A Few New Photos

 

Real quick, here are a few new photos that I've shot recently that I do not think have been public up until the ATA shoe in Nashville last week.  They're part of my portfolio as well as part of the art being used by several companies.  Wildlife Research is above, while obviously Ralph and Vickie, Realtree Xtra, and Realtree's new Max5 is below.  Once we return from the SHOT show in Vegas taking place next week, I'll post some of the ways that my photos were used at the shows.  It's always a surprise till you get there and see them!

Remember When...

It seems like it has been forever since I have made the time to write something here on my blog.  This year, for some reason, work has been crazy good, meaning double busy.  Seems like it should still be turkey season, but it also seems like it was eons ago.  I've had the privilege to shoot with a bunch of celebrities in the hunting industry as well as a few from the music industry.   I have also shot for most of my regular clients and several new ones too and I'm looking forward to seeing, and speaking with them all at the upcoming ATA show in Nashville and the SHOT show in Vegas, both of which are next month.

Although I killed my first deer here at our place in Kentucky this fall, my hunting was really curtailed by work and I am quite happy to say as much, due to work.  I'm looking forward to getting back home to Indiana later today to spend Christmas with my family and friends and take a short break.  But I'm also ready to get to Nashville and Vegas and see what the new year will have in store.  I'm also looking forward to seeing how my work from this year will be used at the shows.

I may have a bit of work for a couple different TV shows here in KY late next month and again in February, as well as a trip I hope to make with my friend John Bond to the Keys for a little fishing.

The shot above was done recently for Bowtech.  The shot below was from a shoot this weekend for DR and Laura Harrison at my place in KY.  A couple big flashes and some well placed rain.  They said it was cold and miserable.  Me, I was 20 feet away and dry so I couldn't say.

Time Well Spent

Fall is once again here, trumpeted I guess the last several years by the annual Beast Feast in my home town of Leroy, In.  Beast Feast is the giant wild game eating social event of the year!  It began about 5 years ago with about 40 people around a smoker and has grown to this year's record of well over 350 hungry folks!  But being the 3rd Saturday of September each year, it's also a signal for the start of hunting season, and work season for that matter.  Work has been getting shot nearly non-stop since the Beast Feast, (a little was shot before the party as well).  Being here currently in Kentucky, this is I believe the 5th state I have shot in in the last few weeks.  One shoot here went on outdoors till about 3am.  Most however have been a bit more normal as far as shooting time goes.  One morning with nothing specific on the books to be doing, we took advantage of an opportunity to shoot some generic stuff in the fog coming off the pond.  The pics here, are from that morning.  The model is a buddy of mine, Jason Michael.  We are currently shooting Realtree and Game Plan Gear for the last week or so and will be moving on to another client in the next few days.  I think I will have the pleasure of talking photography with the women from the West Liberty Camera Club here at our KY farm once again before I head out of here.  Hope you like the photos!

Time Flies!

 

It seems as if it has been forever since I've taken the time to write here, and I guess it has been a while.  It's been very busy recently, and it doesn't appear as though it will be slowing anytime soon.  To the contrary, I believe it will be getting busier.  Most recently I spent several days with "America's Favorite Hunting Couple", Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo, and their son RJ, at their home, (www.archerschoicemedia.com), photographing them for their show, their sponsors, and for publicity images.  They are some of the most fun loving, down to earth people I think I have ever encountered!  Working with them was an absolute pleasure!  Their exuberance, good nature, and professionalism are infectious.

Lightfield Ammunition, (www.litfld.com), is another project I have been working on recently for a couple of new campaigns they will be starting this fall.  I've included a couple images here.

Hawke Optics, (www.hawkeoptics.com), is another newer client I have been shooting with as of late and will continue to shoot for them throughout the fall and winter seasons.

Bowtech Archery, (www.bowtecharchery.com), is yet another long time client that I'm currently shooting fairly heavily for at the moment.  Some of their images are here as well.

In the near future, or at least the next several weeks I will be shooting work for Realtree, Jon and Gina Brunson, Wildlife Research Center, Dogtra, and possibly a little work in Nashville.  Next week we will be filming another episode for the Travelin' Hunter, Tony Smotherman, at our farm in Kentucky and return home just in time for Beast Feast here in Leroy, IN!

Wildgame

Been working on a little project for Wildgame Innovations over the last couple of weeks.  Here are a few of the pics that worked out, and one that sort of failed, ...with a bit of humor.  Sometimes a blizzard can really get out of hand.  I think the snow shots were done here in NW Indiana when the temps were in the mid 90's.  I really enjoy shooting this sort of stuff and developing ideas.  Thanks to Matt Partin and Joe Hatch for their patience.

JJ Lawhorn Album Release

A few months back I had the opportunity to photograph a new and upcoming country music artist by the name of JJ Lawhorn down in Nashville.  At the time he had just finished a duet and music video with Colt Ford, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnSbBuf9f4), and this shoot was for his forthcoming album, OGOB, Original Good Ol' Boy.  JJ was a pleasure to work with and we really nailed some pretty cool pix, if I have to say so myself.  I am really proud of this shoot and have been anxious to be able to show it off.  JJ's album went on sale today at Walmart stores as well as on iTunes at  http://smarturl.it/JJiTunes.  Give it a listen!

More Recent Kentucky Work

Right after my shoot in Nashville last week with Craig Morgan I had to beat tracks to the farm in Kentucky to welcome a young upcoming personality by the name of Gary Stanley for a one day shoot.  Gary is a great guy and I'm sure you will be hearing and seeing plenty of him soon.  Although he has a new website under construction, take a quick look at his current page at http://oneshotoutdoors.com, or on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/gary.stanley.165?ref=ts&fref=ts.  Gary is best known for being able to film his own hunts and make it look easy.

Craig Morgan Shoot

I travelled last week back to Nashville to spend the day shooting with country music artist Craig Morgan, http://www.craigmorgan.com/.  Craig is also the host of All Access Outdoors, http://cmoutdoors.com/.  Craig was an absolute pleasure to work with and I enjoyed every minute of this shoot.  He had just returned from several days on the road touring when we shot and was headed back out later that same evening.  I don't know how he does it!  Most of the shots here were made with a single Elinchrom Ranger head and either a Rotalux or Octabank modifier.  The creek shot was the same light source with just a standard 6" reflector.  Hope you like them!

Rodeo!

I had a chance about two weeks ago to shoot some photos at a little rodeo here near home.  It sounded like it would be a really good time and maybe bring back some memories from a rodeo tour I shot for a couple years.   The thought of all the good, fresh, mexican cooking going on everywhere didn't hurt either!  The fellow in the photo above is my father  in law, Lonnie with his pet rooster that goes by the name John Wayne.  This bird don't take no crap from nobody either and enjoys a bit of tequila now and again, or beer, or moonshine, or...  Below are a few more shots.  We didn't get to the event till late in the day as they were just about to finish up.  Next time I will be there earlier.

New Realtree

I just got the PDF's of a couple of ads that Realtree built using one of my images.  In the horizontal ad, the image on the right is mine while the other belongs to Brad Herndon.  Brad had been the primary photographer for Realtree's effectiveness photography I guess form the start and up until this past year when he decide that he wanted to sort of retire from  it.  If you saw an ad in a magazine or poster or about anywhere that showed you how well you couldn't see a hunter in Realtree, then you have seen Brad's work.  Brad has taught me an enormous amount in a very short time and brought me up to speed to fill in as best as possible for him, although I know I'm no Brad.  It is good to see, and I take a lot of pride in the fact that a company with the prominence of Realtree is using me, and my work.  I'm looking very forward to the first time I see either of these ads in print on a newsstand somewhere!

A Bit of Music!

Here are a few frames from a recent shoot here in Kentucky that I did with DR Harrison for his upcoming debut album, Deafening Dreams.  We discussed several ideas and stuck fairly tight to the original concept, but did stray maybe just a bit.  The shot above is something of a "Behind the Scenes" type shot.  We used my barn to take advantage of its height, the ability to shoot with a long lens to compress, and to be be able to get out of the wind that might have made this shot impossible.  It's pretty much a simple lighting set-up using 2 Elinchrom Rangers with only small reflectors for a the harsh side lights, a Speedlight in a beauty dish for the main/fill light, and a small background light.  I really liked the retro-looking Wescott background.  The chair was rented from a local antique shop in West Liberty, KY, called Red Rooster.  The shot immediately below is what has been currently selected for the album cover.  I cooled the tones on the tighter head shot to give it a slightly more "mechanical" look.

Turkeys!

A good friend of mine from down here in Kentucky, Brandon Phipps, dropped by yesterday evening with an awesome bird he had just taken.  The light was perfect, the bird was impeccable, and the hunter couldn't have been any happier.  We spent about an hour shooting a mess of different photos, but these were a few of my favorites.  Hope you like them too.

Other Stuff

I had an urge this morning to shoot something, besides a turkey, which seem to be really rare around here lately.  At the cost of busting my ass while wearing worn out Crocs and standing, but only momentarily,  on a wet rock in the creek, I got a couple new frames.  I'm somewhere between not wanting to stand and really, really not wanting to sit.  Here are  a few of the shots, but I refuse to post the one form the creek!

Turkey Hunting in KY

I've been in KY for the last couple of weeks, and for a while, I thought turkey season would not ever get here!  Well it has, although the turkeys have not realized it yet.  My good friend John, www.jandjprecisionfirearms.com, did manage to get one yesterday.  As for me, well it's raining today so my excitement will have to take place at the laundromat...  We did get a couple of cool pix, or at least a couple that I liked, and I've included them here.  Hope you enjoy them.

Seeing Clearly

I spent the early part of the week shooing for Realtree in the western part of Kentucky, and the second half of the week at my farm here in KY on the east side.  I've had the pleasure of shooting with and for Trent Marsh with Hawke Optics, http://www.hawkeoptics.com, or https://www.facebook.com/hawkesportoptics?ref=ts&fref=ts.  Hawke is a new client for me and dang near a neighbor as they're US offices are in NE Indiana.  These couple days together at the farm have been as much about getting to know one another as it has been about shooting some images for them.  They make some amazingly sharp and clear optics as well as a few products that I will be photographing soon that you might not suspect coming from an optics company.  I'm really looking forward to working throughout the year with them, and many years down the road!

Tomorrow I will be shooting for a company that makes deer mineral products and will then be looking forward to greeting friends as they show up for the opener of turkey season which begins the following weekend.  It's going to be a very busy, but fun time over the next few weeks!

Inside and Out Shooting

The shot above is sort of a new thing for me, shooting more indoors rather than outdoors.  I would have thought it to have been simpler, even much simpler, than the normal struggles that I have shooting things outdoors.  I never realized just how demanding shooting in a studio can get to be.  I guess it's one of those "Grass is always greener on the other side", sort of moments.  There were several nights I was still up shooting at 2 and 3 in the morning.  I did find that there were some benefits to shooting indoors.  I could just look out the window and watch the snow fall, or the rain, or the wind blow, or the temperature drop, and just chuckle and bump up the thermostat a degree or two.  Indoors was also the reason I was still able to be shooting into the wee hours of the morning.  And too I was fortunate enough to have outside work as well to beat down the cabin/studio fever thing.  Below is another shot I liked from a multi-day Realtree shoot at the farm in Kentucky.  I've come home for about 5 days now for Easter and will head back out right after Easter.  The first couple days will be for a Realtree editorial shoot in Western KY, then it will be back to the farm on the east side of the state for a few days of shooting with an optics company and then quick shoot with a company that makes deer mineral products.  At the same time, a couple friends from home will be in putting a roof on my porch using some 10 foot tall cedar trees that we cut to use as supports.  It's going to be hectic for a while.  I hope someone knows whose making the donuts!  About the time that all winds down, we'll start getting into turkey season in KY.  A couple friends will be joining me there to hunt and we'll even have a couple TV shows in to film a couple hunts.   I am so looking forward to this spring!

Realtree Effectiveness

For the last several years I have been shooting Realtree's effectiveness images for their Max4 waterfowl camo.  Each winter just before Christmas I would get to head to Mississippi for a week to shoot some new images for them and even get in a morning or two of hunting with my buddy Chris Jennings with Ducks Unlimited.  Part of the fun of this trip was staying at Harrahs Casino in Tunica and having a lease right across the street to shoot pix all day long.  Some of the images from that work has appeared on the back cover of several waterfowl hunting magazines each month for the last few years.  Now I have been fortunate enough to have a chance to shoot their new patterns, Xtra, and Xtra Green.  The image above and the one below are among my favorites from the days of shooting here at my farm in Kentucky.  We wanted to shoot turkey hunting set-ups using the slightly less turkey traditional Xtra.  It's amazing how well this camo blends in!  I'll be shooting some more deer hunting stuff very soon and then next month or May Ill be shooting more traditional, Xtra Green iamges. 

Ghost in the Graveyard

I've spent a very enjoyable week with some good friends from the Dominator 365 group, including D R Harrisson, his wife Laura, Phillip Vanderpool, and Joanne Conley, as well as their producer Dave Voisey.  We spent several days shooting some print ads and commercials for their Ghost ATV.  We were all pretty satisfied with the results.  Above is the image that I believe is the final choice for the cover of the Ghost catalog.  It had never crossed my mind that I could get wet until they were about two feet from the water, at which point my mind went into overdrive and went through about 100 scenarios, none of which ended well.  I was soaked head to toe!  The photos turned out good so it was worth the discomfort.  We also created a mock cemetary for both a photo shoot as well as for filming a commercial.  We looked at the possibility of using a real graveyard here on the property but opted out for several reasons.  Besides, I can't help but think there isn't going to be any good karma coming out of the use of a very, very old cemetary.  Several of the stones, which even had markings, were from the 1800's.  The night shoot was a blast.  I love doing the larger production stuff.  The video shot of this is going to be totally off the hook!  I can't wait to see the final product air.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

The last month or so has been pretty hectic as I've whined about before.  Over the last few weeks we've been shooting more stuff for Realtree, gone to photo school, shot some work in Kentucky for the Ghost vehicle, pulled together two presentations for the POMA conference in Columbia South Carolina, and made plans to get to MIchigan this coming weekend for our annual RMEF banquet that Stacy and I are on the committee for.  Above and below are a few of the images shot for Realtree of some goose hunting from a week ago or so.  Very soon I will post some photos from an album shoot I did a while back in Nashville, and also some photos that are floating around Facebook from the Ghost shoot here in Kentucky.  Hope you like them!

New Work

It seems like forever since I took a moment to write anything here or show any new photos.  The double image above was used as the top of a booth at the SHOT show in Vegas by a company I started doing work for about a year or so ago.  I think it was about 6 feet tall.  They are now producing broadheads in addition to their sights.

In what I hope will be a pretty short time, I will be able to post some work I did recently for an album and a decoy company.  I think they both came out cool!  The remainder of the winter and early spring looks to be rather busy with a lot of travel.  I'm anxious to get started.  Early summer I will be shooting a few different jobs out west in Colorado.  That is really exciting!  I might even be making it to Montana for a bit, but that's not certain yet.  I can see some fishing happening while I'm out there as well.

There will also be a shoot coming up soon for another group out of Nashville... More later.