I received this video clip from photographer Chase Jarvis and my friend Frank Russell, owner of Indy Lab Designs, at the same time when dealing with a couple of frustrating days.

“Sometimes in our industry, our professionalism, we get [put into] silos…it should be all of our goals to break out of those silos. The more you work, the more people want to put you in a silo so they can define who you are by their terms. Our job is to never let anyone define who we are…”

John Jay–W+K’s Global Executive Creative Director–on creativity and breaking out of silos.

It is one of my biggest challenges to break out of the perception people put on us.  I find kind of like looking at art. People suffer over meaning and thoughts of the artist behind what we have done, but the viewer doesn’t really ever know so the pigeon hole the artist.  I also have found what people say about art photography is really about them and their experience which in some ways is what art should be about.

Maybe my father said it best.

“It seems every encounter we have with people, particularly the new acquaintances, they are looking to put you in a category.  I’ve always enjoy not fitting into a category.  The mystery leaves when you are put into the round or square hole that people think you belong.”

The Old Collier Club Christmas Card club house, Naples Florida

So of course I had every hope of posting a photo a day.  But due to lots of things work being one of them I have already missed that.  I was recently asked to shoot this photo of the Old Collier Golf Club in Naples Florida. I was asked to shoot the club house for their annual Christmas card. I leapt at the chance.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  So I made several exposures, all at iso 100 at f.8.  The shutter speed was kind of arbitrary, I shot it at different speeds to bring out various details from one shot to another.  I did also use supplemental lighting in the form of 3 hot lights and two cars head lights.  In the version the wanted for their card I added stars. The whole shot is a mash up of about 15 layers in photoshop and about 10 photos.  I did the stars using a photoshop brush I found online.  I added a bunch and then went in and erased a bunch to make them  more random.  Lstly if you look in the top windows on the roof you will notice the left and right one are the same.  The trees on the left one, as you are looking at, blocked the view so to add cemetery I took the one from the right and added it and rebuilt the trees. The total time to make the exposures was about an hour and for some reason, the weather was hot and humid, which in Florida really is not a surprise.  It also made it a little hard to get in the mood for the holidays.  I hope you like it.

Milton Feldman, left, watches where Rabbi Moshe Klein, right wants hi to fill in the letters to the last word of the Torah while Rabbi Fishel Zaklos watches at the Ritz Carlton in Naples Sunday night. Rabbi Zaklos, leader of the Chabad of Naples held the dedication of their new Torah at the hotel to a crowd of more than 300. . Erik Kellar/ Copyright Naples Daily News

So this photo I shot on a Sunday night in Naples. I was the photo editor at the Naples Daily News and there was another assignment that night that my on duty photographer was doing so I figured I would do thi to help out and make life easier for everyone.

This was a Torah dedication for the Chabad of Naples. The Torah was made over the course of a year or two by the scribe, Rabbi Moshe Klein, in Israel. Rabbi Kleing completed nearly the whole thing but left a couple of lines yet incomplete  to be done here in Naples.  Supporters of Chabad were asked to help finish the lines of the sacred scroll.

This photo was done under the arm of another photographer, one hired by the Chabad he was trying to muscle me out of the shot, anyway I stuck my camera in and eyeballing from a foot back from the viewfinder I was able to squeeze off several frames.

The wonderful light comes from a spot light lighting them. It was a great event and I was already friends with Rabbi Fischel Zaklos so it really proved to be a great experience.  Later the next day the publisher from the paper came up to me and sad what an awesome shot it was and commented that it looked like a Vermeer painting, which I agree with.  It also won a clip contest with the NPPA. It was nice to see show the photographers I worked with that I could still pull it out every once in a while.

Technical data:

Elman Lemley, is a Pearl Harbor Veteran. I photographed Elman in 2002. Then he was on portable oxygen. When I first met him we walked through his garage in Royal Harbor and I noticed all the model airplanes he had hanging in there.  I sat with him and the reporter and when it came time to make  his photo I thought it would be nice to include this other side of him. Unconscious or not I think the planes adds to the story of him at Pearl Harbor. Thank you Elman.

Elman Lemley, is a Pearl Harbor Veteran

Herb Savage. Herb is a fixture on Marco Island. He is a gentlemen and makes a lot of common sense, it also probably helps that he is an architect. Herb served for the SeeBees. The Seabees, or SeaBees, are the Construction Battalions (CBs) of the United States Navy. The Seabees have a history of building bases, bulldozing and paving thousands of miles of roadway and airstrips, and accomplishing myriad other construction projects in a wide variety of military theatres dating back to World War II. Thanks Wikipedia.  Herb said to me, ” I walk by these soldiers and remember each of their names every year,” Herb you are great.

Tom Hutchinson was a pilot in the Korean War flying F4-U Corsairs and crashed 5 times. I came to love that particular airplane. When I was a child I would go to Fredricksburg, Texas to visit my great-grandmother, and several aunts and uncles there. They migrated their from Miami, why I have no idea.  But while I was there as a 12 year-old I came to find out that it was the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz who led the Pacific Theater in WWII, McCarthur and he butted heads a lot I believe. Anyway an amazing museum is there and with tons of great information and old WWII vehicles, they even have the Fat Man and Little Boy there, which were the bombs dropped on Japan that ended the WWII.  Tom thank You.

Tom Hutchinson at his home in Naples was a pilot during the Korean war flying F4-U Corsairs and crashed 5 times. Erik Kellar

Bound back for Iraq Brent Leet, 22, a United States Army specialist, comforts his mother, Penny Leet, as they say goodbye for a second time at Southwest Florida International’s new Midfield Terminal in Ft. Myers Friday. Leet was on leave for two weeks visiting his family in Port Charlotte from Iraq. The short vacation split up his second tour of duty in to two six month stints. “I’m terrified he might not come home.” said Penny Leet. “I am thrilled and honored my son is one of those heros to bring democracy to that part of the world.” I shot this photo of a soldier leaving his mother in 2005 on the first day that Southwest International Airport opened it’s new terminal.  I thought very befitting on this day of first that something so sad was happening. It really got me and it still gets me even writing this post.  Brent and Penny, Thank you for everything you have done.

Bound back for Iraq Brent Leet, 22, a United States Army specialist, comforts his mother, Penny Leet, as they say goodbye for a second time at Southwest Florida International's new Midfield Terminal in Ft. Myers Friday. Leet was on leave for two weeks visiting his family in Port Charlotte from Iraq. The short vacation split up his second tour of duty in to two six month stints. "I'm terrified he might not come home." said Penny Leet. "I am thrilled and honored my son is one of those heros to bring democracy to that part of the world." Erik kellar/Staff

John Riccio, 69, served in the Army from 1957 to 1960 as a paratrooper. Riccio local is best know for being the founder of Arlington South. Riccio is the fateher of two sons John, 46 who serves in the Air Force and Marc, 45, who serves in the Army Marine Corps.

John is relentless in his efforts to make sure we remember the people who have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.   Some call him negative things and accuse of not supporting the troops. I would actually say the exact opposite. I think he understands better than a lot of us about the sacrifices they make over there.  Thank you John.

John Riccio, 69, served in the Army from 1957 to 1960 as a paratrooper. Riccio local is best know for being the founder of Arlington South. Riccio is the fateher of two sons John, 46 who serves in the Air Force and Marc, 45, who serves in the Army Marine Corps Erik Kellar/Staff

To my Cousin Robert McCormack, thank you for serving in the Air Force, to my Father Henry Kellar, Dad thank you for your sacrifices in Vietnam I only have an idea of the horrors you saw, I love you. To my grandfather who served in the Pacific during WWII, he never really saw any action and his ship was like the movie Mr. Roberts but he was there as well, I love you and miss you.

My Grandfather Dean McCormack served in WWII in the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean

Robert McCormack served in the United States Air Force

My Father Arthur Henry Kellar Served in Vietnam in the United States Army First Air Cavalry in 1968-69My Grandfather Dean McCormack served in WWII in the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean