Back to Work

Well, last time I wrote in here, I had just killed my first turkey on our own farm. That was great, but I also was having some major problems with my cameras and or lenses. For whatever reason, I couldn't get much of anything in focus. I had tried different camera/lens combinations and still had the same result. A rental camera that arrived was going to be the answer, until it produced out of focus images as well. I was at my wits end. However during a conversation with Mary Britton Senseney of Realtree, she offered that she had a similar problem at one time that was not with the cameras but with the card reader. Duh! I had left my regular card reader at home accidentally and was using my back-up. It never crossed my mind. She was right. I had my regular card reader overnighted and all is once again right with the world.

The turkey hunting is still going strong, although I have yet to get my second. I am content though with having gotten rid of the Kentucky curse. My friend here, Steve Bailey and his 10 year old son Curtis managed to double recently on a pair of great birds one afternoon. That's the photo above. Another reason for the photo with this blog entry is to exalt the power of the reflector. Or two in this case. Available light made for an OK photo, flash filled in the shadows OK too, but the reflectors kept the light color better, filled the shadows, put catch lights in the eyes, and brought the colors of the feathers in the birds to life. As much as I love my Pocket Wizards, and couldn't do without them in some situations, I now use reflectors as my "Go To" outdoors, as fill and rim lighting in the studio, and always carry a small one with while walking the hills with the camera, just in case.

There is still plenty of work to finish here for several clients, then a meeting at Realtree in GA., and then another meeting that is being set up in TN about the possibility of me doing a day long outdoor photography seminar at a lodge this summer. I've never done a seminar on photography but I am really looking forward to it. I will make it home at the beginning of May to attend an RMEF banquet that we donated a hunt to from Straight Creek Outfitters, (Bailey and myself), and then back to KY, GA, and TN.

The Curse is Gone!

Well that's the good news anyhow. Got my first ever turkey, or deer for that matter here on our farm in Kentucky. The hunt lasted less than two hours of opening morning. I've been trying to get a turkey or deer here for about four years now. Seemed like a curse to me. Whatever, it's over now. The unfortunate part is now you have to see my mug in the blog. Don't stare too long and you'll eventually get over it.

I've gotten to work on some of the projects I had planned on and received a couple other days of work that were a pleasant suprise. The bad news is I have both of my cameras acting up andnot wanting to work properly. Looks like they'll be headed to Nikon in the morning. I have a rental body that will arrive and fill in while the others are out for repair. What are the odds of having the same, or similar problem with two cameras at the same time? I think the "Curse" has found a whole new venue.

Weather of recent has been rather poor but we have managed to get a few days of photo work in. I need a whole lot more nice weather to finish what I've started. We'll start getting visitors for hunting at our lodge here in the next couple of days and then it should be steady with people coming and going for the next three weeks.

The sun just popped out so I'm going to try and get a few shots in, "While the sun shines", as they say...

Home at Last

Feels good to be back home again. Unfortunately it's just a pitstop for a longer trip that will include even more states and about 6 weeks. The warmer weather down south and the anticipation of work from new clients is exciting but leaving the family for that length of time is not going to be easy. I'm sure that by the time I get back home in mid May I'll feel like a stranger in my own house.

Enough whining though. In a few days I'll be heading to Kentucky to the Knight and Hale "Compound" to do some more portrait work for them and Pradco. I love work like that. I can envision what the final image will look like before I start, but I get a kick out of the sideway glances from subjects and bystanders as I set up the lighting and backgrounds. the 6 foot diameter reflectors that "Pop" out of a much smaller pouch always gets a reaction.

From there it will be 3 or 4 weeks of shooting set-ups and ads for several new, and old clients at our farm in Eastern Kentucky. I have a few friends and family members that will drop in to do some turkey hunting as well from time to time. The time here I think will go quick with the constant activity. As the season ends in early May, I'll pack up and head further south to Columbus, GA and meetings with the folks at Realtree. I've never been there and I'm anxious to see what the place looks like.

The plan is to head back north again to Nashville, TN. hopefully picking up a bit of new work there as well. Tony Smotherman who lives there, and I have been planning some fly fishing and striper fishing for a while now. We may even make a run to Iowa or Misourri for a last minute turkey hunt. And no trip to Nashville would be complete without at least one night on Broadway. Sort of like a night cap for the trip, if you will.

Almost Home

Well, I can add one more state to the list of places I've been, Alabama. Been there twice actually in 4 days. It's not exactly what I expected it to look like, but I guess I never really had any idea of what to expect. I also didn't get to see very much of it, only Decatur. Oh well. I did discover some great BBQ, a place called Whitt's. Tony got sick for 2 days after our lunch there and blames them, but heck, I was fine.

The reason for the trips to Alabama were to shoot some portraits of Phil Phillips. Phil is the host of Wildlife Point Blank and is an awesome hunter, and all around good guy. The photos were shot in the PRADCO studio there in Decatur. They turned out great but they aren't ready to be posted just yet.

During a portion of the time between trips from Nashville and Decatur, Tony and I did a bit of cave exploring, if you will. That's where the photos from this entry come from. This was the first time I had been in such a small cave. I guess Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the only other cave I have ever been in, and that was probably 35 years ago. This particular cave on Tony's property was really cool, and seemed to go on forever. It was about 6 feet wide and 15 feet tall the entire way and at one point dropped down in a spot where an underground creek crossed!

I'll spend a few days here in Kentucky getting things ready for the upcoming turkey season then it's home to pick up the wife and head to a dinner in Michigan and then back home for Easter with the family. Man, I'm going to sleep good next week, I hope...

2 Down, 1 To Go!

The first shoot in Nashville went well. Got to meet and spend several hours with singer Tyler Farr. Managed to shoot a few hundred photos as well. We ended up shooting Tuesday afternoon along Harpeth River just outside of town. Turned out to be a great location for this shoot. With the help of the Travelin' Hunter, Tony Smotherman, it all went pretty smooth. It's funny how you can arrive at a location you've never seen before and fairly quickly get a feel for it and what might work as far as photos go. This river was one of those places that was just waiting for a subject to be photographed nearby.

The second shoot of the week was part 1 of a 2 day shoot. Tony Smotherman, the face of Knight Rifles Born to Hunt TV was the first subject for a really, really, cool ad campaign that Knight is putting together. They were looking for some really dramatically lit studio portraits, all in black. Although it took quite a while to dial in the lighting scheme to get just what we wanted, the resuts were teriffic! Everyone was thrilled with the results. Sunday afternoon in Alabama I'll be shooting hunting personality Phil Philips in the same basic set-up. Hopefully it will go as well as Tony's shoot.

Early April we've been booked to shoot some photos of hunting pros at a private lodge in Kentucky. It should be a blast by the sounds of it. Actually it sounds like a lot more fun than work, but we'll see. Immediately after that it will be time to get into turkey hunting and turkey photos, 110%! I am so looking forward to it. I'll spend most of the season at our farm in Kentucky and have several friends drop in throughout for a couple days of chasing long beards. Little do these friends know that many of them will be required to model for a few hours before hunting. I think most of them will get over it pretty quickly....

On the Road Again....

Monday should find us back on the road heading south for a bit of work and some warmer weather. On Tuesday we'll be shooting some promo photos for country music artist, Tyler Farr. Wednesday we'll be shooting photos for a new ad for Knight Rifles of their TV show, Born to Hunt, host Tony Smotherman. We'll actually be shooting their other host, Phil Phillips later in the month in Alabama. Thursday I have a meeting and portfolio showing at PRADCO in Decatur, Alabama. This is an awesome opportunity for me. Friday, Tony and I will be shooting photos and quail at the Sawbriar at Big South Fork, (http://www.sawbriarhunting.com/), near Knoxville, TN. The weekend has been left open and hopefully that will allow me to find a couple of comfortable honky tonks on Broadway back in Nashville.

Despite my pessimistic opinions of the Max 4 shoot in Illinois last week, they were actually received pretty well. One of my favorites from the shoot is above. There is still a lot of work to be done to get the outfitting business in Kentucky running. I know I'll have to spend some time there soon tying up a bunch of loose ends. Turkey season there begins around the middle of April.

Timing is Everything!

Just got home from central Illinois where I was with Chris Brackett, supposedly shooting some Max-4 gear. Day one rolled in as one big, flat, steel gray sky. You couldn't tell where the sun was, the clouds were so thick. Not the best for photography. We waited till the afternoon hoping things might improve and finally decided to just go and shoot. The locations were great! Better than I had hoped for. However, I just could not overcome the light, or lack of any real directional light. Later that night, the snow came. About 8 inches. Morning brought some high clouds, great for photos, but now all our duck hunting locations were under 8 inches of snow.

Day two we had a chance to shoot some foul, (rather than fowl), weather gear for a couple of other clients. That actually went fairly well and we nailed a couple of really good pix. Part of the second day's shoot was also video taped so once it's edited, I'll post a clip here.

While there, Chris also hooked me up to do so work for an up and coming country singer by the name of Tyler Farr. (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=67981733) Were' looking to shoot some initial pix in the next few weeks in Nashville. I can't wait! I love Nashville! Any excuse to get there is good for me. Just something about walking up and down Broadway I guess.