Hi Gang,

I know it’s been a while since I’ve added new material. No excuse except that I’ve been very busy. I’ve finished the final edit on a new book, Christopher Grey’s Advanced Lighting Techniques, essentially Book Two of a series that began with Christopher Grey’s Studio Lighting Techniques. Both are “tricks of the trade” books that explore many of the cool things I’ve learned over the years and how I’ve applied those tricks to my work. It should be out in a month or so, and I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s available (well, duh!).

Many of you, especially the baseball fans, know that the Minnesota Twins moved into a brand new outdoor stadium this spring. I had the honor to be hired to be in the stadium and on the field before it opened, to shoot two of the Twins and a nationally known sportswriter and broadcaster for a billboard campaign. The stadium is beautiful, probably one of the most nicely designed structures of its type, utilizing many Minnesota features such as native granite, throughout.

I’ve written before about how much I enjoy working with my radio clients, translating their voice-only personas into visual representations of those personas. It’s a challenge that always becomes a fun assignment.

For this particular shoot I’d be working with Patrick Reusse, writer and broadcast personality, along with Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer of the Twins. Like all shoots where tightly scheduled people come together, our window to produce a series of excellent images was really small. I was told we’d have no more than 30 minutes to get them in and out of makeup, do the billboard shoot as well as some video at another spot in the stadium. Needless to say, we were at the stadium with time to spare, bright and early at 7:30am.

Of course, something always makes your life difficult on location shoots, and this was no exception. We’d been told that we wouldn’t be able to park in the controlled lot closest to the field because it would be full, even at that early hour, so we parked in the closest lot we could find.

Close, as you know, only counts in horseshoes and grenades.

You should always over-pack for location shoots. It’s true, but it was a decision I regretted deeply as we began walking to the media entrance, about three blocks away. While the two makeup artists had their little carts, and the producer and art director carried props, I pushed a cart loaded with close to 100 pounds of battery powered strobes, accessory strobes, a softbox, light stands, tripod, stepstool, camera, backup camera, lenses, miscellaneous junk that I may or may not need, and two 15 pound sandbags, in case the wind came up.

As much fun as that was, it paled in comparison to dragging the gear over the gravel path that runs around much of the stadium. The wheels of my cart dug ruts that curdled the blood of the groundskeepers, while straining muscles I’d forgotten I had but was reacquainted with the next day.

I came prepared to shoot with in a shaded area, but the players were late getting to the shoot, and the sun had already filled our part of the stands. This was good because I wouldn’t have to create fake sunlight with a battery powered studio strobe, but it was bad because I’d still have to haul the thing out of there. I’d only need to fill the shadows, and I could use an accessory strobe, my Quantum QFlash, for that purpose.

Well, the bottom line is that after each subject had an accelerated makeup session and was placed in the seats, we were ready to go and got the job done. One of my production people shot a little video of the event, and it’s fun to watch.

I must say that even with the scramble to set up before the shoot and the stiff muscles the next day, I love assignments like this. Because these are high-test shoots, I’m forced to think on my feet so much more than in the studio. I’m also forced to think ahead, ‘cause there’s no quick run to the studio to grab something that was forgotten. Finally, I’m forced to get everyone ready now, and get a terrific image in a very short time.

I just received some interesting news from Amherst Media, the publisher of my lighting books. I want to share this with you because, well, it’s additional validation of my efforts to help photographers learn how to light their subjects.

In 2004, Amherst released my first lighting book, Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers. I’m very happy to say that it was, and continues to be, a bestseller, one of the most popular titles they’ve ever produced. I believe it’s sold over 50,000 copies to date, a fantastic number for a niche market, and is still going strong.

The UPS guy stopped by this morning with a package. I wasn’t expecting anything, so it felt a little like Christmas, and it was. I don’t think my eyes popped out quite so far since my gramma gave me a set of Matchbox Trucks when I was six, but inside was a copy of Master Lighting Guide translated into Polish. It’s the first of my books to be translated into another language and, believe me, it was a thrill to see.

Pretty cool, huh? I just wanted to share.

Some months ago I was asked if I would write a foreword to a colleague’s new book, Portrait Lighting for Digital Photographers – the basics and beyond. My colleague, Steve Dantzig, had placed his fourth book into the more than capable hands of Amherst Media, the most prolific publisher of photography books in business today. This book was, to a very small degree, the result of a conversation we had at our first person-to-person meeting last year in Honolulu. Needless to say, I was honored to be asked.

Aside from my personal interest in the book, I was taken with Steve’s writing abilities, especially when describing the laws of physics that lurk in the background of any professionally created image. Some of us are aware of them, many of us use them creatively, most of us ignore them (a bad decision). Steve has a wonderful way of explaining the dry side of photography, putting it into perspective as a creative tool rather than a wall.

Now, I’m from Minnesota. We have bright sunlight without snow for about three weeks out of the year. OK, I’m exaggerating. We might have it five weeks a year, two without mosquitoes. Regardless, when it’s here, we photographers all pack our gadget bags and head out to our favorite location, gleefully determined to overcome Old Sol and create deathless art.

Steve works in the sunlit paradise of Hawaii. As wonderful as it is, it’s “plagued” by high sun everyday (the curse of the tropics). Steve’s written about a number of natural light situations, and how he’s managed to work with them to get stellar results, either with reflectors or portable strobes.

You may ask yourself how this could help you, but if you live in any part of the country with more than five weeks of summer you’ll most certainly be asked to shoot some outdoor portraiture. It’s a good idea to learn techniques from someone who does it more frequently than I shovel my driveway.

In other words, if you’re hired to shoot a graduation portrait, and your client wants to go outside, do you just rely on natural light or do you use the built-in flash on top of the camera? If you said yes to either, you really need to get Steve’s new book, practice the principles he espouses, then go for the money shot. He demonstrates rock-solid techniques to get great shots every time, like this one, taken in open shade under bright sun. The background’s been toned down from its usual dominance, any green tinge from the vegetation has been negated, and the subject is beautifully and fluidly lit, with shadows that match the background. Let’s see Uncle Roy pull this off with his point-and-shoot.

If you’re serious about photography, you need to create a style (along with the requisite depth of knowledge) that will set your work apart from that of your competition. This is a book that will help you immensely on both counts. I’m proud and happy to know this guy, and to recommend this book to you. He’s a kindred soul to all of us who love the camera.

Here’s the shameless promo part: You can certainly get the book through Amazon (and you’ll save some dough), but you can get a signed copy here.

Judging from images I’ve seen on some of the model sites (Model Mayhem, One Model Place, and others), a hot item for pinup style photography is a colored, dimensional shape on a white background. The subject, who has been separated from her original background, is then layered onto the new background. Here are a couple of easy ways to make them.

Use your favorite method to separate the subject from the background. I use greenscreen and Ultimatte’s AdvantEdge Photoshop plugin, but there are many other programs out there. Many are available as free downloads, fully featured, that will save images with a watermark unless you buy a license. This is a great way to test different approaches to a complicated problem. When you find “The One,” buy it and have fun.

Once your subject is separated, all you will see on your screen is a subject against a transparent background.

Many, if not most, of the programs work in Layers, which means you will see the original image along with the transformed image on the Layers Palette. Select the original layer, and use Edit>Fill to fill it with pure white. Use the Elliptical Marquee and create an oval or a perfect circle. You can hide the transformed layer if that helps you visualize the final effect, but you’ll want to see the transformed layer to correctly position the shape. Select a color to fill the background (I selected a tone from her lipstick). If you create a form, “as is,” it will have a sharp edge.

I usually prefer a soft edge, and use Select>Feather to find a feathered edge that I like. This image was feathered by 25 pixels.

No matter how you do it, simply filling the form with a color produces a very flat look. To add dimension, use the Burn tool (about the only thing it’s good for). Use a soft-edged brush, set the tool to burn Midtones at 10%, use the Brush tool, and simply paint around the edge until you get the gradation you want. Now the background has more of a three dimensional look.

Once the original layer is seen again, the effect of the trick becomes clear; goofy, kitchy, and fun.

Another option is to create a background layer with color, any way you like it, then frame it and refill it with white, black, or another color.

Select the Background layer and the Rectangular Marquee tool. Create a box in the dimensions you wish, feather the selection (100 pixels for this one), and fill with your color of choice. If you’d rather have the outside of the selection filled, select Inverse before filling with color.

You can create some interesting background shapes by using the Polygonal Lasso, too.

I’ve certainly enjoyed a varied career. In the ‘70s, when I first hung up my shingle, I shot hundreds of rock bands, weddings and portraits. Later I moved into fashion, then commercial advertising, producing images for industrial, food and aerospace clients. I still work with many of them, athletes for the Dairy Association (Got Milk?) being one of many. It’s a little known fact (because no one really gives a damn), but I’m responsible for developing the dairy recipe that we use in Minnesota for the milk moustache. Yes, it’s a dairy product, but if I told you what it was, well, you’d have to go bye-bye.

There have been several subjects over the years that have tweaked my creative genes; the figure, dance and heavy automotive being among them (yeah, I know that doesn’t quite compute). Recently, I sat down to lunch with a good friend, Paul Hartley, a photographer who specializes in heavy automotive photography (http://www.AddMedia.com). I’d written about Paul in my book “Canon DSLR: The Ultimate Photographer’s Guide” and I can tell you he’s one dedicated soul. His travel kit would cost at least a grand in luggage fees at an airport (which explains why he so often travels by car, towing a trailer).

I’m a “Look at that huge machine-isn’t that cool?” guy while Paul is more of a “Let’s drop the transmission and see what’s inside” guy. We’ve decided we’re going to pool our resources and create a stock photo website devoted to such photography. We have no idea if it will be successful, but it’s a niche market that we’re in a great position to accommodate. Between us we have thousands of images. Here’s one I shot in Oklahoma.

While at lunch, Paul mentioned a shoot he had arranged at a nearby International dealer, where he had a shot list he wanted to accomplish. Like most of us, his business has suffered with the recession, and he wanted to make the most of his off-time. I volunteered to join him, mostly because I enjoy hanging out with him but also because two shooters can produce more, and with differing points of view, than one.

On the day of the shoot, we gathered at the dealer’s garage. Between us we must have hauled in 300 pounds of gear, which we set down a few yards from the shooting bay.

After we’d set a large, 4×6 softbox over the exposed tractor engine on a custom stand that Paul had had built for him, and placed other lights around the truck the dealer had provided for us, Paul began setting up his camera. Paul likes to shoot RAW, and also likes to shoot tethered to his computer. I prefer to shoot jpeg so I won’t need to process files after the shoot. The primary difference, aside from the (very) slight quality difference of RAW over jpeg, when the RAW files are processed “as is” is that the RAW files, like an original film negative, can be processed in numerous ways. I like RAW; it has its place. I just don’t use it very often because I don’t wish to expend the additional time to process files after doing an edit on them.

I set one light to the side of the upended hood and started shooting portraits of the guys who’d been hired to model as drivers. Paul was still setting up, so I took great pleasure in walking up to him and whispering in his ear, “I’ve got two shots done. How’re you doin?”

Well, I could ramble on about this shoot, but it was only great fun. While Paul does this stuff quite often, being in a service garage was new to me. The noise, the smells, the light, all came together. Between the two of us we racked up a good 50 images that may or may not have value as stock photography. That’s the beauty, and the risk, of shooting stock. One image might make thousands, the rest next to nothing. Here’s a shot of Paul working with one of the models. Look behind them and you’ll get an idea of how much stuff we dragged in there.

If you use studio strobes for lighting, and your images are consistently too light or too dark, it’s probably not your fault. It’s entirely possible that your light meter and your camera are not on the same page. I know that sounds improbable; after all, they are both precision instruments. But, while all manufacturers produce equipment to close tolerances, it’s possible for a meter and camera to both “pass” their respective Quality Control tests but not be in agreement with each other. Fortunately, it’s really easy to discover if the two machines are out of sync, and it’s really easy to fix the problem.

You will need a neutral gray or white target. You can find collapsible targets from BalanceSmarter.com and Lastolite.com, both of which are gray on one side, white on the other. The difference between the two is that the BalanceSmarter product has printed lines on both sides, to make it easier for your camera’s auto focus to lock on to it. These products are invaluable for Custom White Balance as well and are available in several sizes.

For this exercise we’ll use a gray surface, which will allow us to use the camera’s histogram to judge the accuracy of the meter.

Begin by mounting the gray target on a light stand, and aiming a strobe at it. You will get a more even light by setting the strobe at least seven feet away from the target and using a softbox or umbrella to spread the light even more. Check the exposure with the light meter and move the target slightly forward or back, if necessary, until the exposure is a perfect whole f-stop, like f8 or f11, or a perfect third of a stop (f+.03 or f+.07). Check the top and bottom and both sides of the target as well, to make sure the exposure is even across the surface, no more than 1/10 stop off in either direction.

Fill the frame with the target (you can turn off auto focus if you can’t get close enough with your lens) and take a picture. I try to just shoot the center portion. Be sure your shadow does not fall on the target. Also, be sure to set the ISO on the meter to the same value as the camera. If your meter and camera are speaking the same language, your camera’s histogram will show a spike right in the middle, which is exactly where you want it.

All good flash meters allow you to make adjustments, in tenths of a stop, in how they read the light. If the spike in your first image is left or right of center, you’ll need to make an adjustment to the meter, basically tricking the meter into reading the light stronger or weaker than it did before. All meters will make adjustments differently, depending on the manufacturer. Consult the meter’s instruction manual to determine how to do it for your equipment.

Regardless of how it’s done, all you need to do is adjust the meter until the reading it gives you produces a histogram spike that’s in the middle of the graph. You’ll need to adjust the target toward or away from the light each time you make an adjustment, so that the reading the adjusted meter gives you is the same as the reading you started with. In other words, don’t make any changes to the aperture of the camera, just adjust the target position.

Once calibrated, your meter will measure light that’s perfectly tuned for your camera. If you use more than one camera, repeat this exercise for your other gear. It’s possible that your other camera(s) will require a different adjustment or none at all. If that’s the case, a marked piece of white tape or a white label on the bottom of the camera will remind you how to reset the meter. My Sekonic, for example, offers two different calibration methods, one of which is invisible. The other shows the adjustment on the meter’s screen every time it’s turned on. This is the one to use if you have more than one camera in play because you’ll immediately know if the adjustment is correct for the machine in your hand. Photo4

Had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago. I’d been rooting through a bunch of old rolls of seamless background paper, culling the herd, so to speak, when I found a 6’ wide roll of tracing paper that I’d completely forgotten about. I’d originally bought it to diffuse window light (it worked beautifully) and then put it away when the job was done. Over the course of time it just got buried behind the rest of the rolls.

One of my favorite techniques is to shoot through some sort of barrier; lace or sheer cloth being high on the list. It’s a trick that’s both evocative and useful because the images, being somewhat anonymous, make interesting stock and portfolio shots.

Tracing paper, being what it is, will transmit light differently than cloth. In this case, almost all detail will be lost beyond those parts of the subject that are closest to the paper. Further, the larger the light source behind the subject, the more the light will wrap around the subject, resulting in super-soft edges with just enough detail to define the subject.

I decided to use a very large softbox as my source, my Lastolite HiLite, a 6×7 box with room for two lights, one on each side. This accessory is typically used to create clean, pure white backgrounds for high key images but will produce the broad, wraparound source I’m looking for.

In my new book, Christopher Grey’s Studio Lighting Techniques for Photography, due to be released in November, I write that, “I’ve got a thing about menacing imagery with threatening characters. Part of it has to do with my love of bad scary movies, part of it is because the majority of what I’m hired to shoot is “warm and fuzzy.” True enough, but for this shoot I wanted to combine an impending danger with beauty and elegance.

The HiLite was set about six feet behind the paper and the paper was flagged off on both sides with sheets black foamcore to keep any spill from reaching the lens. My model, who wore a beautiful vintage negligee, was positioned very close to the paper to hold some detail in her side and in the weapon she would be carrying. By varying the closeness of the weapon to the paper I would be able to vary the degree of sharpness in her body and in the weapon itself. I metered from the camera side of the paper and then set the exposure 1 2/3 stops over what was indicated. This much overexposure guaranteed a pure white “background” as well as a nebulous, soft figure showing through. Note that any softbox will work but the effect on the figure will change the look of the image.

I did a little research before writing this. The widest roll of tracing paper I was able to find is 36” and made by Bienfang. That’s not to say that there’s not wider paper out there, but the 36” width will work just fine. You’ll have to extend the sides in Photoshop, of course, but that’s an easy fix. Obviously, this trick would work well with other subject matter.

Shoot well, and prosper.

Check out and preorder (if you wish) my new book, published by my friends at Amherst Media and released this November. Signed copies will be available at my website as soon as the book is ready.

Well, another book is off and running. “Christoper Grey’s Studio Lighting Techniques for Photography” will be on and off the press for a (I believe) November release. WooHoo! It’s my first lighting book since “Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers,” still a bestseller for its genre, and I’m still thrilled about that, as you can imagine. That book was an interesting journey; I started out to write a book about lighting and realized, along the way, that I was writing the book I’d wished I could have found when I was starting my career.

Well, it’s a few decades later and my career has gone well. Time flies when you’re having fun. The new book is just the first in a short series (Book Two will be out in about ten months) that builds on the tricks of the trade that I’ve picked up over the years. High tech, low tech – it’s all in those two books.

More on the way, too. For those of you who prefer to watch video, we just shot an intro to classic portrait lighting DVD. My crack editor, Alex, is working around the clock (I doubt that, actually) to get it done. I’ll make an announcement on the blog and on the websites I work with as soon as it’s completed.

Lots more fun stuff on the way as well, so stay tuned.

So, I’m basically taking the month off from shooting the concept sessions I usually shoot for my books and columns. Although I have a few that I’m looking forward to, I decided a few months ago that I’m a little tired of studio practice shoots just to get material for a book chapter, column or this blog. I did dozens of them for the books I just talked about as well as another project that I’ve been working on for over a year. Now I want to go outside. Minnesota summers are short, and I want to play with my toys in the good ol’ outdoors, mosquitoes be damned (and they are).

ps- go here to see what the new book looks like.

One thing about a bad economy, scammers, being glass-half-full folks, see a glorious opportunity to relieve us of our hard-earned cash. In the last three weeks I’ve entertained three wonderful offers from those fine people but, fortunately, didn’t bite on any of them.

Of all of them, I must say the first was actually a novel approach. I received a call from a woman who identified herself as being with a service that transcribes two-way conversations for the hearing impaired. Sounds like a wonderful service and may, in fact, be legitimate (how would they know if the person on the other end isn’t deaf, anyway?). Her client was about to make an offer on a vehicle my wife and I had recently listed on a site that specializes in pairing classic cars with buyers. Our car, a 1983 Mazda RX-7, was now a “classic” vehicle, 25 years old, still working well and looking good. She would read to me what he wrote and I would voice-respond, slowly, so she could type my words to her client.

“Is your car still available? How much will you take for it?” she read.

“Twenty-seven hundred dollars,” I said (it was what we’d listed the car for). She typed my reply and waited for the next words from the guy on the other side.

“OK,” she read, presumably from the “buyer’s” text. “I’ll offer you $2700 for the vehicle. I’ll need your full address so I’ll know where to send the Cashier’s check.”

My elation over actually selling this white elephant was immediately dashed. I spoke slowly so the woman wouldn’t miss anything. “I’d rather just take your credit card, sir, or you could wire the funds from your bank to mine.”

“I have a very busy schedule (so?), and Cashier’s checks is how I do business. After you get the check I’ll notify my shipping company to come and get the vehicle.” Bells were going off in my head so loudly that it was difficult to hear the poor woman who was reading the conversation, but I thought I’d play along a bit, just to see where this would go.

“OK. A Cashier’s check is fine, but be advised I’ll not release the vehicle until I’m certain the check is legitimate.” I’m sure he was thinking that I thought “until the funds are available” which takes about three days, but what I meant was “until I’m sure the check is real,” which can take a month or longer.

I sent him my contact information and he replied that he would be sending additional funds that I was to forward to his “shipping agent.” Fat chance. I emailed back that I didn’t want to do that, to which he replied that “I have a very busy schedule” and “that’s the only way I can do this.” I relied that he was “SOL,” and that was the end of it.

Of the other two, the first was rather innocuous, promising an ongoing fashion shoot for a great, metropolitan magazine. The client would send a Cashier’s check of $450 as an advance against my day rate (which they never asked about) and all I had to do was forward $200 of that to the shoot’s “Production Manager,” who would then book all the models, makeup artists and stylists and tell me where and when I was supposed to be ready. ROFLMAO!

The final current scam attempt was this, and I’ll include the original email because it’s, well, rather hilarious (I’ve deleted just a few details):

Greetings!
I am Stephen (deleted) from Holland, I came across your profile after an effortless search for a professional photographer. We are relocating to my new house that I just buy in USA, I mean I and my wife and children on May 15, 2009, but I will be celebrating my birthday on June 15, 2009, So I want your service on my birthday June 15, 2009.

My address which the birthday party will take place is below:

Marine Saint Croix
(deleted)
55047

That is my house address that I just buy and moving from Holland to in USA.

The birthday party will start 12pm to 4pm, so you can arrive the same day to our house if you like, or you can arrive at our house day for the party, just let me know which one you wish to do, but my house have adjacent rooms which you can stay in one of them if you like to come for the day of party. I invited 30 friends and that is all we are expecting on the day.

So let me know your charges rate for the party including the Airfare or your transportation amount, and let me know the amount all together, so I can arrange for the payment in time and you can be able to book the day for my Birthday Party.

I’m attending a Conference here in Beijing China now so you can reach me on this mobile number +869(deleted) Anytime from Monday to Sunday.

Thanks.

I wrote him back that my fee for his four hour birthday party would be $4000.00. His reply:

Hello Again,

Thank you so much for getting back to me in time, And i’m highly sorry for not geting back to you since, is just because I have been attending meetings. I really think your price is reasonable and I will like you to be my photographer of the day,i will contact my personal assistant to make the Deposit payment out to you as soon as possible inform of Money Order or Certified Cashier’s Check which is the only way I can made the payment out to you, for the security reason and it will be easier for you to cash instantly at your bank, since it will be United States check as well.

I can only pay 50percent of your total amount and I promised to pay the rest of your money immediately you arrive on the day before starting anything. So I will need your full name and address for the payment, so the payment can be out to you as soon as possible, so you can have the date booked for my birthday party.

I dont know if you can write an agreement form in which I will sign and send it back to you, so both of us will have the agreement form with our self’s. Please if that is possible, you should write the agreement form inform of MICROSOFT WORD only, so I can have it signed easily and send it back to you.

I will be waiting for the full name and address with your phone number in which the payment will be made to.I’m attending a Conference here in China and i will be happy if you can call for incase you have any question or email me, i will answer you immediately,this is my number: +861(deleted, but it’s a different number).

Well, doggone it. Here I had high hopes for a good month before the economy went completely into the tank. I do wish these folks would learn English, though, just for grins.

I’m hoping he’ll email again, wondering why I haven’t gotten back to him. There’s only about three weeks ‘til his birthday – plenty of time to get that Cashier’s check and send a bunch of it to the “caterer” or the “party planner,” maybe even Bozo the Clown (who’s either the scammer or an accomplice).

It’s the Last Supper.

I’m cookin’ tonight, baby, for our two dearest friends, Bill and Julie. It’s an encore presentation of my own concoction of doctored pasta sauce and fresh veggies that holds a mix of chicken breast and hot Italian sausage, cacciatore style, to be generously ladled over fresh pasta and olive oil. This extremely robust mixture will be accompanied by a salad that’s a meal in itself – mixed greens, hot and sweet peppers, Calamati and stuffed olives, pepperoni, whole garlic cloves, avocado and whatever else looked good at the supermarket. Fresh baguette for the meal and, of course, dessert (if anyone has room).

This meal gives me cause for reflection. Bill and I go way back, I think it must have been the mid ‘70s when we met. It was a professional meeting. He needed pictures of a client and I was the guy to do it. We hit it off quickly. Bill has a background in theater and broadcasting and, even though he was an attorney when we met, his sense of humor nonetheless listed to starboard (as does my own). We found, through our senses of humor, that we both enjoy many of the same things this life offers, great books and great food being just two of them.

Some years later our wives met. They formed a bond faster than Super Glue to a steel girder, probably stronger, and the four of us began to meet regularly, to eat, play cards, talk, whatever. When we were together we simply enjoyed each other, as good friends will.

Bill is the son of a master chef, and knows his way around a kitchen like a Hong Kong tailor does around a shoulder pad. I’m just a slug who likes to cook, Chinese and Northern Italian fare being my ‘specialties.’ Several years ago Bill and I started ‘Dueling Dinners,’ outrageously intricate (and expensive) evenings for the four of us where he or I would try to outdo the previous meal. While I don’t know exactly how much time Bill spent, there was one meal I produced, a cacciuco, a fresh fish soup with halibut, lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, a ton of fresh produce and God knows what else, that took me three days to make (it was worth every minute and I’ve never made it since), starting with a rented 40 quart stock pot and a whole whitefish carcass that was boiled down to its essentials before being mixed with a slew of somewhat repugnant fish remains. It sounds awful but was delicious. Trust me.

I think Bill followed that Dueling Dinner with a lamb extravaganza that was, as they say, ‘to die for.’ I’ve never been willing to die for a meal (that’s not the idea, right?), but I’m certainly willing to try anything. As always, Bill (with Julie’s help – she can cook okra like no one I’ve ever known) came through.

You know, I could sit and write volumes about the wonderful meals we’ve shared and the great times we’ve had together. I could write additional volumes about the evenings spent playing pool with Bill and other good friends in the ‘Men’s Crisis Center,’ a recreation room he built (complete with a 9’ professional table) in a heated and air conditioned room he built above his garage. It doesn’t matter, though. Bill and Julie are leaving for Costa Rica and Sue and I will be the lesser for it.

Some years ago they bought a small coffee farm down there. Their land purchases escalated, and the size of the farm is such that they are beginning to show a profit, however small, for their efforts. Both of them have become avid equestrians, increasing the size of the herd as well as the stable, and Bill has taken a liking to horse training and is considering it as a side business. The bottom line is that they have grown to love the people and the country of Costa Rica and will be leaving Minnesota next Sunday, returning infrequently for family or business matters.

We wish them well, of course, but we’ll miss them terribly.