3 is the magic number - Inspiration from anything

I came in to work the other morning and someone had lined up 3 pennies, 3 matches and 3 cigarette butts in front of my studio door. They were arranged in nice little symmetrical piles. I'm sure it was some of my homeless buddies just goofing around. I'm usually slow between Christmas and New Years and work on studio/equipment/taxes/archiving etc. but now I had some inspiration. Groups of 3's ...... Think it made a nice little series .......... Last post of 2008. Bigger and better things to come in the new years and maybe I'll even finish some personal projects.

In Print

Some published images from past post ..........

street shots

just some random shots from walking around my neighborhood.

left over from painting the floor

I must say the studio always look great with a new coat of paint on the floor.

field of dreams

Made it out to the sod farm for our shoot on Menopause. Glad it was warmer than normal in Dec. A big thanks to the agency Directions and Angie for make-up and styling at faceartistry
It got cloudy towards the end of the day and some rain, but lots of great shots.

Eran Salu Business Leader court update

Yea !!!! The check is in the mail, says the NC clerk of courts. This is an update from going to court
Of all the post I’ve done this one seems to be the most popular. I’ve gotten over a dozen
emails and phone calls from people in NC, NJ, FL and as far away as India who believe they
are owed money by Eran Salu and Business Leader Media ( Business Leader Holdings LLC
incorporated in Las Vegas ).
This was never about the money but, the principal. I could of been paid right away, if I’d
signed away my rights to 6 years of photographs for Business Leader Magazine,
but I decided to go through the legal sysyem. The jobs were shot back in Oct. 2007
and Nov. 2007
the wheels of justice turn slow.
For everyone who has contacted me, all I can say is persistence pays off. Stay the course, keep all your records and don't give up. Knowing I can collect,
I’m now pursuing my copy right infringement case. I’m fortunate to have family and friends
that work for UNC law. I’ll keep you up to date on how that goes.

Hanging with Kanye West ?

Not, I was hanging with Jamel. Who kinda looks like Kanye West. I meet Jamel about 3 years ago when he was producing a record for Terrance and we did a shoot for the CD. Now Jamel is out from behind the mixing board and doing his own thing, think of Luther Vandross with alittle hip-hip mixed in. Jamel has so really good connections so I can't wait to see what happens when hid disk comes out. I did my best Jill Greenberg rip-off lighting.

last minute catalog

Some last minute catalog shots of wine accessory. Had to wait almost a week to get the outdoor shots because of all the clouds and rain. I ran out to the arboretum for the outdoor shots, It was 27˚. I was lucky to find a patch of green grass.

Annual holiday floor painting

Getting to be that time of year. The Annual holiday floor painting ...............

back in southern pines

I was back in southern pines to show the funky,fun and hip side of the town for an article coming out in the Spring. The only problem was I was the youngest person their. It was like a retirement home and everyone had on a Christmas sweater .......
Maria and the band were great, think I got some good detail shots that might work.

Bricks

Some studio shots for Triangle Brick. Just an archive of bricks for new print adds.

Will a 20' x 20' fit in the studio ?

Will a 20' x 20' fit in the studio ? It will with inches to spare. I have a shoot coming up and needed a big overhead. MY 6x6 and 8x8 are to small,I needed something really big. My Avenger 20' x 20' H2000M arrived yesterday and guess what ? No directions in the box and no PDF online . How do you put this thing together ? I left 6 messages at Bogen/Avenger and emails to customer service, that was over 20 hours ago and I still haven't heard back. I think it's assembled correctly ? Maybe next time I'll order from Matthews.
To rent or buy ? The two philosophies when you need equipment. I could've rented a 20x20 for $400 but decided to buy one. It should be paid off in 2-3 jobs. I always like to have equipment at my finger tips, I find it stressful to rent. I'm a gear-head, I love Ebay and auctions. I lost track of my Speedotron heads after 20, I have no idea how many packs I have. I'm now on my Profoto kick. I got 2 tenba air cases off ebay last week for $50. Did I need them ? No, but what a deal ...., they retail for @ $350 each.

Merry Hennessy to me

I got a fancy bottle of Hennessy Paradis for xmas. $350.00 for cognac ? The only problem was it was empty, so I went to the local ABC store and bought the cheapest cognac I could find and refilled the bottle. No I can impress all my clients and friends with a fancy drink. Had to snap afew shots aswell.

clinical trials

Spent the day in the studio shooting images for a clinical trial. Big thanks to the talent from Directions USA http://www.directionsusa.com/ and make-up by Angie at Face Artistry http://www.faceartistrycosmetics.com/.

kits

Copy shots of kits. Kinda tricky with the reflections from the white. 2 exposures, main exposure and than very carefully move everything except the black box and put in a black card. Process the files, drag one over holding the shift key and if nothing has moved they match pixel for pixel. Make a layer mask and erase.

lots of lights

Lots of lights, not those kinds of lights. Christmas lights. Most people think photographers live in big fancy houses, but this is mine, a 70's split level ranch, nothing fancy. We did alittle Christmas decorating this year. I tell everyone I did it for my kids. I think its really for me. It brings back childhood memories of driving around the hills of Pittsburgh with mom,dad and the grand parents looking at the crazy display's of Christmas lights.

location scouting

I have a shoot next week where I need a big field of green grass ........ It's Dec. in NC ....... About 30min. from Raleigh I found a sod farm with lots of green grass and about 6 different fields to shoot in. Should be out their next week shooting.

Wake Rad

Some set shots and out takes from a shoot for Wake Rad. The new ( CT/PET ? ) machine was down so we shot some images in the new space.

Retro House

Images for NC Signature Magazine. A Retro house here in Raleigh. They had some great stuff. Shot alot of images with the Profoto ringflash on and off camera.

southern pines

Some images for an article about what a hip and funky place southern pines can be. Took the basic Profoto kit.

US HWY #1

Going to and from an editorial gig, some random shots along US HWY #1. Christmas is right around the corner.

Random set shots ......