In Celebration of Briar

The Story:

Here is a preview of photos from my new 2009 Calendar, “In Celebration of Briar.” This is the third year of the calendar, and I decided to do something a little different. This year's is in colour. Can you believe it?

I really love B&W photography, and am far more comfortable working in that mode, having been doing it for about 40 of my 50 years. Adding the more literal nature of colour created some different and interesting challenges for me. I still wanted to present the pipes in dramatic light, but also wanted their wonderful hues to be shown. In some cases, like Adam Davidson's remarkable Witch's Finger, at least at first glance, there's almost the sense of a monochrome photo, but then, the more subtle colours reveal themselves. In others, the colours are vibrant, as with the beautiful synthetic amber mouthpiece of Peter Heeschen's signature pipe. In every case, I hope the photos reflect the personalities of the pipes they depict.

Every pipe is unique, and so must be every photograph. Some of the pieces lent themselves to more conservative rendering, whilst others demanded a more interpretive approach. The setup and lighting alone can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple hours. Most are lit with a single medium soft-box, with the rest of the light supplied by countless reflectors, little pieces of silver foil, small strips of white card, or black cards to "subtract" light. I don't rely on photoshop tricks to do this, prefering to work they way I did when film was my medium of choice for tabletop work. It's all done with light. Some habits are just slow to die.

It's been a great joy and a fascinating journey bringing this year's calendar together. The ovreall body of work has taken some interesting twists and turns since I started working on it in 2005. I'm looking forward to see where the project leads for next year.

As before, the calendar is available printed-on-demand from Lulu Press.

How to Order:

I'll get to the point. I really want people to buy this calendar, and display it on their walls. I want these images to find their way to offices, dens, smoking-rooms, and shops all over the world. I want people to celebrate this wonderful hobby of ours with others by showing them that pipes are more than just pieces of wood that we burn tobacco in, but that they are also beautiful objects in themselves. Seriously!

I know it's not inexpensive, but the quality of the paper and the printing is excellent. It's not the typical small, thin, cheaply printed calender we're used to seeing from Print-on-Demand houses. This one is 13.5" x 19", on heavy, coated stock. The prints really are "suitable for framing." And, where else are you going to find a set of 13 prints of beautiful pipe photographs for $29.95, and get a free calendar in the deal? The quality is well worth the price.

I've got about 60 hours invested in shooting the photos and preparing all the art for this. It will only take you a few minutes to hang it on the wall, and enjoy it for a full year. What a deal!

Thank you for supporting this project. -glp

What People are Saying:

“Your calendar arrived here the day after christmas, in perfect time for the new year. It has found a place in my office, opposite of my desk. Every day of the rest of this year, I'll have a glorious pipe photo before my eyes. I like it a lot, and if you should decide to have a calendar for 2008 I'll be buying.” -MR (Germany)

“The calendar arrived and it is magnificent; not even the pictures on the web do it justice.” -TB (USA)

“CALENDAR ARRIVED! WOW!!! I had no idea it was so large or so classy - in person it's 10x better than the pictures convey....honestly!” -LH (USA)

“I've finished my previous message in hurry forgetting to write you my compliments for your calendar: wonderful pipes and wonderful photos. I sincerely think you're not only a great tobacconist and collector but a passionate animator of the pipe-world as well.” -MT (Italy)

“Well, now, this is interesting... my reaction surprised even me. After 30 years of pipelife, I figured (assumed is a better word) there was little in it that I hadn't seen. It is, after all, a pretty well-defined domain. Then I looked through your pics and was amazed. The perspective shift was alarming. (Meaning in a pleasant way.) If these have been on your site all this time, I missed them somehow, but that's good I guess because of the surprise factor of seeing them all at once. VERY nice, GL. The technique, composition, and subject are all first rate, and the overall resuting interpretation is arresting. (My nephew in KC is a pro photog who does the art thing on the side, and I've been to MANY shows and exhibits... that "arresting" thing is the hardest of all to achieve, IMO.)” -GD (USA)

“The calendar arrived today, it¥s much larger than I figured, I never converted the inch measurements. It¥s very nice photos! And two with Bengt pipes! It¥s already hanging on the wall. One thing I wonder why U.S start the week with Sunday?? Doesn¥t make sense to me and U.S being such a religious country too! Do they start the week with rest???” -PB (Sweden)

Update:

The 2009 model year is here!