Anita and I crafted a night of magic at the Design Studio designed by figure3.
Portraits
holiday jam
An impromptu Christmas jam with my friends Rachael, Mikeal, and Terry from the bluegrass band Cup of Cold Water.
wine, cheese, and a mani
I had always wondered how it's like inside when walking by nail parlours. Presumably like most men, I had never set foot in one. (Aside from the few who take good care of themselves or the subculture of classical and flamenco guitar players who need nails on their picking hand perhaps.)
Well there was a chance to go to a wine, cheese and manicure event, the curious cat in me just jumped on it. Well, I have to say it's a treat and the bonding time while being pampered is quite fun and precious actually. On the technical side, wine glass with a straw is mandatory due to the temporary inability for precise finger use. I had to dig out a mobile phone deep in the purse for one of my friends before the delicate design is cured :)
knoll holiday portraits
Knoll hosted a semi-private holiday portrait session. It is like a candy store for designers, you bring your loved ones and get photographed in iconic knoll pieces. Anita my portraitist wife who is addicted to capturing the best of her subjects had a blast directing and capturing the various groupings, there were a few pets that behaved better than some kids - just sayin' ;)
Some behind the scenes here - I rigged up an Octabank for wrap around lighting and hooked up an iPad mini with HDMI connection to a TV for a manual photo booth feedback for the sitters, a giant selfie screen of sort. It worked but became a distraction for kids as they kept looking at the TV. Now perhaps someday we can have floating screens that hover above our heads at the camera position, now that would be cool!