Debbie emailed me last November from Atlanta. She’s a wedding photographer and was looking for ways to change things up in her lighting and the post-processing of her work (including her portrait work as well). A “creative bootcamp”, as she put it, in her initial email. She asked if I did any workshops. I didn’t have any plans for one anytime soon. She began suggesting that she be a ‘guinea pig’ for a full-day one-on-one training thing. We emailed back and forth, and it finally worked out this past Friday. She came into town and we spent all day covering lighting and post production. I had no secrets – we opened every image she wanted and I discussed in detail what I was thinking on set and I how I did the work in Photoshop afterwards. We talked about lighting modifiers, how they affect the light, and how to get more efficient use out of her gear.

We also enjoyed an Italian lunch at Mandola’s. I probably would have been there that day anyways because I like fresh mozzarella (being half-Italian and all).

Debbie showed up with images that she wanted to discuss, and she took great notes:

And I made use of a whiteboard to, well, “sketch” things:

It was a great time! I could see doing it again.

Recently I took some photos of my friend, Brad. Brad has an animation studio here in town, and it’s the host for our monthly ‘creative mastermind’ group. Every month, we get together and discuss our challenges running a creative business. I’m there talking photography, and others represent video, animation, training, and education disciplines. It’s quite a therapeutic process – I often feel energized coming out of those meetings.

A few months back, Brad shared with us his newly-completed custom Captain America Dodge Challenger. Since he runs an animation company, it’s no wonder he has a strong appreciation for this comic book character. After taking a look at it, I told him that we absolutely had to photograph it.

The first challenge was finding an ‘epic-ly American’ location. I did some scouting in the Austin area, but nothing really stood out. Fortunately, I had a trip to NYC planned, so I set up a schedule to shoot backgrounds up there (especially the NYSE building on Wall Street). Unfortunately, it rained the entire time I was up there, so I needed another option. I checked some stock image sites, but all of the images had the same problem – a vantage point which wouldn’t work with a street-level car. I started thinking about alternative locations.

A friend of mine hooked me up with some time at the Austin airport in front of a huge hangar. It was a great location. It was epic. And and all it needed was a 20 foot wide American flag, which I rented. Who knew that you could rent large flags?

Here are some of my favorite images from the shoot. I am pretty sure Brad is indeed Captain America.

It’s a little hard to tell in this next image, but there’s an American Airlines flight in the background. Of course it had to be American Airlines.

This is a little inside joke for the Austin photographers. There’s a location in town that’s been used a lot for engagement and family photography sessions. I decided to have a little fun with it. If you want to see what’s really here, google “i love you so much austin”.

Here’s the cover image of a shoot I did with Donna Berber for the December issue of Austin Woman Magazine.

Donna founded an organization called A Glimmer Of Hope. It’s mission is to affect real improvement in the lives of people in Africa. Rather than just focus on one area (for example, water), A Glimmer of Hope works through several areas including water, education, health, and micro-finance projects. Their process includes managing the entire process, from village selection to fundraising to project completion.

If you have a free moment, check out their site. Perhaps there’s a way you can contribute or get involved!

http://www.aglimmerofhope.org

I have a deep affection for fun holiday cards. In fact, I’m usually pretty busy this time of year creating holiday images for my clients. I love the whole process – discussing ideas, doing the shoot, and the post work. My goal every year is to create something that will stay on the refrigerator past New Year’s day.

This year, we went with a CSI theme. Specifically, CSI: Miami. That show is so over-the-top. Extra credit goes to Horatio Caine (played by David Caruso), as he somehow manages to open each show with a ridiculous one-liner. This video on YouTube, showing over 7 minutes of his poetic dialogue, will probably have you in stitches. It inspired us this year. Here’s the front of the card:

Some people might not get the CSI reference right away, so we included an image/tag line on the back:

We had a great time producing this year’s card, and are already thinking of ideas for next year. In the meantime, I’ve posted new work that I’ve done for my holiday clients at austinchristmascards.com.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and an incredible New Year!

It’s been about a month since the last post. In some many ways, the holiday season is my busiest time. In addition to my commercial/editorial work, I pick up a fair bit of Christmas card work as well. I’m looking forward to wrapping things up over this week so I can get to some Christmas shopping and baked-goods gluttony.

In the meantime, I had the great fortune to do an interview with Frederick Van Johnson of This Week In Photo. It’s my hands-down favorite podcast and, to borrow a phrase from co-host Alex Lindsay, ‘you should definitely check it out’.

You can find the entire interview here. We talk about my work prior to photography (including a stint at the Pentagon, web design, and a little film music scoring too).

I hope your holidays are off to a great start!