Steve Maller Photography

I pride myself on being very accessible to people of all ages, particularly children. I love kids, and I’d like to believe that they sense that. But my mojo can sometimes go missing, as it did in this moment with my most precious little niece Anna. She just plain did not want to be bothered with Uncle Shutterbug. Her less-than-welcoming mood may have had something to do with the little bracelet that you can see in this photograph from a few weeks ago: she had just “welcomed” home her brand new baby brother Benjamin a few days before.

I took Max and Sam to see Van Halen last night. A special shout out to Uncle Gary for making this possible!

And I also just bought a new High Definition camcorder. It’s a tiny little thing (that was part of the objective!) and I thought I’d try and sneak it into the concert last night. After one abortive attempt to breach security, I made it through the second time. But while I was able to capture some really nice clips, the camera kept shutting off after a minute or two. I finally figured out that the errors were being caused by the motion detector in the camera (which guards its internal hard drive against shocks) was probably being triggered by the extraordinarily high sound pressure levels in the Arena.

Anyway, I put away the camera after the first few songs and just decided to enjoy the show. But then I thought I’d take it out one last time. And that was when the security guys surrounded me. They assured me as they whisked me out of the Arena that my children would be OK. They were civil, but demanded that I give them my tape from the camera. This is how it went…

I have been watching the steady progress in High Definition video over the past few years. We were very early adopters of the HDTV systems from DirecTV and Comcast, and we have enjoyed lots of HD video over the air for a long time now.

But until very recently, HD video creation was the domain of TV stations with two-comma budgets. Now that has all changed. The emergence of the Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats (good grief…why two?) and sub-$1,000 HD cameras has made it possible for mere mortals with single-comma budgets to produce videos in true High Definition.

So, after sitting patiently and watching the progress, I decided that it was time to experiment and sink one of my hard-earned commas into HD.

They share a love of music, a history, a bloodline, an area code, a zip code, a cellphone plan, a lot of genetic material, a bedroom, and a set of parents.

They are our children, and they are the very best things in our life.

Sam’s approaching six feet tall at a frightening speed, and it’s no more apparent than on the basketball court. He has always loved the game, and is really coming into his own this year.

I not only enjoy photographing weddings and other special family events, but preserving them on video, too. Here’s a short excerpt showing not only a sense of the intimacy we can achieve, but the quality of the audio, too. And those giggles…is Beth happy, or what?

Beth and Adam’s big day started early in the morning on the 17th floor of the San Francisco Hyatt Regency…

I own one lens which is a very special purpose tool. It is an 8mm “fisheye” lens. It actually sees 180° in a circular pattern. I have to be careful not to get my feet in the photographs! This is a view of the interior of Temple Emanu-el’s main sanctuary from its second level balcony.

For many years now I have been (as their former COO Dan Rosenzweig called me) Yahoo!’s official bar mitzvah photographer. For dozens of gatherings, primarily aimed at their advertising clients, Yahoo! have asked me to document the goings on…

One of the things I do professionally is “cover” events for businesses. Today I was in San Francisco for a Yahoo! event, and tomorrow I’m in LA for the second part of this event.

By the way, the nifty belt system I use when I am working events is by Think Tank Photo, and it’s an awesome product. I heartily recommend it for anybody who has to schlep more than just a camera and a lens around.

Check it out at http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ttp_product_Modulus.php

Oh, and I don’t usually photograph myself in the bathroom. But I got to the venue early and there wasn’t anything to do while everything was getting set up.