Guitar Legend George Lynch and 30 ESP Guitars!

The other week I was given the opportunity to shoot Rock Guitar Legend George Lynch. He was the original guitarist for the rock band Dokken and has since gone on to form the band Lynch Mob as well as start a line of custom, handmade guitars called "Mr. Scary"

For the shoot we wanted a rustic and gritty location. We found a great warehouse space that was exactly what we were looking for at The Charlotte Rescue Mission. Once we arrived at the location wee spent about 2.5 hours clearing out the space and setting up, as well as testing the lighting. The goal was to be completely set up and ready to shoot as soon as George arrived. He was coming to the shoot after driving up from their show in Atlanta the night before and right after sound check for that night's show, so he had very little time and was probably tired on top of all of it. We couldn't be adjusting the lighting once he got on set, we had to be ready to go.

So, when George finally arrived, he walked in greeting everyone. You could tell he was running behind schedule and was tight on time. Once we all said hello and he took some pictures with his iPhone of all the guitars (he seemed amazed at the collection), I stood him in the space we had prepared for him. He suggested some shots of him bending down by the guitars and we did those as well as him standing. He was a complete professional and nailed the shots extremely quick. The actual shooting time took less than 2 minutes. He then took a few pictures with some of the people on set, signed one of my guitars that I had brought and then headed back out the door to get ready for the show that night.
I was very impressed by how he acted and how nice he was to everyone, especially considering he was in a hurry and had a show to play that night and most likely was tired from 4 or 5 straight days of shows.

Here are a few of the shots from this shoot:

Campaign for Rack Room Shoes

A couple of months ago I had the fun experience of shooting for Rack Room shoes and Art Director Shara Knee. We shot for three days and got a lot of great images. Shara was great to work with. She knew what she wanted and we discussed options and angles to get the best images possible. I hope to work with her again soon.
TO achieve this look, we used one large Paul Buff parabolic umbrella  just off to the right as our main light and then we used two smaller umbrellas on the background, one on each side, pointed at the wall. We also had multiple V-flats to help reflect and block some of the light. We wanted to keep a very soft shadow on the floor and give a little depth and contour to the model and shoes. I think we achieved all of our goals.

Here is one of the images from that shoot:

Meineke Car Care National Advertising shoot

Here are just a few of the images I recently shot for Meineke Car Care's most recent National Advertising Campaign. It was a 3 day shoot where we were on location in a different setting each day. Day one was a neighborhood and home interior, day two was a park/camping ground and day 3 was at the Meineke Car Care store. It was a great shoot and I had the opportunity to shoot with both available light and artificial light, all with the objective of making each shot look as natural and unlit as possible.
Here are a few of the final images that have been released to me so far:

There should be more to come. I'll put those up as I get them.

Shoot for Allen & Roth / Lowe's Home Improvement

I recently had the opportunity to shoot for Allen & Roth, a Lowe's Home Improvement company. We did multiple shoots, some in store and some in studio. I don't do a lot of shoots where I have to use strobes, but we did on both of these shoots. I loved the change from available light and the challenge that using strobes brought to the shoot. And in the end, the images turned out great!

Kids shoot for Ser Padres magazine

Here are some final images from a shoot I did for Ser Padres magazine. I love working with these guys. I ALWAYS have a great time with them. I wish we worked together more often, they always make it fun!

Play Time

Here is a Lifestyle shoot I did with Justin Barringer, Kendra Staub, Taylor March and Teela.
Styling was by Victoria Melvin and the car was provided by Norma Hanson. We had a great time shooting this. The motel was a little sketchy, but it made for some great images!

                              

    

                                

How Evel Knievel made me a photographer/Everything Changes

I remember the day I knew I wanted to be a photographer. I was probably in 2nd grade, maybe 1st, and my father had just come home from taking pictures at a golf tournament his company was sponsoring. He went down into his darkroom and let me come in to watch him develop the film and the prints from the past week. He had already chosen a few images to print and I watched as he got started. As he exposed the paper and then put it into the developing tray, I watched as a picture of Evel Knievel magically appeared! At that moment, I was hooked! I wanted to be a photographer.

I didn't really start taking pictures though until I reached 7th grade. That was when I started shooting for the yearbook. I loved it! I was taking pictures of cheerleaders, football games, other students, and everyone knew who I was and wanted me to take their picture. I continued to do this all through High School and college. I added weddings and local rock bands to the mix and eventually models. All this was shot on film. The Black and White, I processed myself and printed, the color I sent out to a photolab. I was shooting on 35mm cameras and medium format cameras. I would finish a shoot and rush to the lab or the darkroom, so I could see the finished product as soon as possible. If someone had a pimple on their face or there was some distraction in the background, you either had to live with it, trash the image or pay someone else to fix it, usually by painting on the negative or occasionally on the print.

Very few people were "professional" photographers back then. It just wasn't as easy to do. You couldn't tell if your shot was over or under exposed until you got your film back, and by then, if you had screwed it up, it was too late, you lost the shot and possibly cost yourself and your client a lot of money. Luckily that never happened on any of my shoots. My father taught me well and my exposures were always within the proper range. Thank you God!

Now, with digital, you can see immediately if you screwed up and you can fix it before you shoot another frame. This has opened up the door of photography to a much larger crowd. Almost anyone can say they are a "professional" photographer now. Anything you can't fix in the camera, you can probably fix with Photoshop. And because the pool of "professional" photographers has gotten so large and the technical side of photography is no longer as great a mystery, people who never would have thought it possible to be a photographer are giving it a try. Some clients are even trying it themselves. Looking for ways to save money, they try to do the photography in-house, turning a Marketing Director or an Art Director into their new photographer.

Many photographers complain about this, and I'll admit, I have complained once or twice myself, but it's not going to go back to the way it was. And now, more and more people everyday are getting to experience what I have loved since I was a very young child. Digital has been great for the art of photography. More people are able to take better pictures and different pictures and show the world completely different styles. Some are great and inspiring, others, probably should never have been made public, but that's a personal opinion.

If you want to be a "professional" photographer, right now, or in the future, or if you have been one for years, you better step up your game! Stop complaining about things you can't change and make better images, be a better marketer, embrace the changes and work with them instead of fighting them. Look around you and see what works, then do it and do it better.

Now with digital photography and Photoshop, everyone can be a photographer. If you truly want to be a PROFESSIONAL, be better, don't just be EVERYONE!

What inspires you?

A couple of days before I left for my recent shoot for Va. Bride magazine in Richmond, VA. I started looking for things to inspire me, something to get me excited about the shoot and provide a catalyst for creating some great images. This time it was work by Mario Testino that did the trick. While looking at Mario Testino's work, some other photographers' work and even some art work, I started to think about what inspires me to create new images or even to get out there and shoot. Sometimes it's great work from another photographer, as was the case with this past shoot. It can give me an idea, spark that creativity that I need to be able to go out and create my own images.
Sometimes it's a location that gets the creative juices flowing. I see an incredible location and my mind will start to churn out all these different ideas about models, clothes, poses, angles, lighting etc.. It's a great feeling when something like that happens and then you get to go and shoot those images you were seeing in your head.
There have even been times when just a sentence from someone around me sparked an idea for a shoot.
I never know exactly where inspiration will come from or in what form, but I have realized that it can come from anywhere.

Where does your inspiration come from, what inspires you?
Even if you're not a photographer, artist, creative director, art director, photo editor, makeup artist or stylist. (was that list a little too long? I think I could have stopped sooner) Even if you have a 9-5 behind a desk, hopefully there's something out there that inspires you to go out and do something you love. If not, start looking around you. I'm sure something will take hold of you, and inspire you.