The Greatest Puzzle...

I never really post just the spreads, but I think I will this time around, because this is one of my all-time favorites. The super talented folks at WNC Magazine whipped this one up. Huge props to Denise Szakaly who just got promoted to Art Director... Yay Denise! As a photographer I've seen my images butchered in a bad spread, and I've seen them flourish in a good one... here you see them thrive.

I was hired to shoot 8 remarkably stylish folks from their fields... theatre, art, architecture, interior design, personal fashion... and I had a lot of fun doing it. I think this is my favorite type of project right now, the location portrait. Sometimes I get to scout, sometimes not, but I always have to show up and figure it all out. It's the greatest form of a puzzle... all the pieces laid out before me, and I get to choose how they go together.

My Second TV Commercial...

Another exciting week for me, as my 2nd TV commercial is airing! I am shooting a short series (3?) of :30 spots to promote ASAP - the Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project and MTMA - the Mountain Tailgate Market Association. We are highlighting different farms in the area, folks who sell their food at the tailgate markets.

The second farm highlighted here is East Fork Farm. These are some folks whom I admire a great deal. As a family they have been building their farm for over a decade... chickens, sheep, rabbits, turkeys... chores to be done every day... it is quite an operation.

I had difficulty wrapping my head around how to advertise a meat producing farm without actually showing the meat. There were lots of pretty pictures to be made, including on the days the days chickens were harvested, but I couldn't really include that footage in the :30 spot. I really want to come up with the funds to produce little documentaries of some of these farms. East Fork would be perfect. Our State TV would be a great regional venue... anyone paying attention out there?

By the way... if you are looking for a quiet place to stay 20 minutes outside of Asheville, the Robertsons have a cottage they build on up the hill from their farm, Meadow Branch Cottage... Complete with a wooden non-chlorinated hot tub for two, I highly recommend it.

And don't forget to check out the Galen Kipar Project... Galen is the masterful musician behind the tunes.

My First TV Commercial...

This is a pretty exciting week for me... my very first produced-all-by-myself TV commercial is airing! I am shooting a short series (3?) of :30 spots to promote ASAP - the Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project and MTMA - the Mountain Tailgate Market Association. We are highlighting different farms in the area, folks who sell their food at the tailgate markets. The first farmers profiled are the good folks at Flying Cloud Farm. Annie and her kiddo's were fantastic and Isaiah was the force unseen. Galen Kipar of Asheville, a musician who's played many a tailgate market, supplied the awesome tunes.

Shot on a 5D with a crew of me I learned one thing well, the sucker is not easy to use. One day soon Canon will shove their APS-C sized CMOS sensor into an actual video housing, and that day will be a good day.

Please leave feedback... there is nothing better than good old-fashioned constructive criticism.