trying to be trendy, on this post, but wanted to suggest a few ways to reduce our overconsumption of water and reduce our footprint on earth just a tad. My philosophy is that you don't have to "go big" in the recycling/conservation mode to make an impact. In fact, small changes by many can make a huge difference. I am certainly not the poster boy for reducing our carbon footprint, but here are a few things I have initiated lately that might make a difference. All are water related.

1. Recycle your De-humidifier water: A friend and work colleague of mine named Andrew gave me this tid bit which I though was awesome. I had already been recycling the couple of gallons of water collected via the air into the container by watering plants in the garden. But recently on this creative recycling recommendation, I am taking the water collected and dumping it into the washing machine to reduce the water needed for laundry.

2. Brushing teeth and shaving: When brushing your teeth or shaving, only run the water when cleaning the razor or your brush. Don't let it run throughout.

3. Showers: Attempt to shorten your stay in the shower. Bust a move, get it done and get out to more important things. Or, try not showering every day, skip a day here and there.

Slug

This might seem uninteresting to some, but consider this fact. The hole that is open on the side of the slug is their breathing hole. As I was taking it's picture, that hole would completely close down and become part of the body and then reopen like a mouth to breathe.

Beetle

The strange thing about this macro stuff, is that it had been a long time that this lens gathered dust on a shelf in my office. It fits my personality though when I really think about it. I tend to full dive into things such as this for a short time and then move on. Maybe not a very balanced approach, but my theory is that it all balances out in the end and allows me to really wrap my hands around the nuances of a specific theme, style, ect.

Here's a little glimpse into how the Dennen mornings start, how this shot unfolded and how it impacted the day as it ran its course. My wife generally takes a hour stint around 5am to run while I do all I can to distract the kids from wanting to invade her time alone. One thing that has worked really well, is immediately bringing them outdoors into the backyard and fetching critters from the pool. It's amazing what we find swimming around each morning. This morning, which was actually yesterday, the biggest insect we found was this beetle. Once we locate the critters collectively, the girls really want me to fetch it out and examine and interact with it. Of course, this is all part of the exercise, clean the pool, engage the girls in nature while distracting them from the morning magnetic draw to mommy, capture an image for an ongoing backyard series and 365 and ultimately launch the girls into a positive space to begin the day. After capturing the beetle, we placed it on a monster hosta leaf for a portrait. After that, my oldest daughter wanted to bring it to school for a show and tell. We created a comfortable short term habitat for it made of grass and leaves and she was able transport the beetle comfortably. Once we arrived at school, she opened the lid to the container and as I was saying goodbye, she was surrounded by 10 other children fully immersed at what was crawling around in her possession. The beetle stayed with the children all day and upon picking her up at the end of the day, together we released it back into the garden to continue it's life.

Wing

As I dive into critter land in my yard, I sometimes think that this project is best suited for kids in a class environment. Bringing them up close to the amazing details of insects, bugs, and really anything in nature. Take this dragonfly wing for example. Check out the shapes in the design. 4 swooping arches that stretch from top to bottom, two of which are filled with horizontal lines and the others are a mix of horizontal lines and honeycomb patterns. Maybe that is not entirely exact, but the more you look at it the more you see new shapes and patterns. I guess that's my point. The fun is in the details.