John Malik - LivN Nsidout

Have you got your New Years Resolutions set? Wanna loose a few? Gain a few? Get healthy? If you live in the UpState South Carolina region, there isn't a better place to go than LivN-Nsidout. Todd Littleton, the creator of LivN-Nsidout, has just opened up the doors of the best fitness facility I have ever seen... and within its' walls resides a revolutionary place to dine, InErgy. Chefed by one of the most tallented food artists in town, John Malik, InErgy serves healthy all natural foods with origianl flare.

I like what you can accomplish with a couple of Speedlights turned striplights and an infrared transmitter. LivN-Nsidout was still under construction when I shot this for G Magazine, paper sheilding the floors, empty rooms, dust, construction workers in the background... but I found a nice marble countertop in the InErgy restaraunt. It was cloudy outside, but I was able to drag the shutter enough for a high-key look.

What's the Hap? - View from my chair

What is happening right now (via iPhone)...

Sophie Cat...

Merry Christmas Everyone...

I Should Have Killed the Hairlight... and then some.

This is what happens when you don't (or can't) deviate from the plan... big set (borrowed museum), hair and makeup, great assistants, almost enough lighting, but locked into a particular frame / idea... sometimes we should throw the baby out with the bath water and just start fresh. I don't like to fail, but I just do sometimes.

More DIgging... RIDE India

I often find myself late in the night, netflix on one screen and lightroom on the other, digging though old folders of images unseen in months and months... It is a quest to find something that I'd passed over time and again. I don't archive every single picture I take, though I probably should... I can't honestly afford that many duplicate terabytes... but I do save a large and vague selection of picks... vague enough to return to every once in a while and find a small overlooked jewel.

This pic is from India... from a school in a small town who's students are primarily children rescued from child labor camps... they were sold by their parents who couldn't afford to feed them, let alone themselves... the children are released from the labor camps, their mothers given a small community loan to get back on their feet, and both are educated.

Wanna learn more about the school?

Wanna see more pics from India?

SAS 2009 World Calendar - Get Yours!!!

Yet another calendar... everyone needs one, eh?

End the hassle that is shopping... order these now for everyone you know!!!

This version is comprised of various different images from various different countries... including Vietnam, Burma, Iceland, Hong Kong, Poland, Spain, Egypt, India, and Japan.

Follow the links below to preview and purchase.


Premium Calendar - $36.33 - 12 months, 13.5" x 19"

Standard Calendar - $24.99 - 12 months, 11" x 8.5"

Burma - Calendar of Support

I've put together a few high quality wall calendars for the new year. This version contains images from Burma shot just prior to the military crackdown. A portion of the proceeds from each calendar sold will go directly to The US Campaign for Burma.

Follow these links to preview or purchase the wall calendar.



Burma - Premium $36.33 - 12 months, 13.5" x 19"

Burma - Standard $24.99 - 12 months, 11" x 8.5"

Portraits of Hope - Calendar of Support

I've put together a few calendars for the new year... (great gifts for those "what-the-heck-should-I-get" folks)

...the first is comprised of images from my Portraits of Hope series... images of orphans from around the world. A portion of the proceeds will directly benefit the House of Hope in Haiti.

Click on the links below to view a preview of the images or purchase the calendar.



Premium Calendar - $36.33 - 12 months, 13.5" x 19"

Standard Calendar - $24.98 - 12 months, 11" x 8.5"

Steven Greene of Devereaux's

Part of a series I did for G Magazine of Greenville, this is a portrait shot of Steven Devereaux Greene, one of the Top Chefs of Greenville, SC.
I wanted to balance some strobe with ambient (a dark blue sky, window reflection, and the green Devereaux's sign). There was a huge, unavoidable sodium vapor street light above, and a couple of green street lamps across the street (I didn't mind those so much). This was a gorilla shoot, no permits, so no major stands... Just a speedlight beauty dish above camera right, and a speedlight striplight kicker across the steet. There is a bunch of ambient spill on Steven, but I was able to closely enough match the color temp of the strobe with a gel.

Burma - The Power of a Crop

I was digging through my Burma gallery in Lightroom, trying to come up with a few new images for a Support Burma calendar I'm making, and stumbled across a pretty lame image that, once cropped, wasn't half bad... Due to the now low resolution, I had to bump it up a bit in Photoshop... it's staring into these faces that make the pic worthwhile.

American Grocery - Greenville, SC

Coming to Greenville, SC? Hungry? Go see David, Joe, Susan and Darlene at American Grocery. Their menu is a little different from the rest (and better).... it is seasonal. What they prepare is directly related to what is available in the local seasonal market. Just about everything, from the produce to the meat and eggs is purchased locally from Mom and Pop farmers.

This is a shoot I did with American Grocery and some of their vendors a few months back for G: The Magazine of Greenville. I borrowed a pig from Bill at Welch and Son Farm, bought some chickens at the Upper South Carolina State Fair, and made everyone get up at 4:30 AM. We were going to shoot in a parking lot next to their restaurant with an awesome brick wall, but some party girl got trashed the night before and didn't remove her car from the reserved parking spaces... however it was a blessing in disguise; we ended up shooting in the grass with a plain grey background which I swapped out for that cool brick wall... and the grass looks much better than the parking lot would have...the only downside was the extra few hours of photoshop.

WNC Cover - Everyone Loves Cookies

Since moving out here to SC / NC, I've had some pretty decent luck picking up work from regional publications. Two of the best are G: The Magazine of Greenville, and WNC Magazine. I guarantee you've never seen local pubs of this high quality... the skill and creativity of the editors and design crew, the talent of the writers, the eyes of the photographers, even the paper they print it on... all top notch. I'm fortunate enough to have the cover of the November / December WNC Magazine of Asheville, North Carolina, featuring some cookies prepared by Melinda of Old Europe Bistro. I'm not sure how I got selected for a food shoot... props to Tony Caputo of Austin for a bunch of Michael Angelo's shoots back in the day.

The 37th Frame

Today I have the honor of being featured on the home page of The37thFrame.org, a new website "dedicated to bringing readers the best of the photojournalism on the internet." Finally someone (Peter Marovich?) has put together an organized, daily updated, non-bloggy, professional website "celebrating the best of photojournalism." I highly recommend that each of you visit and bookmark The 37th Frame.

Bent Creek Lodge

There are times (many) in photographers' lives when they don't get to shoot what they want to be shooting... whether it be weddings, trinkets, head shots, buildings, or (insert your least favorite things here)... One can only hope that during those times the monotony or displeasure can be displaced by something special: humor, coworkers, money, whatever it happens to be. At times I shoot Bed and Breakfasts for $$... it is usually the owners of these Mom & Pop Shops that make my day... as is the case with Bent Creek Lodge and Doug Sellers. His previous life was much like my own... outdoor awareness, kayaking, teaching... now he lives in the mountains and runs a B&B with his wife. Cheers to Doug!

More Pistol Packin' Paula...

Meet Pistol Packin' Paula... again. This is one of the panographs that I've been working on... a new series of a different kind of photography. I'm trying to wrangle up a group or Civil War Reenactors to participate in a photo... I've got the scene all laid out in my mind... keep your fingers crossed.

Hamster On A Piano

It's been a while since I've updated this thing... been busy... things are slowing down a bit now, so to celebrate (or grieve) I am kicking November off right... Enjoy.

A Real Life Chipmunk

Sophie had a grand old time outside yesterday while I was processing picture files on the computer. My desk is underneath a large window facing the backyard, and I was distracted for hours watching her torture small woodland creatures. Despite that fact that I have been surprised with more than one dead squirrel gifted upon my pillow, yesterday brought no death or dismemberment...

Thank Heavens

Thank Heavens! I actually got to go kayaking this week. Some good ole friends from Texas happened up for Ocoee Drawdown Week, and I am very thankful that they did.

See more adventure pics here.

Working on a new project for WNC magazine next week... the tear-sheets won't be out for a few months though... I'll post them when they are available.

Extreme Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (TB) :: xdrtb.org

CLICK HERE NOW

A few of my own TB pics: Portraits of Hope

James Nachtwey Needs Your Help :: TED

James Nachtwey and TED need your help. In 2007 Nachtwey won the TED Prize, and on October 3 he will be revealing the documentary photography project he has been producing as a result of winning that prize. Nachtwey has asked for help from the digital community in breaking this news story. Follow the links above and below for more info.... or revisit this blog on Oct 3rd.

Maybe one day this week?

Been busy around here, doing one thing or another, but I might, just might, get to go kayaking this week! Check out more kayaking pics in my Adventures Gallery, or more pics from Mexico (this image is from the Rio Pilon in northern Mexico) in my Mexico Gallery.

End of Days...

Welcome to the End of Days (4 years early)... This is why I've got a Ron Paul sticker on my truck. There are a thousand videos out there like this, Ron Paul saying what we need to hear, this is just one of the most recent. We may be about to get 4 years of Obama, but when you're playing Grapes of Wrath games someday soon, remember to vote for The Revolution of 2012.

Trouble in Burma...

One day before the 1 year anniversary of the military massacre of monks in Burma, a bomb blast rips through Rangoon. Thankfully, no one has been killed... this time. Read more here.

My friend Brian Scannell just got back from his second trip to Burma. You can see some of his awesome pics here.

You can also see more pics in my Burma Gallery. I highly recommend that you all travel to this fine place. Don't spend your money in the government owned facilities, or on their tours, spend it with the local folks... and don't talk politics... this is not a joke.

Lonely Planet has good info on traveling to Burma (Myanmar)... I challenge you, everyone needs to learn about what goes on here.

New Website (again!!!)

Well, I did it again... I rebuilt my website, again... I needed a faster way to update the galleries, so I am going with a Slideshow Pro plugin for Adobe Lightroom. The actual site itself I built in Dreamweaver. In the past I build the galleries with Flash, but that proved too tedious to update regularly. The Slideshow Pro plugin is adequate, but not perfect.

There may be a few bugs... I'd love to hear from you if you find them!

ShadowDetails.com

Kidnapped in Egypt for Ransom

It wasn't me... I read a story about it on Drudge today. Eleven European tourists kidnapped along with eight Egyptians (their guides) while making an off-road tour of southern Egypt... seemed to be 5 masked men speaking english with an African accent

This is a pic I took a couple of years ago making a similar tour (this is the White Desert). We didn't even consider a kidnap for ransom, and the only thing I feared was rolling over in the Landcruiser while speeding at 100-kmph over the dunes. I had nothing but wonderful experiences with all the folks in Egypt. Some of the wimpy socialist college professors I was traveling with insisted that they were Canadians to avoid conflict, but I, a proud vocal American, was always the one invited to sit and have tea and chat.

To see more Egypt pics, click here.

Laundry Day

Laundry day... I actually ran out of underwear a couple of days ago... don't tell anyone. I'm going to burn quarters while I work on updating my website today... I can't figure out how to make the background stay black in the seconds before my Flash Gallery loads... building this on my own can be very frustrating at times... I will be uploading the updates in a day or two... check back then.

More Pistol Packin' Paula

I have bad luck with the USPS... Talked with Paula on the phone today because she didn't get a package of pics that I sent her... I went through Lightroom to re-export them for her, so I figured I'd post another.

I lit this portrait with a little device that I like to call my LightPack... 2 Speedlights turned into striplights and mounted on my backpack... and another one behind Paula lighting the door. Fun Stuff...

The Wall Street Journal

Not the most exciting image in the world, obviously, but I did get my first Wall Street Journal submission today... See the article here. The pic was taken on a ship (Semester At Sea - the folks who've given me the opportunity to travel a lot of the world) on the way to Belize in January of this year. Visit SAS's website and you'll see a whole bunch of my pics... a fantastic group of folks.

Michelle Kvanli of Red River Racing

Speaking of Michelle Kvanli, I just heard through the grapevine that she took 3rd in the Nationals! Fresh off surgery to her should last season, Michelle has come back strong... I'll be looking for you in 4 years, Michelle.

To find out more info on Michelle, check out KayakInstruction.org and RedRiverRacing.org.

Mexican Creek :: Medina River, Texas

Fun stuff, though this run hasn't seen significant flow in over a year. It relies on Lake Medina being filled and with significant water going over the spillway. But watch out for the landowners and a Deputy Sherif who is hired on his off-hours by the landowners.

Wanna learn to kayak? Check out Ben and Michelle Kvanli in San Marcos, Texas at KayakInstruction.org.

You can see a few more kayaking pics in the Adventures Gallery of my website.

Here is a decent video from Mexican Creek... just hit the mute button first.

State Fair

A pic from my life...

I went to the State Fair for the first time in years and years and years. I love roller coasters, but carnie rides scare the hell out of me. I rode this swing device and did enjoy it, despite the stomach foam in my mouth... but the whole time I could only think of the following video:

Martindale Police Department

This is the first in a planned series of images that I am producing for a personal project / portfolio project. A few of the shots have already been completed and I will be posting them here ever now and then. See more at my website.

This is the Martindale, Texas Police Department... and awesome bunch of folks who graciously agreed to let me take their portrait.

Hurricanes in Haiti

Haiti is 98% deforested... I remember flying over the island a few years ago in a tiny little plane and seeing mountain upon mountain with nothing upon them but drought-stricken farms and dirt. So when a hurricane comes, so do the flash floods and mud slides.

The parents and siblings of this little boy were washed away by a hurricane a few months before this pictures was taken. They were sleeping in their beds when a flash flood took their house away. His only surviving brother plucked him from the flood waters and they spent the night in a tree. They live at the House of Hope now, an orphanage run by Jenny and Linda, some wonderful and amazing folks.

There are more pics from Haiti on my Website... and an essay on orphans which includes some images from the House of Hope.

Pistol Packing Paula

I'm running a test of some code supplied by Sean McCormack, an Irishman, photographer, and Adobe Lightroom Extraordinaire with a great Lightroom Blog.

These are some images of Pistol Packin Paula from an afternoon I spent with her at Enchanted Springs Ranch. This is a little slideshow created using the basis of a template supplied by McCormick for Slideshow Pro and Adobe Lightroom. Thanks Sean!

See more pics of Pistol Packin Paula in the Conceptual gallery of my website.

New Blog, Using Blogger, Good or Bad?... We Will See.

Well, I am changing blog providers again! This time to Blogger, from iWeb (er, .Me)... the .Me servers were just too slow... I am keeping it archived though, and you can find it HERE.

Let me know if you like one better than the other...

thanks

-patrick