Steve Poltz - 04March09 - Indianapolis, Indiana

Steve Poltz at Local's Only... If you ever wanted to see just one show of Steve's and had to choose one venue, this would have to be the one... Well this one and The Barn in Michigan, but that's 2 shows, so just go to both. Anyways, there is something about the atmosphere at Dave and Michelle's venue in Indy that brings the best (or worst) out in Steve, but regardless makes for an amazing night with Steve. For some reason, Steve doesn't have the ability to end a show in a timely manner here, but for those of us in the crowd, we will NEVER object. His set lists in Indy somehow always end up stretching to 35-45 songs even on week nights, which is a remarkable feat for any musician.

Somehow this show became one to remember for me and my family. Having took the week off from work to travel home and see friends and family before catching some of Steve's shows, I was able to get to the club early to talk to Steve during his sound check. I had been talking to my brother, Kenny, in Afghanistan, on a Voice-Over-IP program earlier in the day. Kenny and I talked about the fact that this was his daughter, Fiona's, 5th birthday. Kenny and I thought that it would be cool to have Steve wished Fiona a "Happy 5th Birthday" and sang her a song, and then played a request for Kenny as well. On this tour, Steve has been recording the audio from the live show, and his road manager, Chris Modle's been burning live audio CD's of the shows and selling them as soon as Steve is done with the last songs. So I knew I had an opportunity to get the recording of Steve's birthday dedication to Fiona, and have something to send to Kenny in a care package.

So I approached Steve before the show and explained my thoughts, to which I got a reply of "No!" with a sheepish chuckle. Steve asked a few minutes later if I liked that answer, and I said, "We'll see!" and then I reminded him that my family has guns and we know how to shoot them. That was the end of that conversation, as I let Steve continue to get prepared for his show.

Coming to the show in Indiana is a great chance to catch up with my extended family of Poltz fans that I only get to see a few times a year. This show brought back some of my closer friends, in Spring, who brought her fiance, Eric and about 8 others from work. Rob came and lured some friends from Illinois. Got to see Colleen and Nessa, as well as April and her friend Heidi who both sat with me through this show. Chris and Dianne Wolf made the trip, as expected, and Jay and others made it who I hadn't seen for a few shows.


Steve had Chris Wolf join him on the stage a few times, not only to help demonstrate the choreography of one of Steve's songs, but also gave Chris the opportunity to play a few of his own songs, including "Spotless" which can be heard on Chris's MySpace page. "Spotless" is a very entertaining song about Chris' invisible dog. This song was just selected from 15,500 songs as a finalist for a International Songwriters Competition. I highly recommend everyone reading this to go listen to the song. If you enjoy it, go vote for it. To vote, just follow this link, then click on the word "here" in the box that says "Click here to listen ot the finalists songs and cast your vote."

Steve was definitely in his element this night, as he was more than entertaining to all in attendance. He kept the atmosphere loose and fun, and kept the crowd involved the whole night. Keeping us involved had an unplanned effect as he realized while on stage that he was going to sell more live CD's if he made some of his banter and songs more personal for each person in the crowd. Upon realizing this, he stepped up his game and made it a personal experience for several of us.


During Steve's break, I took the opportunity to leave a note on stage asking again, well more like threatening Steve to play "Marsupial" for Fiona and wish her a Happy Birthday. Steve returned to the stage and played a few songs, but other than an occasional glance, made little effort to let me know that he acknowledged my note. Then during his encore, he finally made the dedication, but made it in a way that was entertaining to his crowd as well as addressing my note.

Fiona's Birthday Request-UNCENSORED Part 1.mp3

NOTE: This audio file contains some language and references that may not be suitable for younger audiences.

Fiona's Birthday Request-UNCENSORED Part 2.mp3

NOTE: This audio file contains some language and references that may not be suitable for younger audiences.

Fiona's Birthday Request.mp3



I got back to Elwood sometime after 2am and spent a few hours editing the audio down to try to get Fiona her song without any offensive humor included, but also wanted to provide the uncensored parts to Kenny in Afghanistan, as I knew he would love to hear it, as well as Steve's greeting to Kenny and congratulating him and Kelly on the future birth of their next child in July.

SOME PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW:






Don't ask... You really "had to be there" for sure!

Kellie & Ryan - Indianapolis, Indiana - 01Mar08

Okay, so this couple will ALWAYS be special to me, not only because they were the first couple to book my services after I made the decision to go pro at this, but because they are such a great couple. I have more fun around them and just enjoy hanging out with them almost as much as I enjoy being their photographer.

















Yes, that is a Peyton Manning jersey under the suit of the man who pronounced them. Gotta love it!






Someone was camera shy almost all day.






But I finally got her to smile for me.







Camera-shy maybe, but not on the dance floor and definitely not shy around the boys... far from it. This one was calling them out on the dance floor all night.







What a fun group!







This won't be the last time we see these 3! ;) *hint, hint*

ndy Girls - 03.09.08 - Indianapolis, IN

The 'Sex in the City' gal's from Indy came a callin' asking for a somewhat impromptu photoshoot on this weekend. Some details that we didn't take into consideration as much as we should have included 30 degree weather, staying out late the night before enjoying the musical talents of "Dave and Rae" at PJ O'Keafe's in Indy, and the little time zone change for Daylight Savings Time. Dispite all these things, somehow we managed to get some amazing shots from some unique vantage points around Indianapolis.



Now if the girls look somewhat familiar, they have all appeared in other galleries that I have posted on this site. They were all a part of the Jamaica wedding, and others have been in other portrait shoots from then to now. This group is insanely fun and this photoshoot was planned as this was going to be one of the last weekends all of the 'Sex in the City' gals were going to be all living in Indianapolis. So the pictures also have some sentimental value that I hope that my photos can convey to each of them.



This gallery is also going to mark the first posted using my new galleries hosted by one of my many new vendors. Now you can leave comments on each picture, order prints, and download the lower resolution images that have my logo on them for the online communities (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, etc.). Feel free to let me know what you guys think!



Click on the image to go to the gallery.

Franzman Engagements - 03.15.08 - Rough River, KY

These two are a couple of troopers to say the least. We first tried this photoshoot in Indianapolis on 08March08. That proved to be a little too early in the year for an outdoor engagement shoot, but they were definitely great sports about things and survived the blustery 25 degree weather with 30 mph wind gusts to at least get a few cute shots at my new favorite park. However, after not feeling comfortable with the shots that we got in Indy, we decided to try a second photo shoot in Rough River, KY. What a gorgeous setting for an engagement shoot and eventually for their wedding.

After a nice scenic drive, albeit almost an hour out fo the way, I arrived and we started shooting almost immediately, just to have the rain move in and try to dampen our fun. But these two were not to be daunted by this, and we moved on, getting some adorable shots at their parents weekend home and even some at the resort where the wedding will take place.


So dispite some chilly days and even some rain clouds, and even a weak photographer almost passing out, we were able to capture some memories and some pictures that are sure to show up in my portfolio soon. I cannot tell you guys how excited I am for this wedding.

Steve Poltz - 02.25.08 - Indianapolis, IN

So, in the few years that I have been following Mr. Poltz, I had yet to get to hear him in a musical setting with any similance of a band behind him until this night. Poltz, has been "Traveling" since December 25th, last year, has been to Australia and back, then jumped on the road with Chris and Patrick of the "Truckee Brothers" mid-January. This tour with two of the four members of the Truckee Brothers made its way into my neighborhood this week, and I knew that I couldn't miss it.



This show was definitely an interesting show to witness. Our good friend Chris Wolf was in attendance expecting to watch the show with the rest of us, when 2 minutes before show-time, Poltz pretty much just asked him, "How's everything going? Wanna open up for us tonight?" I am still not even sure that Chris had time to reply before he was already standing behind a microphone on stage.



This show also featured our door man from "Local's Only" being called on stage to play drums with "Cady" and "Peat" during their set. We had the road manager on stage playing bass to songs that he had never played before, and weather that seemed to only be nasty in Indy when the show was going on. The drive in and the drive home was fine, but about 3 inches of sleet and ice fell during the show. Just another bizarre Poltz show. This night also featured the beer coaster flipping contest after 2am, as club owner, Dave, showcased his coaster flipping talents, to the dismay of Truckee Brother, Patrick, and his potential childrens.



Poltz and the Cynics... A sound like none I have ever heard, but something that I do enjoy, and really look forward to hearing again. If the audio from this show is posted on archive.org in the coming weeks, it will definitely be one to listen to!

Amber & Matt - 10.06.07 - Indianapolis, Indiana

This couple may look familiar to some of my regular guests to the site. Amber and her boyfriend Matt were with us in Negril, Jamaica back in February. Amber, Marcie's Maid of Honor during her wedding, and Matt got to talking some time after the wedding and decided that we would try to get together this year and do some portraits of her and Matt, as well as her and Matt and the rest of the family.



Matt and Amber are an awesome couple that have a relationship that is unique, if not special. Just being around them and you will see what I am talking about. There is an unspoken language that these two have that is awesome to witness.



This shoot didn't start off as well as any of us would like. We drove 15 minutes to the location that Matt and Amber wanted to have their pictures take, only to find it posing as a wedding venue for the day. So we drove around, and thanks to some GPS assistance, we found a park that was just being developed somewhere near Carmel, Indiana. This park, which I cannot for the life of me remember the name of, was full of great architecture as well as many different settings that made for some great photo opportunities. I am sure to revisit this park again for future shoots, as long as I can remember the name of the place. The amphitheater alone with the water features running throughout, is worth the trip.



I am forever grateful that I got to meet these two, and look forward to doing more of their photography for them in the future. Matt and Amber, Thanks for everything! You guys rock!




Click on the image to see more of the photos from this shoot.

Kellie and Ryan's Engagement Shots

Kellie and Ryan... An awesome couple that are out to put everyone in their place in tying the knot next March. Such a cute couple that is so much fun to be around. And I think that they both agree that just a simple photo shoot over the weekend couldn't have been as fun with just anyone else. One of the perks of this new job, I guess. I had a blast with them, and cannot wait until I get to work with them again next March.