games of chance

A series on games of chance ( thank you Dollar store ). Simple and clean with shallow depth of field, 60mm 2 softboxes shot @ f/4.5.

Got corn

Some group shots out in the middle of a corn field.

Carolina Roller Girls

Big thanks to the Carolina Roller Girls for helping me out. I drove by skate town the other day and had an idea for some shots. The Carolina Roller Girls were nice enough to help me out. Love the stars and stripes, updated my Photoserve portfolio on the 4th of July with one of the images http://www.photosource-enhanced.com/bin/Portfolios?launch=pdn-47730
Profoto Beauty dish tronix explorer 1200 with an AB 800.

Running around downtown

Running around downtown Raleigh, some shots for a magazine.

portfolio

Not booked today so I'm running my portfolio around ....... I really like to show my book in person and talk with the creative team, but it seems as of late I just drop it off and pick it up.

studio books

Still life shot of some books in the studio. 2 softboxes .....

SoutPort

Shots of Madeline who went through the Immigration and Naturalization ceremony afew years ago. Profoto beauty dish main light and AB as backlight.

seagulls

What's up with seagulls, every time I get around them I can't stop taking pictures. I was down in Southport working on the second part of an assignment on Immigration and Naturalization. I cranked off @ 300 shots of seagulls ? Even in the days of film I'd crank off 3/4 rolls of 35mm or 8/10 rolls of 2 1/4 film. Is it just me or do all photographers go crazy over seagulls ?

Charlie Two Shoes

Charlie Two Shoes, yes that's his real name. I know the 4th of July is right around the corner so I'm going to get all patriotic. This was an assignment on naturalization. Charlie Two Shoes was befriended by the Marines in China in 1945. He is also one of only 15 people made an honorary Marine. There is a book out about his life and struggles, just google him. It was an honor to be in his presence and made me realize all the things I take for granted. I broke out the Innovatronix Tronix Explorer 1200 ws and the Profoto 600 pack with beauty dish for main light and reflector for back light, sun was for fill.

fire fighter series

Not everyday you get to climb a 70 foot ladder truck. We had no idea which direction the sun would be at the locations. For most of the people shots, I shot from inside the garage looking out and the subjects were in shadow. Main light camera right and a side light/ back light on camera left. For some of the ladder shots had an SB-2800 and AB as back light triggered with PW's.

fire fighter

This was my favorite shot from the firefighter series. This is the chiefs son who was hanging out at the fire station.

ladder truck

Some shots in Swannanoa on the ladder truck.

Swannanoa firemen

Firefighters in Swannanoa for a series of ads.

Burlington firemen

Some shots of firemen in Burlington for a series of ads.

Asheville

Some shots from walking around downtown Asheville at night. Had some really good Thai food, and a good Guinness at an Irish bar. Asheville is a really happening town,it seems to be stuck in time, lots of hippies. I didn't see a Starbucks but there is a sushi restaurant on every corner. Hate to see what happens when sushi isn't the in thing ....

Kirby Derby Rain or Shine

Kirby Derby rain or shine, lets just say there was only rain ....... A really good turn out considering the weather.

Kirby Derby

Racers on the course, the conditions were slick with all the rain but after some tire pressure adjustments most of the cars made it around corner #1. SEE BELOW.

Kirby Derby Wipe Out

Danger around every corner at the 7th annual Kirby Derby.

Trish

Some shots of model Trish, thanks to La MaQuillage (make-up) and Lee Stalcup (wardrobe).

back up

So the other day I burned disk #1288. I've been burning 2 copies of each disk, I keep one at the studio and take the other one home. I've been getting worried about the data on the older disk, some are over 11 years old. I've decided to back up my back up on external hard drives. Man this is going to take forever. I can get @ 50 CD's and 20 DVD's done aday, if I'm not shooting. I feel pretty lucky, I've only lost 2 files and they were from older disk and really large Photoshop files @ 320 megs, I've got the flatten version. Just FYI my bad disk were Memorex and PNY.

Boot on my roof

When they were replacing the front of the studio, I used the ladder to get on my roof. It's been almost 2 years since I've been on it. I had a squirrel get in my studio the other week and he kept setting off the motion detector ( $100 in false alarms ). I couldn't find where the squirrel got in ? I thought I might find a gun,knife or crack pipe on my roof but all I found was an old boot. A quick photo shoot, why wait for the Hose Master to warm up when you can use a flashlight. 25 sec. @ f/22 on black velvet. I'm off to Asheville for a 2 day shoot, hope it's cool in the mountains.

headshots

The creative work is just knocking down my door, more headshots on white ...... I happened to be wearing one of my fancy new t-shirts. Look at the quality after one wash, thanks Vista Print T-shirts .....

My neighborhood

Had a job cancel on me the other day and thought I'd work on my neighborhood project. No one hanging out, it was just to hot. So I shot afew houses.

Peggy Kirk Bell

I was lucky to get an assignment photographing golf legend Peggy Kirk Bell, at her home course Pine Needles in Southern Pines NC. Check her out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Kirk_Bell. It was a real inspiration being around Peggy. It was 100 degrees and she kept going and going. The course and clubhouse are beautiful, and lunch was great (thanks). AB's 800 and 400.

Night shots

The smoke from the wildfire on the coast had blown in the other day. I thought it'd make for some cool night time images. By the time the sun had set most of the smoke had disappeared and nothing dramatic in the sky. Used a tungsten balance to get the blue in the sky to pop. The exposures were around 30 sec. at f/8.

before and after

Before and after shots of a rescue truck. This was a real quick retouch. I'm still not happy with the windows and need to add some highlights. Had a small strobe inside the truck cabin.

My neighborhood

I'm still working on my "Welcome to My Neighborhood" series. I went up to Moore Square to see who was hanging out. I've been really excited about this project and everyone has been great about getting photo's taken. I am starting to feel alittle guilty, the last guy I photographed (baseball hat) was so out of it. I almost felt I was taking advantage of him. I'm sure this is a moral dilemma most photographers will face at sometime in their careers.

Rex doctors

Some location shots of doctors for Rex. Very small room so everything was low power, softbox,umbrella,grid from the side and a reflector on the background.

broken glass

So after my pouring shots I thought, it'd be cool to get a splash shot. Notice the glass changed ? On my first attempt I hit the edge of the glass with the acrylic ice cube and water went everywhere. I switched glasses, and built a rig so I could slide the ice cube down. This worked much better than throwing it in. I end up using 3 shots for the final image. Shift key and layer mask.
2 grids, color balance was tungsten to give it a blue cast.

pouring water

Some shots pouring water. Used strobes on a white formica sweep, but set my color balance to tungsten to get a blue cast.

cemetery

I was on my way back from Southern Pines and stopped to get gas, this cemetery was across the street.

bowling

took my kids bowling over the weekend, just some snap shots ...

AKC Scanner

Did some product shots with Crittenden Advertising of a pet scanner for the AKC. Ended up suspending the scanners from armature wire, there was to much wrap around on a white background.

face lift

Sounds like a good name for a photo-shoot, but oh well ....... I'm in the process of replacing the facade of my studio.

3 day location catalog

If you can't get the product to the studio go to the product ...... 3 days on the Johnny T-shirt catalog in Hillsborough NC. Some table top,models and lots of T-shirts and jackets. A fun project, but long hours. I don't know how people can work in RTP and drive I40 everyday. There was a car in front of me on the way home and the licence plate was I-H8-I40 ...... Classic .......

stop to take the shot. LOST.......

I think it was on Highway 42, I passed an old factory/power station, I was running late, but turned around anyway to shoot some photo's. I knew I'd never be back this way. Same thing with the field. I just accepted the fact I'd be late with all the tractors and goats crossing the road.
Years ago I was driving from Madrid Spain to Faro Portugal ( looks closer on the map ) I'd been in the car for about 8 hours and had 4 to go. I passed a hill of golden wheat with a single olive tree in the middle and it was one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen. I didn't stop to take a picture. This is something I regret to this day, maybe one day I'll get back and try to capture my lost image. So now I try to stop and take the shot, even if I'm running late or in a hurry.

Snap shots in Sanford

Some snap shots walking around downtown Sanford.

Sanford

Some shots for a story on Sanford NC and the surrounding area. Had a good time walking the streets downtown. The Sanford Antique mall is great and goes on forever.

10 minute food shoot

Working on some images for NC Signature Magazine of local restaurants, Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill. Set up outside on the patio on a black table soft-box camera left and grid for backlight on right. This was the wait staffs dinner, the tray of food arrived at 5:10 and left at 5:20 so the staff could eat before the doors opened at 5:30. One of the fastest shoots I've ever done. I'm usually not a big fan of shooting food on black, but I think the shots turned out OK, I took advantage of the bamboo for the strawberry sorbet shot. Thanks to Bill Smith chef for his patience.
I was suppose to shoot the Magnolia Grill in Durham, but they told me to download some images from the website. I know I'm not with the NY Times,Gourmet Magazine or Bon Appetite but, just let me do my job and take some cool images.

red espresso tea

An article on red espresso tea. Shot with a combination of available light and strobes. Thanks to A Southern Seasons and Weathervane Restaurant (thanks for lunch), this is one of the only local place that serves red espresso tea.

Bavarian Brathaus

The Bavarian Brathaus for an article coming out in October, who thought German food could look so good. Owner Paul Hoffman was a pleasure to work with, he had the kitchen jumping. Some of the best Kartoffel Puffer (potato pancakes) I've ever had. Soft-box front left and grid back right.

18 Seaboard

Working on some images for NC Signature Magazine of local restaurants. This was my trip to 18 Seaboard for some food shots. A big thank you to Jason chef and owner (the one holding the fish), he was really into this preparing food and locations and made my job easier.

Jones street revisit again

I stopped by Jones street the other night. I was alittle bummed the gate was locked so I couldn't match my camera position. I didn't feel like trespassing.

fire fire fire

This was a way cool assignment for a magazine cover. I got to shot the Assistant Fire Chief at a training center. The burn room can really put off some heat and smoke. 2 AB's with reflectors, warm gel on one and a deep red on the other.

3 day catalog grind

A 3 day catalog grind. I can just get in a the zone and crank through this stuff, of course I have to stop every few hours and clean up the studio. Most of the products glass and silver, fun for lighting.

Rock the runway

A little pro-bono work, Rock the runway. There were 10 studio photographers, at first we were in 10x10 tents in the parking lot, with the sun setting behind us and the wind lifting the tents off the ground. We had alittle photographer mutiny and ended up inside.

free day

Had a free day last week and got together with Fuse Talent and Meschantes Couture. It was a super windy and overcast day. I tried to go for an almost night type of shot. I wish my camera would sync above a 250th. Had the AB's out, if they blew over not a big deal, main and backlight. Got afew studio shots, Profoto beauty dish and grid for backlight.

shooting shooting

On assignment for an article on a family that "shoots" together. I haven't shot a gun since my days in Vegas 15 years ago. I had a good time shooting those skeet out of the air. An overcast day, just tried to add some snap with a main light and a backlight.

Remember those headshots

Remember those headshots from 4 years ago ? We just hired some new people and want to match those shots. For me this is always the hardest thing to do, match an existing shot. This was back before I was snapping photo's of my set-up's.

group shots

A set-up from group shots up at UNC. I did some event coverage aswell. The shoot went great and the event ended @ 250 people left at the same time and tried to get out of the parking deck with only one attendant, I sat in the car for over an hour waiting to get out......