This and That

The last week has found me working on a variety of projects. Not to mention a senior portrait. This is Jared who graduates this year. He has been a firefighter with a local community's dept. This is so far from the type of work I normally do that it was really a joy. Cool photo too, if I have to say so myself. Another ongoing projest in the works is for the Realtree website. A photo essay on spring critter babies. I've got some shots of turkey/poults, deer/fawns, elk/calves, ducks/ducklings, still working on the geese/goslings, and will try to get a bear/cubs on my upcoming trip to the Smokey Mtns in TN.

This portrait here was shot at the firestation with a single off camera flash with a CTO gel, and a large reflector to the right of the camera. I also over-synced the flash/shutter speed to cut down on the background. Not a lot of post processing besides the usual dodging, burning, etc. I did desaturate the colors a bit though.

Another ongoing project is getting shots for my slide show that I'll present at the ICAST show in Vegas later this summer. To that end, I've started shooting some small, detail shots here at home. A lot of the scenic stuff for the show will come from the Smokeys, I hope. In the process of bringing my fishing gear in the house to shoot, I managed to break the tip off my new fly rod. I guess there's a reason it should be kept outdoors.

Hopefully early next week I'll be shooting some publicity photos of another singer in Nashville. Her name is Shell Jean and she is another rising star. With a couple of the tricks I learned shooting Tyler a couple months back, I should be ablle to get some great stuff out of this. Nashville is actually the first, and a brief stop next week. The plan is to shoot this late one afternoon, spend the night in town, then head the following day to the Smokeys. I think it's only a few hours away. We'll do a bit of hiking and fishing and a lot of photographing. The main spot we'll hit is Cades Cove. From what I've been told, it's THE place to be for wildlife photography. Wish me luck, I'll post again when I get back.

Ahhh... Spring!

Spring is here, and all is just ducky. I couldn't resist the chance to get that in there. Been keeping busy near home trying to run down some new shots of baby wildlife for the files. How is it that a week old duckling can outwit me on a 1 acre pond? Still trying to track down a fawn as well. That's not going quite as well though. More to come, I hope.

Looks like I'll be heading back to Iowa again this winter, (the week of Dec. 6th), to hunt during the Knight Rifles Invitational Hunt. This will be my third year. The first year I managed to take a really nice, 140" deer on film that made a nice TV show. Last year I managed to blow a shot on the biggest deer I have ever seen while hunting. He was about 170+" and all of 75 yards away. A sapling at 10 yards that I never saw, threw itself in front of this lucky buck, thus giving it's life so I could be haunted for the rest of the season. Oh well, He'll be bigger this year and I'll look harder for those evil saplings.

Enough time spent on cold thoughts. The Keys are looming soon and so are the Great Smokey Mtns. Cades Cove specifically. A friend told me about all the opportunities for photography here and it has not left my mind since. Another friend I mentioned it to told me that all, real, professional photographers know about Cades Cove. He said he figured I already knew. That makes me think that maybe he's telling me I'm not a real, professional, photographer just yet. We'll see. I'm heading there the middle of June.

A New Day and a New Destination

Maybe summer will never get here. The nights are way to chilly for this time of year, but then again a week ago I was complaining about the heat and humidity in Georgia. Maybe I'm never satsified. It won't be long till I'm tossed back south, but this time all the way to the Florida Keys. I love the KEYS! Almost as much as Nashville, maybe more. I'll be spending a week shooting Rich Tudor and Tom Rowland, hosts of the TV show Saltwater Experience, (http://www.saltwaterexperience.com/) near their base in Islamorada, FL. The main reason behind the trip is to bolster my photography with saltwater fishing in anticipation of the ICAST show in Vegas, in July. (Talk about hot!) With any luck, a couple of newer clients may jump on board with a bit of work in the Keys to make it really worth while.

Going through all the images from the 6 weeks on the road recently has really become a mind numbing task. I'm not sure how many times I've seen some of them, and probably wouldn't be too disappointed if I didn't have to see them again. Disc of images have been burned and sent on their way to the proper clients and all is well. There are a few more that need to be finished though. The next tasks here at home will be getting started on a DVD slideshow for the ICAST, and a final outline and selection of images for the outdoor photography seminar I will be doing later this year in Tennessee.

The picture above was shot since I've been home at a local state owned marsh and hunting area. For whatever reason, I've had a few nights where sleeping past 4:30 am is not going to happen, so I've tried to make the best of it and hit some local spots that I don't get to often enough. I was able to make a few nice photos here that may eventually end up on my website. Speaking of which, there are going to be some changes on the site coming soon. Nothing too drastic immediately, but the keen observer may begin to notice something here and there begining next week.

6 Days on the Road...

More like about 5 weeks on the road if you really want to be accurate. A 14 hour drive on Saturday begining in Columbus, GA, and ending at my front door brought my first, real, working "roadtrip" to a close. Overall I think it was rather successful. But that didn't mean it didn't have it's share of let downs too. As you may have read earlier, my cameras, actually my card reader went to hell. Overnight shipping is a wonderful thing even though I did lose several days of working. One particular 2 day job went to pieces in a matter of 3 e-mails and 2 hours. One of many high points was some unexpected "rush" work for one of my regular clients. It couldn't have come at a better time.

A meeting in TN at the Sawbriar Hunting Lodge landed me a gig of hosting a day long Outdoor Photography Seminar. I'll have more details later but we're thinking of having it in the early fall. Another meeting at the offices of Jordan Outdoor Entrp., (Realtree), found me eating my first crayfish, mud puppy, crawdaddy, whatever you want to call it. I don't think I'll be having a meal of them anytime soon. Some of the folks in attendance did seem to enjoy them more than a bit as the foot high pile of sucked crayfish carcasses attested to. I think I'll save my next craws for the lake perch, as it was meant to be. I did get a chance to see one of my first images shot for Realtree in a layout for a hangtag. That's the "tag" that "hangs" from the sleeve or waist of clothing with the Realtree pattern. I never knew it had a name either.

Currently I'm in the midst of getting about 5000 images shot over the last few weeks organized and into the hands of clients. I can probably have them done in a week or so but 6 months seems mch more likely. Next major trip will be a week in FL in Islamarada shooting, yep, fishing. I should be ready to get there in a week or two. Hopefully this trip will provide me with enough photos to put together a short DVD slide show for the upcoming ICAST show in Vegas. It will be my first ICAST. Other trips still out there are Sioux Falls SD for the POMA conference, maybe a hunt for antelope in WY, a consumer hunting show in Memphis, TN and very likely another trip to Nashville for a bit of work and some striper and fly fishing.

The photo above is one of my favorites of the trip. In it is 3 generations of Bailey's, Bob, Steve, and Curtis. Curtis took the long way around in explaining his latest turkey kill to his grandpa.

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.