Meet Philip Curry...

Canon 5D - 1/100 - f2.8 - ISO 50 - 100mm Macro

Meet Philip Curry... Owner / founder / president of Astral Buoyancy. If you are a paddler, chances are you own one of his PFDs (Personal Flotation Device)... prior to forming Astral, Philip started Lotus Designs, now owned by Patagonia. Philip is a kayaker and started Lotus out of the frustration of not being able to find a comfortable and maneuverable paddling PFD. He picked up sewing in college and made his first few life jackets by hand. Philip met his wife, Linda, a seamstress, and together they made the first professional samples which he sold at paddling shops. I talked to Philip's mom the other day (she got my number from the magazine and called for a copy of the portrait)... she told me how in the early days even she would cart the jackets around and sell them from the truck of her car. The rest is history now... Lotus, and now Astral, are the biggest and most innovative PFD designers in the business.

This was shot for the great folks at WNC Magazine. They've got me shooting the "Local Seen" segment each month, which I love... there isn't anything much more fun than a conceptual portrait. The Asheville YMCA was kind enough to shut down their pool for an hour in the middle of the day for us. I was only yelled at by one patron, though quite a few were unhappy about not being able to swim in their favorite pool (though there are two pools). I dropped a blue backdrop into the water, used battery operated strobes (stands in the water), underpowered everything to get get a nice shallow depth of field, and got myself nice and wet. Kudos to the YMCA, and to Philip for jumping through hoops with me! Gracias!

On a side note... still no more time-lapses... haven't gotten the G9 fixed yet... but this would have been a good one!