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.

Winter Blues?

I can't remember the last time I complained about being too warm. The forecast never changes, regardless of where I am. Indy, cold, Vegas, cold, home, cold.... Spring has to eventually get here.

In addition to all the upcoming travel and photography plans for the year, myself and a buddy, Steve Bailey will be opening a small outfitting business in eastern Kentucky. It is called Straight Creek Outfitters. The area is loaded with turkey and has a lot of deer, with some being fairly respectable. We're in the process of preparing 2 separate lodges to accomodate our hunters and trying to nail down a couple more leases. We are planning to have one of the camps totally handicap accessable and we will also have the facilities and hunting locations to make challenged hunters feel right at home.

A quick trip to central Illinois is coming up for me this weekend to do some effectiveness photography for Realtree. I'm pretty geeked at the opportunity and looking forward to the challenge. We should be shooting along the Illinois River with the "Flying Fish Guy" Chris Brackett of Brackett Outdoors. Chris has been a good friend for a long time now and spending a few days at his home make for a nice change of pace.

In the meantime, I can't wait for those chilly 60 degree days in April, trying to sneak up on a big ol' gobbler.

WELCOME!

Welcome to what I hope will become a regular and useful spot for you to keep up with Bill Konway Photography. The plan is to keep everyone from family, friends, and clients, aware of where we are and what we're doing. I also hope to include some photos from shoots, a couple of "Behind the Scenes" photos, and possibly even a video clip now and again.

The last few weeks have been a blur, at best. Indianapolis, Louisville, West Liberty, Edwardsburg, and Las Vegas, and probably a place or two I have forgotten about. Time at home has become infrequent here lately.

The ATA and SHOT shows were tremendouos for us again this year. We got the chance to meet up and spend some time with good friends, current clients, and also worked out some deals with new clients! The weather in both Vegas and Indy was poor. Cold, windy, and just plain dreary. Oh well, the bulk of our time was spent indoors anyhow. Our return from Vegas was delayed a day due to a foot of new snow in Chicago. I guess there are worse places to be stranded for a day...

A couple days of snow at home was perfect for a shoot we needed to do for a client that wanted to see his outerwear in some extreme weather. I thought it went exceptionally well. That's an out take at the top of the page from the two days of shooting.

Things are starting to take shape for the spring and into summer. Although I don't have solid dates for everything, I do know that some of the upcoming trips include:

Photography and hunting for turkey in Kentucky in April and May, turkey hunting in Iowa in April, client meetings in GA and AL. in April and May, flyfishing and striper fishing near Nashville, TN in May, photography and fishing in the Florida Keys at Islamorada in June, another trip to Vegas for the ICAST Show in August, and the POMA Conference in South Dakota in July/August.

That's all I can think of for now. Please feel free to leave your comments or questions here and we'll get to them as soon as possible.