New Project "American Pawn" ?

A couple weeks ago I had a 2 day editorial shoot for a BIG Magazine, my feature got bumped due to Kennedy's passing away and the story is on hold ( what a bummer ). The story had a lot of substance about what is going on in America today, and so it got me thinking ........... I pass this Pawn shop on Wilmington street called "American Pawn" I thought it'd be interesting to photograph real people who are buying and selling stuff. I think it says a lot about the economy and what people are going through theses days. I did some test shots, my problem is the direct screaming sunshine coming straight onto the subjects. I'm trying to do this in my spare time and don't have time to fly in a 20x20. I'm not sure what I'm going to do ????? I think I'm more in love with the concept and title "American Pawn" than the execution so far.

Not a desk job

Some editorial work Shhhhh........ (can't say who,what,why or where).
How can people spend all day behind a desk ? I've been hanging with some other photog's lately and we've come to the conclusion, we got into photography because we love to take pictures. The problem is we spend more and more time in front of a computer editing/retouching and uploading images. I'm picky about my files, so when a client request only RAW files I cringe. My formula these days is one day of shooting = one day of editing. I'd really like to get some time back so I can concentrate on shooting.

Aching for an Aiken

A purse is not a purse, especially in the circle of friends my wife runs with. The Holly Aiken Bags - Stitch is at the top of the list of bags to have. I was flattered when I got a call from Holly up the street to do some photography for Stitch. We shot in the store/street and back at the studio. Erwin and Lee were our models. I'm really into the outdoor hard light these days, kinda reminds me of older David lachapelle ( love his work ).

Aching for an Aiken 2

More shots from the Holly Aiken Bags - Stitch shoot.

back at the secret location

I was back at the secret location, last time we lit up the room with @ 6 heads. Today we kept it simple a big bounce card on a low boy for some headshots.

Speedway series

I decided at the spur of the moment over the weekend to run up to Caraway Speedway in Sophia NC. This is just outside of Asheboro, lots of good signs to get there, hard to find the highway when you leave. I was expecting a small town junky track but was surprised by how nice the facility was. I have to say everyone was so nice at the track, they tried to feed me and give me drinks, they even helped carry my equipment around. I even met some famous racers Jimmy Johnson and a few others, I'm really bad with names. I think my favorite shot is the guy eating cherry pie by the track. I made the mistake of getting trapped in the pits for the first 150 lap race ( If you follow this blog you know how much I love racing ). The thing about being in the pit when the race starts is..... unless your on top of an RV or Semi you can't see what's going on. It felt like 500 laps to me ...... I had a good time and met some great people. Maybe 2 or 3 more tracks and I'll be done with the Speedway Project.

Tech info.- I forgot the Multi-cart and started off with the Profoto and AB's, but just to much to carry. Ended up with the 2 AB's and Vagabond and the PW's, still a lot to carry. It got real overcast towards the end of the day so I shot available light.

Speedway series 2 of 3