In my most recent Spring Preview portrait post, I might have made it seem like the studio is not a fun place.

but…

…as you can see, if you give a hula hoop to some people and fun can’t not be had.

A super costume wins the costume contest for Como, 3, during the Columbia Association’s first Welcome Event of the year, Dog Day Afternoon held at Hopewell Park in Columbia Saturday, April 17, 2010. Como, a rescue boxer, was shown by his owner Jody Stacoffe, from Elkridge.

I was not excited about the high noon sun and the busy busy background of bright white shirts and subsequent raccoon eyes. So, I decided to use some on camera flash. I zoomed my sb-800 out to 105mm, stuck with the high shutter sync and underexposed the sky. Honestly, I’m a little surprised at how cool the photos came out. But I think the lighting lends to only half of why these photos work. They’re quirky. That is, the subjects are quirky. I like these photos because they show off the subjects personalities in really interesting, imperfect ways. They’re like pop songs. …you know, catchy, memorable. well, at least I think they’re memorable.

Phoenix, five, a Jack-Russell/Chihuaua mix is a “fashionable lady,” or so says her owner Ronda Lennon.

Windsor, a rescue dog, owned by Amanda Williams, of Dorsey Hall.

Samantha McHale, 7, brings Racall, 4, a Daschund to the “Best Kisser” contest.

Deneen Craves, from Elkridge, pulls her fingers away after giving a ball to her dog Ace Windu. His name is an homage to the Star Wars character Mace Windu.

Windsor rolls for a treat.

This is during the “Best Kisser” contest. They rolled out before I could get their names.

Eight months-olds, and Lilly, left, and Caesar, right, are already flirting. Lilly is owned by Ken and Katrina Knudsen, of Kings Contrivance..Caesar is owned by Alex and Luisa Bishop, from Harpers Choice.

Barbi, an eight-month-old toy poodle, backs away from the bowl (well, really, its me) during the biscuit eating contest. Her owner Jean Jungblut holds Barbi’s leash in the background.

“Sammy thinks she’s going to win this one because they practice kissing all the time,” says seven-year-old Samantha McHale’s dad,”John McHale, of Long Reach. The crowd and loud music seemed to give Rascall, 4, a Daschund performance anxiety during the “Best Kisser” contest.

A few more from the “Best Kisser” contest.

Deneen Craves, from Elkridge, looks on while her neighbor Jalen Stewart, who she used to baby sit, coaxes Craves’ dog Ace Windu to jump.

If you want to share this gallery feel free to embed the gallery below. Thanks for stopping by!

Dog Day Afternoon – Images by Matt Roth

Below are photos I recently made for an AARP Bulletin story about how New Jersey’s high property taxes effect seniors on fixed incomes.

Corinne Bell, partially obscured by artificial flowers on her kitchen table, has lived in the home she and her husband built for 52 years. The widow now lives with three cats, Tiny, Cece, and Sheba, former strays who now call the split level on Main Street, Pilesgrove “home,” too. “Somedays they’re the only company I get,” says the 79-year-old New Jersey woman. Bell, like other New Jersey seniors who live on fixed incomes, are in danger of losing their homes because of the state’s high property taxes — the highest in the nation. “I have too much stuff to move,” and worries about the future of her cats. In the past a social program called Senior Freeze alleviated a portion of the property taxes for those who qualified. The state’s former governor changed the program’s eligibility, but the state’s new Republican Governor Christopher Christie said he would restore the rebates to those who lost them, but has yet to fully reinstate the program.

Recently, I’ve been making visual side stories while on assignment. Sometimes they’re totally off task, but other times they tie into story.

When I met Corinne, who’s a lovely lady, I couldn’t help but notice some loneliness in the widow. But I wasn’t doing a story on looniness. Stay on task, Matt! Focus. Property Taxes. But lets be honest, visualizing property taxes in an interesting AND literal way is a bit tough. Well, the obvious idea is to make a portrait of her in front of her home… Snoozezilla, right? But if there’s one thing I learned from the failings of Time Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is that you have to develop your protagonists. …make people care about them. Lucky for me, the wind was so inhospitable (lightstands be damned!) we couldn’t make a decent picture of her (windblown hair) in front of her house. “Okay Corinne. It’s crazy out here. lets see if we can’t do this inside.”

“Okay. Well, while I’m out here, I might as well get my mail.”

And that’s when the light switch turned on. I’ve always been a fan of, as I like to call it, “exploding the ordinary.” So, as Corinne walks back to her home, mail in hand, I notice a simple composition: house, yard, Corinne. The wind was knocking her around. She seemed vulnerable. And there it is. There’s that loneliness I felt when I first met her. I make a few frames. The one I chose is of her, in a slight stumble — a shuffle, really — en route to her front door. Her home has always given her shelter. And I saw a beautiful connection between Corinne and her home in a mundane moment. Her home is the glue that ties her life together. So, there’s the tie-in, exorbitant taxes would disrupt her life.

Corinne Bell sits down for a cup of tea and a Tastee Cake.

Corinne Bell pets her cat Tiny while sipping on tea and nibbling on a Tastee Cake.

Sometimes Corinne Bell can see the neighbors’ livestock from her window.

Tiny, one of Corinne Bell’s three cats, asks to be let back in the house.

Corinne Bell can see the cemetery where her husband is buried in from her kitchen window.

One toothbrush. One rinse cup. Fantastic wall paper!

A photo of Corinne Bell’s late husband “Slim,” sits on her bedroom dresser.

Corinne Bell waits for her cat Tiny to come back in the house.

If you like, feel free to embed the slideshow at the bottom of the page on your blog or wherever. And if you do, I’d love a heads up and possibly link to your link.

NJ Taxes and Corinne Bell – Images by Matt Roth

Right here…

awww. c’mon. why aren’t you laughing?

I made this little pun while prepping for a shoot involving several thousand dollars (5 figures!) worth of gems and jewelry yesterday.

iPhone photo. Toned with Camera Bag app.

Al Paglione takes reprise from cooking during the 2006 Eddie Adams Workshop to chomp on a Cuban cigar…This is Al Paglione. He and his son help cook at the Eddie Adams Workshop. Meeting him was pretty great! I was shooting him with my 17-55mm and he was totally jockin’ me about my zoom. He was talking up the Nikon 50 f/1.4 — which I have — and so, I decided to take that lens out of my bag and snap it on my camera for a spin. So, everything after this photo are shot with the 50mm. He was right, that lens is awesome…I gave a print of this photo to Al’s son Jerry, and he started crying and gave me a huge hug. Those two bicker like the Jersey boys they are, but there’s so much love between the two of them…The Eddie Adams Workshop in Jeffersonville Saturday, October 7, 2006.

The 10am Update is a regular blog feature showcasing the best work from my archives. enjoy!

Saturday, September 26, 2009.

My assignment was to shoot the football game. But this kid was too cool to ignore.

The 10am Update is a regular feature showcasing some of the best images from my archive.

Monica Lopossay, in early morning fog, while arriving at the Eddie Adams Workshop Barn in Jeffersonville, NY, for the Black Team pre-workshop clean up.

For all you newcomers to the professional photo biz, The Eddie Adams Workshop is now accepting applications. May 28th is the application deadline.

Stay posted for more images from my time as a student and as a Black Team member.

I was building my lighting set up for a recent shoot and it resulted in a really cool, dark, creepy image.

The best thing about it, is that it gave me lighting ideas for my upcoming Athletes of the Year shoots. Sunmee Huh is lit with two gridded alien bees to her right and left.

A fox family member sits by the Owings Mills 7-Eleven it frequents on a regular basis

I made these images back in 2004, when I was an intern at the Patuxent Publishing Co. I was filling up my car with gas after an assignment, and I looked over and saw a fox. I looked around to see if anyone else pumping gas was phased by this. Come to find out, they’re regulars. These guys like people — well, at least they’re not too scared of us. I got really close to the one in these two images, only using a 50mm lens.

There was another one who preferred to stay in the shadows by the wooded area. The dumpster seems to be their main source of food. I wonder, if after more than five years, they’re still hanging out at the 7-Eleven in Owings Mills. Maybe I should investigate?