Bill Konway’s Photography Blog

I recently spent a week at the farm in Kentucky.  It was supposed to be mostly screwing off and golfing, but turned into several days of work for a couple of clients.  Game Plan Gear was looking for some extreme way to show off it’s new crossbow pack.  What a better place than a gorge I knew of about 30 minutes from the farm, as seen above.  Another shot is below.  Realtree also needed some photos for a new project they’re working on and I had the chance to shoot some for them as well.  Smart Scouter trail cameras has moved to a new location and is ramping up their marketing.  They have been using some file stuff I had as well as some new work. 

A few months ago I shot a band called No Justice which hails from a bit north of Oklahoma City.  They were in Chicago this past week and I got to see them perform for the first time.  Absolutely awesome!  I also had the pleasant suprise of seeing one of my images of them being used on the album and another shot being used for autographs.  I thought it was pretty cool to see.  Theh album shot is below.  Another artist I shot back in the spring was Johnny Cooper from Texas.  He will be playing at Joe’s Bar in Chicago next week and I’m looking forward to seeing him.  One fo the shots from our shoot together is also below.  I’m anxious to see how they use it.  Still on the music scene, Mark Wills, who’s music most will know from the past 15 years as a hit maker, played in Chicago and invited us to come and see him.  We had a great time and got to see some of my work used again.

In a couple of weeks we’ll be headed to the Deerassic Classic in Ohio to shoot some of the goings on there.  A couple days after our return I’ll be headed to POMA in Indiana to teach a couple of outdoor lighting workshops and be seated on their board of directors.  Pretty cool honor. 

I don’t think I have ever just ranted here, but there’s a first time for everything.  And this has absolutely nothing to do with photography.  A few things have been tucked into the back of my mind and after a new one occurred yesterday, I figured it was time to open my mouth so to speak.  Hopefully some one out there will read this and agree with me.  I’ve also never asked for comments here, but I want to hear your opinions now, please.

I came down with a sinus infection a couple days ago.  No biggy, happens all the time.  So I go to the medicine cabinet, pull out the Sudafed and pop a couple.  The package said “Sudafed PE”.  Told the wife about it and she said “You took the wrong ones”.  It’s Sudafed, how can it be wrong?  She then shows me the package where it says, “Contains No Psuedophedrine”  How can Sudafed not contain psuedophedrine?  Isn’t that about all that should be in there?  She then explained that you can’t buy it off the shelf, you have to buy it from the pharmacist because I might be making crack or something.  Are you kidding me?  Actually I recalled a trip to Orlando for work a couple years ago.  Same sinus problem.  The pharmasist would not sell me Sudafed because I was not a resident!

On to the next thing.  We were watching some rented DVD a while ago.  The screen comes up that says that this movie is rated “R” for Sexual Content, Strong Language, and Smoking.  What?  So i guess now it is more harmful to people to see smoking than the speeding, wreckless driving, illegal drug use, public sex, car chases down sidewalks, prostitution, and random murder.  Have we really become that dumb of a nation to think this is right or that we need this sort of information?  Or is it that the idiots that we elect think we are this stupid?

California.  The residents there are either the smartest people in the world or the most secretive.  If you look at the packaging on some products it will inform you that it is known to the State of California, that this product causes cancer or something.  How is it that only California knows this?  Or do these products only cause cancer in California?  If the latter is the case, I think I would move out of California.  Why is this on my box here in the midwest?  So I know not to take it with me if I go to California?

I had another ox to gore but I’ll leave it lie for now.  If you think I’m an idiot, let me know here in the comments.  If you think I may be right, I’d like to know that as well.  If I missed something or you have something different thing stuck in your craw, let me know.  Sorry for the rant.  We’ll now return you to your normal show…

    I have come to the conclusion that I like shooting musicians as much if not more than hunters.  Not because I have any sort of musical talent, I mean I have a hard time playing the radio at times.  The reason is that they like to sleep in a bit longer than my hunting brothers and sisters.  It sort of all comes full circle now.  When I was just starting out, I was doing a column for a local newspaper about hunting and fishing.  Thats what I was in to even back then.  I could never figure out why I couldn’t get a staff photographer from the paper to go out on a fishing or hunting trip at 5am.  Now I understand.  They, and I, don’t want to.  I love the morning light, no doubt, but I can’t help but use the excuse that it will be similar again later that evening. 

  So what does that leave me with?  I guess shooting during the mid day.  I’ve come to notice that in the last year or so a lot of my best work, or what I believe my best work is, has been done at times other than “The Golden Hour”.  I guess it takes a bit more work and planning and a bit more gear but I think I’ve been able to really get some good stuff at high noon. 

  I shot with several friends who are local musicians yesterday.  We didn’t start early.  Actually, we barely began much before noon.  But again, I am really pleased with the results, as were my friends.  Some of the images were pretty heavily handled in post, but I think it sort of lends itself to the surroundings a bit.  I think with a bit more refinement of the lighting schemes I can pull this stuff off like a mug shot in a studio.  Now if I could just learn to pose people…

Realtree.com is currently running, or was last week, a photo essay of mine of the flying carp of the Illinois River.  http://www.realtree.com/community/photoEssay.php?ID=383

Also, below is a recent shot of Red Dirt rocker, Johnny Cooper from Texas, that I shot on a trip to Nashville a few weeks ago.  Heading to Ky tommorow I believe to get some of my fields plowwed, disced, and planted for the season. 

I have shot a lot of portraits in the last 25 years or so.  From movie stars to pro athletes, and politicians to everyday folk.  Some of them were obvious, some were simple to do, others were difficult, either the concept or the person.  Sometimes both.  This time I had to shoot what I think was probably my most trying portrait.  Me.  Start with a guy that has a face made for radio, doesn’t normally have his photo taken, and greatly prefers to be on the other side of the camera and you have me.  Add to that the fact that coming up with the idea was tough, at least for me, since I have always been more comfortable imposing my photography ideas on other people.  Whether that’s right or wrong, I have no idea.  Nor did I have any really good ideas for my self portrait.  The shot below is what will be the final version.  The direction I was given for the photo was a shot of me with my truck.  That was based on all the travel I do for my photography, (about 40,000 miles per year in my truck.)  It seemed to me that holding a camera in my hands would have been too cliche’.  A recent website of another editorial photographer pushed me in the direction of including all the flashes in the photo.  The dark skies in the background have become something of a trademark for my work, hence the shot you see below.  Do I like it?  No, not really.  I wish I weren’t in it.  Does it fill the need?  Yeah, I guess.  Do I want to do it again?  Not a chance.  Did I learn anything from doing this?  Lots of things.  Being on the other side of the camera and looking at a photographers impression of ourselves is not always the same way we see ourselves.  It’s tedious turning your head one way or another an inch or so.  It’s flat out uncomfortable being on the “other side” of the camera, as well as a bit intimidating.  Will I take all these difficulties in being a subject into account next time I shoot a subject?  Nah, they’re on their own…..

I recently shot a job in Oklahoma City, OK, for a band called No Justice, http://www.nojustice.com/.  These guys are one of the top acts in the southwest and will soon be a household name everywhere.  I had a blast.  The guys were great and Patrick, their manager bent over backwards to accomodate every request I made of him and the band.  Below are a few more of their shots that I liked.  With any luck, we might see one as an album cover or something soon.  They have several records out already and will be putting out another very soon.   Follow the link above to listen to some of their tunes and check to see if they’ll be playing a show near you anytime soon.  I was told they’d be in Chicago at some point this summer. 

Spent several days with the Brunson family in sunny, sunny Florida a couple weeks ago.  (www.addictedtotheoutsoors.com)  I got to tell you, I had more fun on this shoot than I have had in a long time.  Great people and a wonderful family.  I think the photos went well.

In a couple days I’ll be loading up the truck and heading to Oklahoma City to shoot with a band called No Justice.  They sound like a great bunch of guys.  I can’t wait to get there and get started.  After that I’ll be headed to Springfield, MO to hang with some buddies from the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, (AGLOW).  There will be some hunting going on and some fishing happening, I gotta believe that this is going to be a great oasis in this trip west.

Below are a few more shots from the Brunson trip.  I’d love to get your thoughts on them.

I love spring time.  Everything seems so fresh and new.  Throw in some new clients and turkey season and what’s not to love about it?  I spent about three weeks travelling this spring, which is actually a bit less than the previous two years, but worked more.  The shot above is a buddy of mine, Ryan Rayburn from Kentucky that managed to kill a bird on one of his first attempts of the year.  Great bird to say the least.  Long time hunting buddy John Bond also was in camp for a week and mugged for my camera as well.  Below are a few shots of him as well.  Even yours truely managed to kill two turkeys this spring which is really unheard of.  There is a bit of eyebrow raising about since I killed both while hunting alone on my property. 

Prior to getting to the farm in KY, I had a shoot in Nashville with singer Johnny Cooper of Texas, www.johnnycooper.com, and spent a few days in Florida near the ulf coast shooting with the Brunson family, www.addictedtotheoutdoors.com.  Both shoots went well and some images from each of them will appear here soon. 

Here are a few more pix from KY.  Hope you like them.

Life has been exceptionally busy lately.  I’m really not sure how it happened either.  I spent another short week in Oklahoma at my buddy John’s cattle ranch a couple weeks ago.  We flew out of South Bend rather than Midway this time.  Our first leg of the trip took us to Detroit, MI.  via a twin prop plane.  Man I’m glad they used both engines…  Had a great time once again as well.  Although we didn’t encounter any snakes or mountain lions this trip, we did enjoy it. 

The shot of Chris Bracketts fiance, Jodi getting smacked in the face and having her jaw broke by the silver carp has made it’s debut in 2 newspapers in the UK.  Both the Daily Mail and The Sun have run the image and it has generated quite a response.  I’ve been contacted by a media outlet in the UK that wants to market the images from that incident exclusively for the next 6 months.  How cool is that? 

I arrived in Nashville earlier today in preparation for a shoot of music artist Johnny Cooper, www.johnnycooper.com, that will take place tomorrow.  Met him tonight.  He’s a really nice guy that is producing some truly incredible music right now.  Hopefully I’ll have some of the pix up here in the next few days.

Heading out of here on Thursday for a 3 day shoot in Florida that I think will produce some great photos too.  I’m really looking forward to that.  Once that gig is done I’ll make a short trip to the Realtree offices in GA and then head to my farm in KY for a few days of turkey hunting with some friends.  Hopefully there will also be some pix posted here of me with my KY turkey….  HINT  HINT turkey gods….

There are still several other jobs coming up that will take me through and well into summer.  It looks like this is going to be a great year!

Recently I had the opportunity to do a bit of effectiveness photography for Realtree.  They were looking for images of the AP patern which is more traditionally a deer hunting pattern, being used for waterfowl hunting in some flooded timber.  Flooded timber is not too tough to come by here in Indiana, except during the latter parts of winter when everything is froze.  Needless to say, we hit the road and ended up at what is one of the coolest places I have ever been to, Reefoot Lake in western Tennessee.  I guess this lake was formed about 200 years ago due to an earthquake that caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards.  But enough about geography.  The fishing for panfish I’m told is second to none and the duck hunting in the flooded timber of course is first rate.  Although the water here was open, (free of ice), we still broke skim ice each morning as we headed out to our locations at 60 mph in an open boat.  I still have brain freeze I think! 

The shot above is the final product and the images below are a few of the out takes.  This is another spot I want to return to and enjoy some hunting or at least fishing.