Steve Maller Photography

My beautiful son Sam was in attendance at Nathan’s bar mitzvah, and I grabbed this self-snapshot of the two of us using my “long arm of the law” technique. Love that kid…

Max and his new band Retreat Right played in Palo Alto last night. The show was at the local Elks Lodge, and by the time his band went on it was 11:30 PM and they only had a half hour left before the security guy shut them down. But it was a wonderful show and Max is very proud. I put together this little slideshow to illustrate the evening…

Nathan and his wonderful family celebrated his bar mitzvah today at Peninsula Temple Sholom. Nathan was wonderfully well prepared by Cantor Barry Reich, and his service was delightful. Mazel tov, Nathan!

Daniel is an old family friend. When he and his family first moved here from Israel, he and my son Sam became fast friends. Sadly, they no longer go to the same school so they don’t see each other all that often, but our families have remained friends. The boys see each other periodically and enjoy catching up. Daniel is an English football (soccer to us Americans) fanatic, and is naturally a big Manchester United fan. So he put on his best “stank eye” (not sure what the British equivalent is for that term) and we made a wonderful photograph today.

Eli has the most gorgeous skin of any boy I’ve photographed in a long time. He is a darling kid, and he was very excited to see how this photo came out.

My friend Rabbi Dov Greenberg of Stanford Chabad is a very popular speaker on the lecture circuit and asked that I make some portraits that he can use as headshots. Because of Dov’s position in the community and his deeply-rooted spirituality, he was concerned about how he would “read” in a photo, but I’m quite happy at how these photographs worked out.

Max is participating in Burlingame High School’s production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and I wanted to do something to help support his effort. So rather than sell cookies at his performance, I decided to donate a set of 8×10 glossy headshots to the cast. It was fun to meet all the kids, and 37 headshots later, Sara and I packed up and headed back up the street to the studio.

Lizzie’s bat mitzvah was a delightful day, with a stirring service at Temple Beth Jacob and a fun party at City Beach in Fremont. I’ve known Lizzie since she attended the Day School with my son Sam, and it’s always a joy to see these kids and how they’ve grown and matured. Mazel tov to Lizzie and her family!

Every so often I have the opportunity to photograph something that doesn’t move, and this one one of those nights. Rabbi Dov from the Chabad House at Stanford University is a regular client. He and his wife and partner Rachel run a wonderful program. Their house is beautiful and Rabbi Dov wanted a glamourous photo of it. So I set my lights and here’s the result.

I got to listen to and meet one of my heroes tonight: David Doubilet, the famed National Geographic photographer. I was the official photographer for part of the 2007 WEFTEC show (wastewater management…don’t ask!) and he was a featured speaker. I enjoyed seeing his work (as I always do) and even introduced myself to him and told him how much I appreciate his art. He was very sweet.