My Chance Meeting with a Classic 1959 Corvette

While filling up gas at a gas station, I noticed that I was parked right in front of a classic 1959 Corvette. Truthfully, I parked as close as I could to the car since I have always been a fan. I could look at classic cars all day.

The owners told me that they were from Florida and were driving cross-country. I had just a minute to grab a few shots before they drove off. I am glad to see such cool cars still driven on the highways.

Here is the original photo before I messed with it.

120 Head Shots for an Atlanta Corporation

I am currently in the process of taking 120 head shot portraits for a very large corporate insurance company in Atlanta. I have the luxury of 15 minutes with each person which is great because I get to learn a little bit about each one. The portraits are slightly informal so they all do not have to match exactly, but definitely NO TIES. Here are the first 31 without final cropping. Only 89 left to go!

Bobby McAlpine Book Signing Party at Macrae Showroom

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I was recently hired to photograph an interesting event. World famous architect and interior designer,  Bobby McAlpine was on hand at MacRae Designs Showroom at The Atlanta Decorative Arts Center to sign copies of his new book, The Home Within Us. There was quite a crowd on hand and everyone seemed to have a great time. 

Mr. McAlpine tirelessly signed stacked of books and talked with everyone who approached him. He was an incredibly warm and genuine fellow with a good sense of humor.

To learn more about McAlpine, Booth and Ferrier Interiors, please visit their web site at www.mcalpineboothferrier.com

This is a photo of members of Bobby McAlpine and other members of McAlpine, Booth and Ferrier Interiors.

This is some of the crowd that showed up for the event.

Getting Strange

Sometimes you just have to try something to see what happens. This week in our continuing photo tests, Collin and I made a few experimental shots using zoom and flash techniques. Some of the results turned out looking like the psychedelic 60's. Far out!

Shooting Stars

Today I took a photo of a star... well, actually a strangely iridescent starfish made of glass. My wife and I picked this up on one of our many trips together. This item literally seems to glow in even the softest of light. Shot with a portable speedlite and a snoot.

Goodbye to My Trusty Honda VFR Motorcycle

Eleven years and 30,000 miles together was how long our love affair lasted. To be honest, I still love her to this day. I still remember when I met her, looking like a shiny red rock star, with a bark like a pit bull. Of course I am talking about my 1998 Honda VFR Interceptor. Through the years we had many adventures together and I met some of my best friends on long Sunday rides with her.



Some of the highlights included:

1. Fighting the Dragon at Deals Gap
2. Wolf Pen Gap's tight, twisty and narrow roads
3. Highway 60 through gorgeous North Georgia farmlands
4. Richard Russell Scenic Highway... our own personal racetrack
5. A stupid top speed warp to 160 mph (a scary 234.67 feet per second)
6. Picking up friends who ran out of gas and laughing all the way to the gas station
7. Watching daring feats of skill in front of me by talented/crazy riders
8. Racing another VFR until he crashed
9. Being covered from head to toe in flies because I rode through a mile long night swarm. This was disgusting and made me wonder why Harley Davidson riders wear open face helmets.
10. And, number one on the list... almost getting bitten by a huge rattlesnake sunning itself in the middle of the road. Eyewitnesses behind me said it coiled up and sprang at me, missing me by inches. And I thought it was just a big stick in the road. Geez!

My good buddy Justinas from Wow Motorcycles picked up my bike, and now I hope she will go to a good home where she will have even more adventures. Thanks for the memories.

Portrait Tests with Collin VanDyck

Collin and I share an interest in all things photography so it was just a matter of time before we got together to start testing and learning different lighting techniques for portraits. This is great because both of us are technical and can work through problems that may pop up.

Our main emphasis is to use small portable flashes instead of hauling the big studio lights. We plan on pushing forward in the months to come so it will be interesting to see how things progress.

Below is the black and white version. I am working to get strong contrast in the dynamic range of each photo so that each could work as a color or monotone photo.