Busy Times

The last post before this one was two months ago. Time flies when you’re on the move. There’s been a lot happening in front of the lens and behind the wheel. Between moving around locally and moving around with Seventy7 Productions, time has been tough to come by. Recently Seventy7 brought me on board for a project in NYC (see the snap below from some neatly arranged gear in the DTW parking lot, classic, ha). Sometimes I wonder if social media platforms have replaced blogs or online journals, but in my mind I’m not so sure. The constant din of what social media is and where it comes from often brings a different energy. Energy that I’m not always enthusiastic about. Blog form really does seem to bring a different moment to the screen. Perhaps few and far between, but a different moment, different energy. And that is a welcome change. I’m looking forward to posting a series here that really brought together a few different companies. The images turned out beautifully and all those involved brought a lot of quality to the production. Until then, I’m off to Hastings Michigan today for a location shoot. Always on the move. More to follow…

#Thinktankphoto (light stand case), #PeakDesign (camera bag), and #PelicanCase (flash case)

Fitness With Kelly Brown

After every blog here I seem to suggest an effort will be made to get behind the desk more and write/share new content with some of the latest happenings. Or at least post more often. What seems to actually follow any said post is tons of editing work behind the desk. Very little blogging. Writing takes a back seat. And if there was a seat behind the back seat, like a 80’s style station wagon, that’s probably where the intent to post gets seated.

But I did want to pop up above all the happenings and general busyness, and share some recent work…more specifically a project with Kelly Brown, Jordan Hartly, and Ethan Alex. I don’t work with “fitness photography” per se, mainly because I don’t hang out in those circles, but the opportunity to work with Kelly Brown opened that door. As a tremendous athlete and coach, I saw the chance to put together some stylized images with Kelly. I can’t say enough good things about Kelly, Jordan, and Ethan. All talented in their own right. Kelly in-front of the camera, Jordan’s retouching is so well seen, and Ethan’s backdrops are on the same level as Oliphant. The images really came together and I’m thankful for the chance to yet again pull together everyone for a new vision. I’m really looking forward to the next time I’m able photograph something sport. More to follow…

Portrait: Daphne

There are times when I get a great opportunity to randomly work with someone... this is a pretty good case in point. Daphne had some time in Michigan before heading back to the sunny southwest and we took a hour or two to put together a few solid portraits in the studio before she left. There were a lot of really good moments. It was awesome that we had a chance to work together. Daphne is going places for sure. It'll be great to say, "I knew you when..." but until then, these are some great portraits. I'll post a few here over the weeks and a few more on insta.

Daphne, 2017

Also, I cannot believe it's Thanksgiving. Time is racing by. That being said, there is a lot to be thankful for. Both in life and work I am continually grateful for so many of the people and opportunities that are part of who I am and what I do. I'm looking forward to a lot, but it's impossible not to look back and feel a lot of gratitude. For those of you stateside, I hope you have a good Thanksgiving with family and friends. If you happen to not read this in the states, be well my friends. More to follow...

Portrait: Ednis

Another week, a little more new work. Or at least backstory. Ednis of The Grand Rapids Ballet Company stopped by the studio forever ago but I never spoke of it. He's great guy and a talented dancer.

He was nice enough to sit for a portrait and then again for my tattoo series. 

Ednis, 2017

This was another opportunity to collaborate with Jordan and Jackson. Really great people. Have a good weekend... More work to follow...

New Work Coming

I've been siting on a lot of work I've created over the last few months. I've found, for me at least, it's a bit process to add it to the portfolio and take on new jobs/projects at the same time. The greatest resource in the arts, or as much as anything I suppose, is time. Hands down. Always time. I never seem to have enough of it.

But I am happy with a lot of new work I've been producing. It's been a lot of collaboration and hustle. But it's all coming together. I'll post some here, and for sure on my Instagram. I'll probably post backstory here for a few that DID make it into the studio page but never here. Like I said, it's a process.

This image never made it here or on Instagram but it signifies my first collaboration Jordan. His work and skill can really take the image further. His mastery with skin tone, luminosity in the shadows, and background gradients is excellent.

I've worked with him on some select images and I can't say enough good things. Anyway, it was awesome to work with Jennie, The Matthew Agency, and Lauren Nicole Makeup. So many fun moments. More to follow...

BTS + New Work

I've never been big into BTS images for some reason. Maybe I feel mine are always lacking when there are some amazing photographers out there doing really great work in the studio and on location, but I have to admit that I'm warming to the idea. Awhile ago one of my images was picked up by Famous BTS Magazine. It kinda changed my thoughts on BTS and the community creating them (thanks Jess for your help on mine!).

My BTS image is the closest thing my work has come to "going viral" and that was a kinda fun.

Also kinda fun, imminently after they picked up my image was a stunning image from a rooftop in Santorini.

It does make for a nice contrast.

Anyway, 2,844 people liked my image and there was a rather small debate about it's purpose in the commments. I found that amusing considering the content on the BTS feed. Arguably each image there is not "the final image" and yet at the same time, for the BTS feed, every post is "the final image." Each image has a true double purpose.

But as I said, this is more about fun than anything else. This isn't the greatest place to have a deep meaningful discussion about the purpose of photography. All BTS images have a "look at me" element about them as they are. And maybe that's why I resisted them for awhile. I don't naturally have that characteristic to my personality. On the other side, I feel it is a bit of an invitation...

"Join me. Let's make your production happen. I will make the content you want, and if you look at my BTS images, you'll see I never hold back to when creating."

Could be reading into it but that idea does excite me. Because I think collaborating with people to bring their vision to life is exciting. And if a BTS image inspires collaboration, I'm all about that. Artie was on set with me the other day and he snapped this wonderful moment (thanks Artie!).

Super fun. Matthew Agency talent Dani was awesome in the studio. It was about as quick of a shoot as you can have, but none the less yielded some great images.

New work to come and more collaborations with Artie as we take on some new video projects!

And of course, some more BTS images :) More to follow...

#1for52 Update

Wow things have been busy. My little project has been rolling along but it's been maybe lacking a little momentum that it initially had. I knew at a point finding people who wanted to be part of this would be tricky, but none-the-less, I'm still creating, still making an image of someone when I have the time...it'll be interesting to see how this project continues and evolves. This is a very cold moment from what feels like forever ago. Thankfully I had a chance to meet up with Jody on a somewhat snowy Sunday.

Jody, February 5th 2017

More to follow...

#1for52 Jess

What a wild week... tons happening (personally speaking & all the happenings in the news), super busy behind the desk, and the weather has been most odd.

When I made this portrait of Jess at the start of the week it was just about 60 degrees. As I type this, it's 28 degrees. Climate change indeed.

Jess, January 22 2017

Some interesting projects on the horizon. Looking forward to them. Again, if you want to be a part of #1for52 drop me a line. And if you see me at the Perrin Brewing 5k Ice Jam this weekend hollar. Should be fun. And quite cold.

More to follow...

#1for52 Tressa

Busy couple of days, but I had a little time behind the desk today to reflect on a moment with Tressa from last week.  There's some grey days going on in Michigan but with it comes some tremendously soft light. I'm happy I could meet up with Tressa and bring my camera. Looking forward to next week...

Tressa, January 11th, 2017

Again, if you're interested in this project and want to be part of it, drop me a line. We should talk. More to follow...