Live a 'One-Knife Life' via Bushcraft

Spent the day with Mike Lummio of Bushcraft Northwest. With the Columbia River Gorge as a setting, he showed me it's possible to live off the land, and all the easier if you've brought along a real stout knife.

This pic shows Lummio using a drill to make hot embers that can lead to a fire. I wrote a story about the experience, and it appeared as one of my Cascade Playground columns in the Vancouver Voice newspaper, the alternative paper in Vancouver, Wash. Click through!

http://www.vanvoice.com/article/19879-tools-wilderness

The Best Part of Outdoor Retailer: Chillin' in Boise

I'm a little scared to count the number of times I've been to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show in Salt Lake City. Let's just say 10 times would be an accurate guess. While the thrill of the show floor never completely leaves me, other experiences have crept up as even more delightful.

Here's a picture of Marcia Cook and Ryan Whitesides, two friends who happen to live partway between Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake. When I asked if I could lay over a night on my way to the show, they opened their home to me with kindness and generosity I've not experienced in ages.

I had such a great time with Marcia and Ryan, I wrapped my Outdoor Retailer business up a day early so I could scoot back to Boise and hang out. What sweet memories of summer I'll always have of Boise! As long as they'll have me, I'll be back!

The R. Craig Brown Family

For the first time in many years, all nine children of my wife's paternal dad, R. Craig Brown, got together. Many make it to this spot each 4th of July, Grandpa Robert Brown's cabin in Island Park, Idaho, but rarely all.

I had my camera and got this shot of the kids with Craig. The gang are spread across five states these days, and one even lives overseas. Jana Bitton, my wife, is on the far left in a dark shirt.

Four of the kids are from Craig's first wife (Jana's mom) Venessa Pitman. Five of them are from Craig's second wife, Christie.

Beauty Queen Photo Shoot in Port Townsend, Wash.

Deidra Morris, daughter of a dear friend from my junior high and high school days in Idaho Falls, competes in pageants. She needed some fresh photos, so I agreed to motor on up to Port Townsend, Wash., to help out.

Her mom, Lori Marler Morris, hasn't changed a bit since high school, and her daughter, who I took to calling "Miss D," looks just like her mom.

After the shoot, we all went to dinner with Lori's family at the best Mexican restaurant in the area. It was great food, as well as great company.

Best of luck with the 2009 pageant season, Miss D! I'm cheering for you!

TRIOBA Wild Sky Adventure Race

Index, Wash., played host to the TRIOBA Wild Sky Adventure Race. Here's a shot I got right after the race start, as teams were headed out of town toward the mountains that shoot straight up behind Index.

At this moment, I was in the back of a pickup with other photographers. My intention at Wild Sky was to be the official TRIOBA photographer, but because real media showed up from newspapers in the surrounding area, I decided instead to play PR guy. I spent the day making sure they got the information and photographs they needed for their stories. Felt just like the good old days at Primal Quest Utah, where I was a member of Gordon Wright's media team. Ahh, the memories.

Daddy Daughter Date: The Killers Rock Seattle

My daughter Ashton is still amped up about rock and roll, and when I heard the Killers were going to play the Pacific Northwest, I saw a perfect chance for a daddy-daughter date. Surprisingly, the Killers had no Portland dates (they added one later!), so we headed to the Seattle show.

Digital SLRs aren't weren't allowed in the venue, so I made due with my iPhone camera. After dozens of shots, I had a few I was proud of , including this one of bass player Mark Stoermer as fireworks rained down onstage.

It was a late night, plus a three-hour drive home to get Ashton to school this morning. But it was so worth it! We were singing their songs all the way back to Vancouver, Wash. Well, I was. Ashton was asleep. Smart kid.

Blood on the Wide-angle Lens

Like most of the folks in the Spirit Mountain Casino last night, I've been a fan of mixed martial arts (MMA) since I saw it a few years back on Spike TV. So imagine my excitement when I learned about SportFight XXV, an MMA event held within driving distance of Portland, Ore. In this image I captured ringside, amateur fighter Colt Toombs of Team Quest in Portland puts a finishing right on his opponent, Tom Shrout. The result -- blood on my wide-angle lens, as well as on my shirt. I grinned so hard my face ached. What an unbelievable rush! Toombs comes from a fighting family. He's the son of one-time professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper.

The Smiths, More Than an 80s Band

Meet the Smith family of Logan, Utah. That's Jesse on the left, Sean on the right, snuggling in the grass at Cannon Beach, Ore. Sean's about to graduate from Utah State with a bachelor's in business, minor in marketing, and he's lookin' for a job. They came to town over their spring break so I could introduce Sean to Andrew Buswell at FitRight Northwest, as well as to Bryan Knudsen at Next Adventure, to see how the job market is in P-Town. Kinda bleak...so we went to the beach! Great to see you guys, and best of luck on the job search!

CrossFit Photo Shoot Turns Steamy

Last night I got to experience the workout phenomenon that is CrossFit. Bob Cook, owner of The Workout CrossFit in Vancouver, Wash., asked me to shoot a workout so he'd have images to add to his CrossFit blog. This picture, which features steam pouring off the head of workout attendee Marc Pitcher, was among my favorites. Expect to see more CrossFit postings in the coming months!

Portraits with Shoshone Artist Rochelle Nielsen

Yesterday I got to spend about an hour with Rochelle Nielsen, an artist who lives near me in Vancouver, Washington. She's a Shoshone Indian, and most of her art that I've seen is about that. In her art, Nielsen shows how she struggles to weave her heritage into her modern life. She's got a show coming up at Marylhurst University in the spring. After we shot portraits, Nielsen asked me to get some photos of her doing the Shawl Dance, or Fancy Dance. This image was among my favorites.

Marrying off the First Niece

Yesterday, one Garan Keeler of New Mexico got the best New Year's Day gift imaginable. He married my niece, Ashley Bitton. Her dad, my brother John Bitton, asked Garan if that means he'll be "taking over the payments" to support Ashley's upscale lifestyle. Garan just smiled. The first few months of married life can be pretty intense. Keep smiling, you two! (David Bitton photo)

Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge

Heading out on assignment for a client is always a thrill, but this particular trip took me 12 time zones away from home. Checkpoint Zero Adventure Racing, the leading source for adventure racing news in North America, sent me to the Middle East to cover the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in the United Arab Emirates. The emphasis of my coverage is North American teams, so I've been spending time with teams Nike, Salomon/Crested Butte, SOLE and DART-nuun. You can read the reports I've been posting over on Checkpoint Zero by clicking here. This shot from the sand dunes near Liwa, Abu Dhabi, is typical of the terrain teams trekked through during the event. Sand, sand and more sand! Us media types were escorted through the dunes by a local 4x4 club. All the jostling led to me losing my lunch at one point! As I often say, it's not really an adventure unless you throw up at least once. So true!

Rockefeller Plaza, all Dressed Up

I'm in New York City for a few days, visiting friend Jake Bennett before I hop a plane from JFK to the Middle East. Jake's apartment is in a fabulous location for a NYC first-timer like me. He's in Midtown East, and very near a Subway station. Today he took me on a walking tour of Manhattan's famous shopping district, Fifth Avenue. I've long been a fan of Cartier wristwatches, but never seen one. That changed today, when I tried on a $10,000.00 tank watch. It felt good, but not ten grand good, so I guess I'm back to my Wengers and HighGear watches. Here's a shot I got of "30Rock," it's an actual place, not just a TV show!

iPod Playlist Annoys Newborn

I just love photographing newborns. As a father of two, I know how fast these babies become toddlers and are swept away to kindergarten. Capturing their smallness is my contribution to a family's history.

For this shoot, after we got all the "standard" shots, I suggested something fun. Her parents are really into music -- her father plays regular gigs in Portland, Ore. -- so I snatched his iPod and headphones for this setup. The baby lasted about a minute, but we got this great shot! See? Family history. I'm sure this is the first pic her parents will show when they want to talk about the Baby Days.

Portland PRSA Draws Crowd for Spotlight Awards

Portland Oregon's chapter of the Public Relations Society of America drew a nice crowd for its annaul Spotlight Awards last night.  I was on hand as a volunteer still photographer, and my brother, David Bitton, volunteered to shoot video.  Here's the blrub from the PRSA website about the event:

PRSA-PDX's most festive and spirited gathering of the year to honor outstanding work in public relations, to recognize individuals who advance the profession and to have a great time. This annual awards program is an event not to be missed.

David and I had a great time getting to know the PR pros in attendance, especially the team from Portland General Electric, which let us sit at their table.  That's them in the photo above. Hi girls!  A complete gallery of images from the evening can be seen here.  Want to know who won and for what?  Check the results on the Portland PRSA website, www.prsa-portland.org.

SCORE! Free Advice from Pros Who've Been There

Bill Rooney worked for decades in the marketing department of forest products giant Georgia-Pacific.  Today, as a volunteer for SCORE, "Counselors to America's Small Business," he listened to my plans for Bitton Communications.  He said I've got a great start, and suggested some next steps:

1) Develop an "elevator pitch," a concise story to tell people what your company does.

2) Put a short version of that pitch on the back of your business card.

3) Read a book by marketing guru Bob Bly.

I've got the elevator pitch ready.  My business cards will soon be redesigned.  And Bob Bly? Haven't gotten to that yet.  It's on my list!

Thanks for your guidance, Bill!  I'll be in touch with more questions!

So What? He's Still a Rockstar!

This is Ryland, and he may not be a real rockstar yet, but he's gonna be. This is a shot from our recent photo session.

Ryland not only plays guitar with great precision, he sings with surprising control for a high school senior. To top it all off, he even writes his own songs. Music and lyrics both.

An Unconventional Family Portrait

Families are chaotic. Those prim and proper family portraits, where each member of the group is perfect, are few and far between, and there's a reason why.  That's not who they are.  That's not who any of us are.

The Brown Family of Vancouver, Wash., is about to send its second son on a two-year mission to Arizona. They asked me to capture some wall-worthy images of the gang, since they won't be together again for a long time.

As with any shoot, issues come up. The light changes. Somebody can't stop giggling. Everyone gets to a point where they're ready for the shoot to be over. This family was committed to making great pictures, and we worked until we had them.

That's our approach at Bitton Communications. Whether our job is to capture family history, as it was here, or to tell client stories in the most efficient and effective ways, we don't stop until we get it right.  

Somebody's Grandma is Gonna be Real Happy

What grandmother wouldn't burst with pride at the site of this photo of her grandson?  Visuals are a big part of what we do at Bitton Communications, and we just wrapped this shoot of the Fuger Family of Vancouver, Wash.

While this shot is destined for walls and mantles in the extended Fuger Family, our other visuals, which include still photos like this one, as well as videos, help tell the stories of our awesome clients.  Client imagry finds its way to their marketing materials, things like websites, brochures and blogs.

If you're old enough to remember the 1980s, you may recall a rebel tennis player named Andre Agassi.  Canon USA paid Agassi to endorse its Rebel camera, which carried the tag line "Image is Everything." As a marketing company, we couldn't agree more!

'Widget' From Yahoo!'s MyBlogLog Shows you Who's Dropping by

In developing the Boy Meets Dog blog about my Autistic nephew, I've been looking for ways to track not just traffic to the page, but who is visiting the page.  It's actually pretty easy to do if a visitor has an account with the Yahoo! service called My Blog Log.