THE NEXT BARYSHNIKOV IS HERE!

It's reported that Sylvie Rain is already taking meetings with the American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She specializes in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop, latin, and though she doesn't like to admit it, she can krump too. Nigel, I hope you are paying attention.

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM!

She wanted to come out and play a few weeks early, so we let her, and here she is...introducing to the world the lovely and amazing SYLVIE RAIN CALOF who was born January 18, 2010 at 509pm Pacific Standard Time. She is already crushing forehands, watching Roger down under at the Australian Open, and dreaming of dancing at the MET in her pink tutu.

Where do I even begin. I guess third time is the charm and you'll understand exactly what I mean by the time you are done reading this. Sunday morning my Amanda wakes up and something is off, "It hurt's lovey. They are 10-15 minutes a part and I think we should go in." Ok. Bag packed. Camera charged. Threw on my black DKNY wool jacket (when she meets her father, I gotta send a message that i have some kind of style) and off we went. BAM. SENT BACK HOME! Amanda wasn't dilated enough the nurse tell us, could be back in six hour, could be six days. So what do Jews do, we go eat. Went to grab pizza at Joe's up on Sunset. Great slice by the way if you are looking for good New York Pizza in Los Angeles. We dipped out, went home, watched the globes, read a few scripts and so on. The contractions had continued throughout the afternoon and when the Golden Globes ended and we've stuffed our face with Greenblatt's, Amanda looked at me again and said, "these are definitely a lot stronger then earlier." Ahhh ok. So we got in the car again. Time 1130pm. Bag, still in the car from earlier. Camera, did I leave it on from earlier and now the battery is shot? BAM. SENT HOME AGAIN. Only dilated to 2cm yet again, but the pain was stronger and the contractions closer. WTF. They tell us we can walk around the hospital or go home, but no point staying unless you are around 5cm. It's pouring rain and we head home. I go to sleep. Amanda tells me she will stay up, contractions are getting stronger, I sleep like a baby.

730am. Amanda has a different look on her face then the night before and it isn't that cute little smile we all know so well. Not that Kirstie Alley look from 'Look Who's Talking, but again not so nice. She's in pain and can barely walk. Is this it? Are we going in and staying this time? "You are at 5cm," says the nurse. YES. We are in. Get this girl a frickin epidural stat...I mean stat! Soon enough the drug hits her blood stream, all is groovy and feeling good. Amanda's puts her keppala down on the pillow, out for the count. Not to bore you much longer with my story and I'll skip over the slight scare we had when the baby's heart beat dropped, every nurse literally came out of the wood work like the president had been shot, but around 330 pm we got ready for the party to start. And after about an hour and half, Sylvie came out and wanted a diet coke, no ice with a lime. Peace.

Here are a few friends who stopped by to hang with Sylvie today.

PHOTO LA 2010

Photo LA, the 19th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition was this weekend with more than three dozen exhibitors on hand showcasing their gallery's work. Having really only been to a few photography exhibits and shows in the last two years when I caught the photo bug, Photo LA was a wonderful and diverse group of collections from contemporary and vintage works, classic photos capturing the change of the 50s and 60s, mixed media, 19th and 20th century vintage real photographs, to provocative prints, Chinese and Czech artists and more. The halls were absolutely filled to the brim with photo enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. There was definitely a vibe of excitement in the air, people with their Leica, Cannon and Nikon cameras slung over their shoulder, definitely with hopes of finding that inspiration that they too can click the shutter and capture a moment like the photos on display.

Not really knowing what to expect, Amanda and I wandered the halls with a sense of mystery and awe. How close can we get to the photos? Can we look at the books on display? Should I pull out my Leica for a quick snapshot? Who are all these people by the way? Eventually we settled in and found our footing as we made our way deeper into the hall. Such a diverse group of artists on display. What really peeked our interest were the black & white photos from the Monroe Gallery showcasing humanist and photojournalist imagery. Those classic images like Dr. King in Selma 1965, the Kent State shooting 1940, The Beatles, John and Bobby Kennedy, Bob Dylan, classic Cartier-Bresson, and Doisneau. Seeing these images up-and-close, how these moments in time tell an intimate story about the place and people, the joy, the sorrow, the pain, the happiness is truly amazing. These images are what we as photographer's strive to achieve each time we put the camera to the eye. Thank you for the inspiration.

I leave you with a photo of Amanda admiring a chromogenic print entitled 'Michael vs Marilyn.' The portrait is made up of 1000s of Marilyn Monroe photos. As well, I caught an amazing magic hour shot on Ventura Blvd as we were on our way to have the car seat installed for baby S. Take a close look at the pinks and purples in the early evening nights sky. Remarkable. Rock on!

THE THIRD & THE SEVENTH

Locked. Stocked. And ready to rock! We are systems go! The winter holiday season feels but a short distant memory. But the two weeks that I had off in December was simply amazing. Each day at my disposal, nothing but time...time...where did that go? Having been back at work now for two weeks, finding the time to get out and shoot has been difficult. But the great part of working at a real life movie studio is that we are always looking for new talent, especially when it comes to filmmakers. I recently came across this 12 minute short film that is entirely CGI and took one year to complete. It combines two of my favorite subjects, architecture and cameras. What is so jaw dropping about the video is that the lighting, angles, and point-of-view was created from a computer and no cameras. Is this the future of movies? Who knows, but as one of my colleagues said just the other day, it's just a matter of time before some teenage kid will make a movie that looks, feels, and has the scope of a giant Hollywood movie. You just wait! It's coming. Check this out, but make sure to view it in full screen!