The Land of Popular Photography...

I was recently approached by Popular Photography Magazine and asked to contribute to a "How To" lighting column. They specifically asked to use a shot I produced for a personal project in which I photographed a group of small town police officers... Pop Photo wanted to use this particular shot to highlight solutions to obstacles presented when shooting into the sun. I said "yes" immediately, and for one simple reason: years ago when I was the photographer for my high school yearbook and had just begun to realize my passion for this light sensitive craft, Popular Photography was the very first magazine I subscribed to... nostalgia. Pop Photo's editor, Peter Kolonia, was gracious and awesome as we put together the column... visit your newsstand or subscribe today!

The overall project is entitled "Has Anyone Seen America Lately?" My idea is to travel this great land of ours and use this lighted pano technique to capture all the everyday unique and fantastic folks I can get my hands on... folks like the Martindale, Texas Police Department (see above), World Champion Gun Twirler Pistol Packin' Paula, and Xaden the red-headed firestarter. I'll write more about this project in the coming weeks... I need to muster up some funding first... wanna help?

In the mean time, check out the article in Popular Photography, and watch this Behind-The-Camera-Timelapse below.

I underexposed the ambient light in the scene by two stops. I used four Canon Speedlites to mimic the sun by wrapping light around the subject. Each strobe was equidistance from the subject and each reduced by 1/2 power in relation to the one before it. The strobe furthest from the camera (and closest to the sun) was at full power, and the one closest to the camera was at 1/8 power. This allowed the light intensity on the subject to fall off gradually as it wrapped towards the front of the face. They were triggered using the ST-E2. Each subject was captured separately on my 5D and later compiled in Photoshop. I don't want to give away all the details... need to save a few for the Pop Photo article. Fun stuff!!!

My Printed Portfolio...

Just found an interesting website, ISSUU.com, that lets you upload and "publish" a PDF... I embedded it in my website HERE and am now doing so on my blog too. This is the most recent update to my printed portfolio, the one I mail to folks I want to work for. I've got some cool shoots coming up in the coming weeks, included the former governor of SC, so this sucker will be updated regularly... but here it is for now. What do you think?

The Art Of Fashion...

Who would a' thunk it... Me shooting fashion? Well it happened... and it was a whole lot of fun and didn't turn out half bad.

The shoot was for G Magazine... The editor, Jack Bacot, came to me with the idea of combining fashion and art... in the sense that we'd actually stage the shoot in an art museum. The initial plan was to use the galleries of Bob Jones University... they claim their museum to be "recognized as the finest collection of religious art in America." It is in fact amazing. When asked, they said no... for obvious reasons.

The Greenville County Museum of Art, on the other hand, was willing to assist and absolutely amazing to work with. Mary McCarthy, the media relations director, and her fellow employees were more than helpful. There were some really neat works of art which provided fantastic accompaniment and contrast.

I had some awesome folks backing me up... Mary Ann Sudnick and Taryn Scher styled the whole thing... They were crucial in the selection and pairing of the clothing to the art pieces. Karen West came in from Charlotte for the hair and makeup. These images are as much theirs as they are mine.

Matt Tierney, Paul Mehaffey, Sally Morris, and Jay Vaughn were also more than crucial to the entire project... a big thanks to everyone. You can see the rest of the images and the story here at G's Website.

See more HERE!

New Website!!!

Guess what, folks? I just launched my new website! I did every little ounce of design and coding myself, and I am looking for your feedback... honest critique, please, not just typos. If you hate it, just say so, and tell me what you hate.

Some of the galleries (especially in the world-map area) still need to be updated, and some of the full-screen features aren't working as they should. If you run into any other technical flaws, please holler!

Visit: patrickcavanbrown.com

Commercial, Editorial, Portrait, Documentary Photographer... Asheville NC, Greenville SC, Charlotte NC, Charleston SC, Atlanta GA...

Thanks!!!!!

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.

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.

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.