10-10-TEN

Back in August, I was approached by Christan Turner of PinnacleTen to shoot a series of images in effort to re-breathe some life into her brand. We set a date, got a model and discussed ideas. The major vision was to create a “evolution” of fashion, which would eventually become the 10 image - 10 look composite. 

For me it started out just like any other shoot. Fortunately, I had friend and master makeup artist Isidro Valencia by my side and I had worked with model Courtney Blanton on a few occasions. The day started with Christan lugging in hanger after hanger and shoes for days. It looked like a fashion bomb had gone off in the studio at Outdoor Photo Gear. What I found most interesting is that all of this wardrobe came directly from Christan’s closet. Initially I was shocked, but not surprised. What’s a stylist without a closet full of awesome clothing?  Working with Isidro and Courtney was familiar ground, but I really didn’t know what to expect from Christan. What I came to soon realize; I adore her styling and respect her attitude for an original idea. She knows what she wants and that is the kind of player I like to have on my team. I had also never worked with hair stylist David Hudson, I was impressed with his energy and more importantly his work. Despite Courtney having short hair, he brought an edge that was much needed.

Once hair and makeup was complete Courtney jumped into the first look with a bang. When she steps in front of my lens, I never have really worry, she knows light and always plays the camera well. With our composite in mind I kept the same light setup and explored poses. Look after look we knocked out a series of portraits, experimenting with motion and unique positions. When all work was complete, we gave hugs and high-fives in celebration. But, the real work was about to begin.

Months passed and and the majority of the editing was completed, I decided to tackle the composite. With the help from my friend Chris Miske we made a “panoramic” style of image carefully position each model in our frame.

We quickly realized the issues, hands were in odd places, faces didn’t quite work and it was an uneven mess. I came back to Chris and we re-worked the entire image and made sure it was right, back and forth, back and forth. Blending the shadows is never an easy feat especially on a gradient background. When it was right, I knew it. A few hours and a lot of pixel peeping later, we had a solid composite.

I couldn’t wait to get it online and share it to the world. But, by the time the final image was delivered to my desk, the day had come and gone. I had to wait another 20 hours, if there is one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s to be patient and wait until everything is right.

This is an image I won’t forget, it plans to be a staple in my portfolio.

DEATH VALLEY TEST

It’s been awhile. October has been the busiest month of my entire career. I’ve shot for 3 publications, a number of commercial clients and a gamut of random development sessions and test shoots. I’m finally catching up on edits and blogging. Amid all the hubbub I was able to schedule a shoot with new model Kristina Russ of COSMO Model And Talent Agency. 

A few months ago, Kristina’s face came across my newsfeed and immediately I thought to myself “This girl needs to be in my portfolio”. I reached out to COSMO and Kristina shortly after and things unfolded as they should. After throwing schedules back and forth we landed on a date. Without hesitation I had a team on board consisting of Isidro Valencia, a masterful makeup artist. Hair virtuoso, Matthew Tyldesley and we all know the amazing Project Runway famed Gunnar Deatherage and his work.

I pulled a couple of inspiration images and after a few minutes had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. Long flowing fabric in a desolate desert with smoke or fire in the background, something outer worldly and very dramatic. It was the only look I really cared about, I wanted this image to magnify the possibilities and show people what can be accomplished with just a simple vision. You have to trust your team and as a photographer, they must trust you. Fortunately, this team is my dream team, we had all the right tools to bring my vision to life. I wanted to go big and that is exactly what we did.

Kristina, having never stepped in a fashion shoot, was very green. it took some time to mold her expressions and I had to really work with her to gain the picture I wanted. But, she put everything into the shoot and I was very proud of her for stepping outside the box with us and trying new things. We did three looks and pulled out all the poses; jumping, lunging, glamour and beauty. It was a real challenge that she needed before she stepped on some sets. By the end of the 6 hour shoot, I felt like we had something I could dig my teeth into and was extremely excited to get into the digital darkroom.

The black and white image was a uphill battle. I was fortunate enough to shoot an original jacket designed by Gunnar and I wanted to make him proud. Also, Kristina had absolutely rocked the look, so I needed to make sure the final image was top notch. After re-touching, I just didn’t know where to go with it. I wanted it to be sleek and edgy, but I didn’t know which road to take. It took a lot of time back and forth with color, tone and curves to get what I wanted. It wasn’t until I created the large triangle behind Kristina, then it all came together. 

The image in the desert was all shot in the studio and compositied on the a stock image of Death Valley, California. it was comprised of three images, one of Kristina with the fabric, a stock image of a brush fire and lastly the background of Death Valley. Like the shoot itself, processing the image was one big experiment. I took things to new heights and played with new techniques, including shadowing, sharpening and frequency re-touching. It just goes to show, you don’t need a million dollar budget to achieve a golden image.

This entire shoot was built around patience. I sulked on these images for days. I would pull a few out of the batch and play around, then return to some commercial work. I didn’t rush into anything, I took my time and executed when the time was right. It’s not everyday you get to work with such talent on a simple creative test shoot in…. Death Valley. Joking.

HARD SCIENCE

It’s been a busy few weeks and it’s only heating up. As a freelancer I spend much of my time doing editorial and commercial work for publications and clients regionally. I don’t tend to shoot many events, nevertheless, one of my favorite things to shoot is runway. I suppose it’s the thrill of the moment with the chance that you may capture that perfect expression or walk. Fortunately, I’ve got it down to a pretty hard science and when I show up to shoot runway; after a quick gauge of lighting, I can lock in and start snapping the shutter. Following the models steps and using the beat of the music to adapt to the models walk has helped with capturing a better image. About 5 minutes into the show, you learn when the model hits the light perfectly. Instead of spraying and praying, I have a more calculated approach to runway which has greatly cut down my number of shots. I used to walk away from shows with 1000+ images now its only a couple of hundred. When I was offered the opportunity to shoot the Younger Women’s Club Fall Into Fabulous Fashion Show, I’m jumped at it and made it happen.

Derby isn’t quite here yet, but this fall fashion taste has gotten me quite excited for the new year and more importantly Derby 140 and all the fashion that comes with it. 

See the full gallery here

FOOTBALL THEN FASHION

Sometimes it’s hard to put into words what I do with my time or what I do for a living. I have my hands in a lot of things; marketing, graphic design, art direction, filmmaking and photography. Some days present completley opposite adventures, and I love every minute. This past weekend I arose at 8:00am to prepare myself for some football and fashion. I started the morning in the press box at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium assisting Chris Humphreys with The Voice-Tribune and his ongoing project to create the ultimate gigapixel stadium image.

We decided to tailgate for awhile then return to the press box to setup the Gigapan to shoot 1,300 images that would eventually become one. By kickoff we let the device work its magic and headed down to the sidelines. I was thrilled, I not only felt like a special VIP, but I also felt like a dream was being fulfilled. I had always wanted to be on the sidelines of a big game or event and this was it.

It was refreshing to jump into a different style of photography and really be completely out of my element. I learned from others quickly and did my best to capture all the action. Shooting football isn’t easy. You lose sight of the ball quickly and unless you have a long telephoto lens, you have to constantly move from position to position. The results weren’t as good as I had hoped, but I certainly gave it an old college try.

Once the game was over and we had our Gigapixel image shot, we hightailed it out of the stadium. Ignoring the red sunburn and sweat, I grabbed a quick change of clothes and headed downtown to the Skyrise Fashion Show at the Muhammad Ali Center. 

I walked in to a plethora of familiar faces and smiles, I felt like I was home. I setup and prepared to shoot the evening, but realized I was extremely early. At this point, the sunburn started to get to me and I felt like a heater burning up the room. I took my seat in a chair and sat down to relax and cool down. I love to shoot fashion shows, I can almost feel the same adrenaline that the models feel as they walk down the runway. There is a slight connection when the model glances towards my lens. Its very graceful and sometimes intense. Once the show began, a switch went off and I was into it. Luckily, there was some liquid courage provided.

It was a good first show for Anu and partners. She really made me feel special as my logo was on the step and repeat and I even had my own chair. I’m looking forward to seeing what SkyRise can bring to the Louisville fashion community.

Earlier in the day, Chris and I were discussing our respective jobs in the industry and photography. I think both of us are constantly amazed at the opportunities we’ve been given. And under 30 years of age, it’s humbling to even be able to get to do any of this, then make some form of living from it. For those that made this past Saturday possible, thank you.

CamRanger: An Essential Tool For Capturing Creativity

When I first heard of the product in October of 2012 in New York City at PhotoPlus Expo I was immediately intrigued.

I don’t actually own a laptop, so tethering to an iPad tablet has been a long awaited process with trial and error. My first experience was with the Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card; a memory card you place in your camera, the card transmits a wireless signal and supposedly you connect to that signal source, boom, your tethered. Except it didn’t really work. Even set to low-res JPEG, transfer times were grossly long. Also, conflicting signals would constantly kick the connection. Among the many times I tried to make it work, it actually performed as it should, twice.

When I saw the CamRanger and all it could do, I was severely skeptical. However, I couldn’t help the excitement. I pushed for Outdoor Photo Gear to stock the product and as soon as the demo’s arrived I grabbed one and went to work. What I found was not only a flawless tether and transfer but also a multitude of options and control. I’ve had it for nearly 6 months now and it’s become such a crucial piece of gear that I’ve had to actually rely on it, both for capture and client.

HARDWARE

It’s all a very basic setup. The physical CamRanger is a palm size white dongle that connects to your camera via USB cable. That device then creates a wireless signal which your iPad, Android, Laptop or PC can connect to and there is no need for an existing internet connection. The free application, which CamRanger offers with the purchase, provides complete control of your camera and I mean complete control. The device is provided with a padded black satchel to carry or clip the device to your belt or tripod. The CamRanger runs on a rechargeable and replaceable battery, which will run 12 hours of usage before requiring a charge.

SOFTWARE

After registering the software with the dongle, the app opens to a very clean interface, with extreme ease of use. On the right, my camera settings, I can switch into live view or focus and even fire my shutter. On the top menu I can easily switch to bracketing, focus stacking and even time lapse, all with one touch. Diving deeper into options, the ability to rate images and even make notes has become a really exciting feature for clients. Transfer time is quick, If your shooting RAW + JPEG CamRanger will only download the JPEG and transfer time can run about 3-5 seconds. If you shoot in Continuous, simply turning off the feature “Auto Thumbnails” will prevent the build up of images downloading. However, the images don’t actually download to your iPad, they are simply “streamed” right from your memory card. With that said, it’s more of a viewing and control platform than tethering system, which I’m perfectly fine with. After all, who would really want to re-touch a set of images on their iPad with their finger? Not me. 

ON LOCATION

I was hired to shoot a cover feature for a Louisville publication called NFocus Louisville. They wanted to put a unique aesthetic on Louisville’s theater and arts community and wanted a massive group shot, but not your traditional group shot. Knowing the dimensions of the large format cover and weighing in options, I threw out the idea of shooting the actors and their “characters” from directly overhead on a theater floor. With the help from creative director Gunnar Deatherage we formulated a plan and scouted Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center For Performing Arts. 

During the scout, I was sort of taken aback by the fact I was walking on the stage of which I had seen a number of touring Broadway shows. The stage was huge and lighting was plentiful. Luckily, they had a great staff who led us on the few catwalks hanging over the stage, some 60 feet over head. However, the catwalks were not completely overhead, so we made arrangements to use a combination of a lift and boom stand on the stage floor. I wasn’t completely confident that we could make it work, but one thing I did know is that I could fire my camera remotely with ease and could see the results in real-time.

The day of the shoot, we arrived early to setup. I began explaining what I wanted in the image with Terry, a staff production and lighting engineer. I described my gear list and we came up with the brilliant idea of rigging my camera to one of the lighting poles which could be lifted directly overhead. I was ecstatic and that is exactly what we did. With the help of some gaffers tap, metal rods and a few security lines including the Vulture Equipment Works A4 camera strap, we rigged the camera to point straight down. Lastly, I secured the CamRanger to the camera and set my focal length to 35mm as Terry lifted it 60 feet.

I switched on the iPad and set the CamRanger to live view, we went to every 4 corners and marked position with white gaff tape. This would be where the actors and actresses would lay. As long as they we’re inside the “zone”, they would be properly framed. Once the camera was rigged Terry brought up the house lights to 90%. Although it was flat light, it was more the enough to fill and provide a well lit shot. I fired a few test shots with the CamRanger app and everything was displaying as it should, I tweaked a few settings including ISO and shutter then “radioed” over to Gunnar to escort the subjects in. I headed up to the catwalk overhead to get an idea of posing.

As we began situating the group into their positions, we’d have to carefully move people around to make clothing, shape and their character pose work with the next person. We wanted it to resemble a child who had laid out his or her action figures on the ground. Not perfect, but organized. Once everyone was set I traveled back down to the stage floor and began snapping away.

You could hear the shutter fire every time I touched the “Capture” button in the CamRanger app. I switched to Continuous Mode, again right from the app, and rattled off a series of bursts to guarantee I had an image. The shoot wrapped to applause and the publication was floored and very happy with the results!

I went back to Whitney Hall for a second shoot the following week and struck up a conversation with the production head, Peter Bell. He was the one that suggested shooting from the catwalk and we shared a laugh as he said; “Well, I didn’t know you had this fancy technology to shoot from your iPad!”.

As I shook his hand and walked out, I smiled to myself and a warmth of pride came over me.

OVERALL

With any type of photograph you may be attempting to capture, this is a wonderful tool to guarantee you’re getting the shot right. I’ve showed the CamRanger to many photographers and every photographer that has used it or has seen me use it in action, has purchased one. I foresee it becoming one of those “essential” accessories in every photographers bag.

If you’re a photographer and have any questions regarding the CamRanger system, feel free to email me at info@claycookphotography.com

ONE TRIBE: FASHION IN 5 DAYS

What seems like many moons ago, photographer and friend Steve Squall contacted me about shooting for his new apparel company, Tribe. At the time, I had only heard of Tribe and really liked the branding and attitude behind it, but really knew nothing about it. Over time, Steve and I became closer friends and I really gained a liking for what Tribe represented and more importantly, the product they sold.

MONDAY

After we “tested the waters”, Steve and I scheduled the shoot date for the official collaborative editorial look book for Tribe’s new collection called “Strike First - Strike Steady”. The time line hit me like a freight train and before I knew it we were 4 days out and had no location, no models, nothing. Glass Label, my film production company, had just completed a 48 Hour Film Project and my life was a frenzy of shoots and meetings. The day was Monday, July 22nd and we had scheduled the editorial for that Friday, July 26th.

Steve and I work on a different plain. I like to be “overly” prepared with a timeline, shot list, storyboard and whatever I may need to get the best results. Steve on the other hand; fly with the wind, run and gun, improvisation…. So, Monday I received a text from Steve asking about models, I went into pure planning mode. We passed back and forth about 20 texts and I send out a gamut of Facebook messages regarding the shoot. Fortunately, we had already scouted our models, but contact had to be made.

We had 3 of 5 models booked and on board. Our next goal was the completion of our team, we called in a favor from the talented makeup artist Isidro Valencia and brought on a stylist Megan Thomas to assist. Tribe founder Jeremy Richie rounded out the team as creative director. Our next step was concept and mood.

TUESDAY

We finally received confirmation from 4 of the 5 models and decided to move forward with the 4. We knew the aesthetic, but needed “conceptual characters” to forge from. Our aesthetic was simple; 1985, pacific northwest, summer, warm, lake & beach. While Jeremy spent time on story boarding, Steve had called in a favor from Brian Atchley who owned a small power boat. Will all those images in mind, we employed Brian to take us on a scouting trip UP the Ohio River.

WEDNESDAY

Over the course of my high school years I had spent many summers on the river and remembered a few cool spots, the only problem: it was going to be a long boat ride. As we jetted down the Ohio, memories flooded into mind and I soaked in the evening sun over a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. What a life, I thought to myself. We hit two or three spots with average results, I honestly wasn't impressed and started to second guess the scouting adventure. There were no beaches or nothing that resembled what we wanted. After travelling up river 20 miles we hit a man made cove that didn’t catch my eye until we idled across to the lateral side. My initial thought; “This might work”, by the time we headed home; “That’s it”. The mountainous sand dunes and patchy grass was the perfect element to add to the overall aesthetic. The 45 minute boat ride home was a long one, especially because my iPhone died right in the middle of an epic Facebook update.

THURSDAY

With the location on tap and the mood board coming together, I was starting to feel confident. We still had to set a time and place for hair and makeup. Fortunately, my parents live near the Ohio River and about 2 minutes from our “cast off” dock. That evening, I was able to set a call time at 3pm, at my parents house, 24 hours before the shoot. Also, I was able to finally verify model Melanie Hernandez. I knew she would be a much needed asset to the team. I felt determined and excited to take on the shoot, but for whatever reason I was still had a tinge of nervous anxiety about it. The travel logistics weren’t in our favor.

FRIDAY

3pm came quickly, I showed up at my parents house to a barrage of cars already and waiting. I rushed up the driveway and opened the house up for load in. Isidro showed up shortly after and the process began! Unfortunately, we were pushing time. Minute by minute the sun was moving down and we still had a 45 minute boat ride to our location. By the time hair/makeup was complete and we arrived at the dock we were about 45 minutes behind schedule. The boat was filled to capacity with 11 people on board. We rushed down the river and didn’t slow once. Our sun had dissipated into a mild overcast evening, but we had plenty enough light to work with for 2 hours. Once we beached, we unloaded gear and I setup one light and a few essentials. While Dylan did some fixing up on the boat hair, I grabbed Melanie and dove right into the first set.

I started powering through shots with a steady quickness. I was all over the place, mostly on the ground rolling in sand and dirt. As Steve was capturing B-roll video and grabbing stills himself, I rallied couples, groups and individuals. Over an hour had passed and we were reaching our departure point. I still had to get in the water. I popped my camera in the underwater housing and jumped in the river, I had been looking forward to this moment for sometime.

Since the camera eye piece is only about an inch above the lens, when your camera breaches the surface of the water so does your eyes, nose and mouth. You can’t see anything and you’re holding your breath. So, I switched the camera to continuous mode and took a deep breath and guessed. The shutter rattled off like a machine gun. Focus and repeat. I did this for every model from depths of 6 feet to 10 inch shallow water. I had no idea what I had captured, but by the last individual set in the water, the sun has set and it was time to go, like right away. I broke down my light(that I didn’t use whatsoever) and jumped in the boat for the chilly ride home. It was a breath of fresh air and I felt very accomplished, despite only using natural light. From what I could tell the images looked fantastic and dramatic.

Once we arrived at the dock, we all said our goodbyes and bailed. Steve and I meet an hour later for drinks and a calm celebration of our success.

The editorial was released two weeks later to a wonderful applause. Despite Tribe closing a chapter and shutting down their retail store the day after the release, the editorial has solidified their online presence which is were their sole focus has shifted too.

Just think, this all came together in 4 days, imagine what we can do in 4, 6 or even 8 weeks. Plans are in place, this whole thing will come full circle.

CLAY COOK

STEVE SQUALL

BEHIND THE SCENES

THE ART OF FASHION

I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Art becomes art at art in art. Say what?

When NFocus creative director, Gunnar Deatherage brought his idea for the August editorial, it really took me a while to really figure out what he was thinking. Even after storyboarding the entire shoot I was still nervous about it all. 3 of the 4 images would potentially be composites and that really frightened me. I knew I could do it, I just wasn't confident enough with my lighting and composition to make sure it actually looked right.

The concept of the editorial would be a woman who enters an art gallery and is then consumed by art, her own art and then becomes that very art. We wanted to express this through extensive makeup and Photoshop trickery. It would’t be an easy project in the least, but trial by fire and setting yourself up for failure is the absolute best way to learn, you won’t forget it.

I did some prep and bathed in knowledge as much as I could, pre-shoot. I was ecstatic and especially excited to work with Ms. Lauren Franck of Heyman Talent Agency once again. It would be a very long day and I knew that Lauren would be up for the job.

Our location was the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts, otherwise known as KMAC. The first set would start with Lauren staring a painting and the shot coming directly from behind, full body.  The lighting at KMAC is actually pretty prominent, but I was running into the issue of making the image dramatic, so for over an hour I played with different light setups, using boomed softboxes, grids and even bouncing hard light. I eventually landed on good ole’ ambient light. I wanted the first image to have a sense of “dull” rather then excitement, there need to be something that caught the viewer, but off putting, leaving them with wanting more.

The second set was one of two composites, Lauren being pulled in by a painting resembling herself. Another example of tough lighting, I ended up bouncing one light from the sold white ceiling, I liked it right from the start so rather then playing, I stuck with the setup. I used a white diffusion panel on the actual art piece to make the post work a lot easier around the finer details. Looking back, I should of done the same with Lauren’s head, but you learn from your mistakes! That shot came easy, we moved onto the toughest set of the day. 

Lauren would be “taken” by a gold statue of herself.

We couldn’t switch in and out of the gold makeup so we had to plan the sets accordingly and really map out our day. I only had one camera so I had to use multiple tripods and leave them securely in place. We moved a large white riser in the middle of KMAC and I setup a one-light scenario, I wasn’t really happy with it but I rolled with it. I composed my shot and with Brooke Duvall’s assistance we had Lauren mock a “terrified” look. We then taped off the wall in the background to mark of the point of contact between Lauren and Brooke for reference when we posed Lauren on the riser with the gold makeup. It took quite a few shots and I didn’t know if we had it or not. I carefully removed my camera from the tripod ballhead and taped off the tripod.

Onto the next set, a beauty shot of Lauren slowly becoming gold which would be composed in a abstract fashion on the second image in front of the frame. The makeup took roughly two hours, I burned time by catching up on a few phone calls and Facebook messages. As we moved into the beauty set things were warming up and we hit a stride. Lauren rocked out a gamut of amazing images and I sent her right back into makeup to get painted in the full gold skin.

Another hour passed and we headed back down to the riser and had Lauren setup right where Brooke was once standing, we compared hand placement to the tape on the wall and went for it. However, because of Lauren’s height, posing correctly and maintaining positioning with the tape on the wall was not an easy feat. It took a grand amount of time just to make things looks right. I didn’t like the fact that there wasn't a safety net incase it didn’t work. By the end of the set, I knew it was all a gamble.

We changed looks and Lauren got her new gold skin touched up. At this point I was pretty worn out. It had already been a long day, but I was hitting that point of exhaustion. Fortunately, the last set would be the easiest. We setup the white riser in a blank corner and had Lauren stand up straight, I asked Gunnar to hold a boomed softbox overhead and within 30 minutes we had our shot. My favorite of the day. The entire team pulled weight and it was a great collaboration of amazingly creative people. It was a true honor to share the museum with everyone that day.

As with every publication, there is a pretty strong deadline. I immediately got to work on these images. The post work wasn’t easy at a all and I’ll be honest, we got lucky. With the third set, only ONE image out of the 40 we may of shot worked in combination with the other. 

Another challenge was creating a creative art piece from a beauty image. Me being a graphic designer was excited to get to that part of the process, but half way through I just wasn’t feeling anything I was doing. I fully admit being my own worst terrible critic and several of the drafts may of been better then the final composite, but in the end the halftone overlay worked for the overall image.

I'm constantly judging my work and pushing myself to be better and better. Did this fall short of MY vision? Perhaps… but I know it made a lot of people turn their heads as the response has been phenomenal. I’m always one to takes risks, this was one I won’t forget.

Testing The Water

This one meant a lot to me. I’ve spent the better part of my career researching and looking into shooting underwater fashion and I’ve finally done it. Granted it was on a completely small scale. Last year I set a goal for myself, I would produce an underwater shoot on a large editorial scale sometime in 2013. Well, my goals have yet to be achieved, but it will happen. Steve Squall and I have set upon a journey, by the end of August we will be displaying some of our proudest work and we haven’t even shot it yet. But I’m confident the results will be something all will enamor.

To get to those results, we knew we had to “test the waters” and “get our feet wet”. Personal friend of mine, Hilary Vonderheide starting working with Gunnar Deatherage and I back in February as a styling assistant. Since then, she had tossed around the idea of modeling herself. Forming a full collaborative team for a fashion photo shoot isn’t easy and a simple test shoot, underwater, required none of that. So we figured this would be the perfect opportunity for Hilary and it just so happened she had access to a nice pool. We set a date and I began diving into research. I immediately found some information that perplexed me, radio triggers, designed to fire off camera flash do not work underwater. At all… “How the hell am I going to pull this off?" 

We knew we had to use flash. I’ve seen many photographers botch a beautiful fashion set because they didn’t do enough research or didn’t have the equipment to pull off a dramatic underwater session. I consulted with Hasselblad master and friend Joao Carlos about his amazing underwater fashion and gained some good advice from his behind the scenes videos. Although his underwater shoots are on a far bigger scale with the use of SCUBA, I gained a lot of practical influence. 

We had to fire our flashes optically. Using the master mode on a Canon 600EX-RT (on camera) and slaving the Canon 580EXII boomed above the water, I was hopeful we could use that combination to fire my Profoto D1’s which were to be set around and above the pool.

The day was hot and the sun was low, and I was stoked beyond belief to jump in and get wet. With the help of my intern Jenna, we cautiously placed the strobes around the pool in a coordinated arrangement which I had conjured up the day before on paper. Everything on full power. I quickly came to the realization that if a strobe feel into the pool, we would all be electrocuted, so I made sure all the stands were weighted down with stones and sandbags. After all the setup, I was still a nervous wreck, not only for safety reasons, but I would’ve hated to see some really really expensive gear trashed because of water. I pushed those thoughts aside and muscled toward the task at hand.

I carefully placed my camera in the housing bag and locked everything tight. I double checked my gear and coolly walked into the water and submerged the camera. It was air tight. But, the camera floated, it wasn’t easy to sink and the housing breached the top of the water like a balloon every time I plunged it under. Fortunately, I had researched this and had bought 30 pounds of kettle bells which I strapped to the bottom of the housing. It sunk like a rock, so I compensated and found a good balance. I fired off a few test shots under the boomed speedlight and everything was working properly and all the strobes were firing. I felt like I had just won the lottery.

Hilary was ready to rock and I gave her a quick 5 minute run down of what we would be doing and how I’d like her to pose under the water. This was her first time EVER "posing” in front of the camera, I felt bad and knew she was nervous, but it couldn’t of been a better situation for us. Steve, Hilary and I were all new to this, at the same playing level. I tightened and positioned my cheap set goggles and I submerged with Hilary. 

I blew out all my air and sunk to the bottom, I placed my face to the housing and what I saw was a blurred figured and no focus points. I guessed composition and pressed the shutter repeatedly. When I rose above the surface and took a glance at the LCD, what I found was very interesting, but very disappointing. I felt as if all the research had been in vein. It looked like a pool without strobes, mid-day, out of focus and horridly composed. How do you get all that drama?

“Throw out everything you’ve learned about photography, because this is an entirely different ball game." 

I tweaked my settings and submerged once again, over and over. The strobes were inconsistent, for every 5 shots I snapped the strobes had fired twice. It was frustrating. I handed the camera off to Steve, who I could tell was itching to get in front of the rig and give it a shot. During his set, I concentrated on the erratic flash and what we were doing wrong. I came to the realization of two eye opening issues; despite shooting at f/16 - f/22 the sun was still too high and increased the ambient blue hue of the pool. Water acts as a natural diffuser, when powerful light hits the pool from afar, it doesn’t penetrate, it spreads and lightens the ambiance underneath the surface.

We took a break and I re-organized. This time around we popped the on camera flash forward to give the "good ole’ straight on speedlight” a run through. This was a lot easier, our light consistently fired and we had a better grasp on underwater composition. However, we still couldn’t see anything through the viewfinder and we certainly couldn’t depend on auto-focus. After I completed a set, Steve took the reigns and really got creative, working under Hilary and above her. The results we’re pretty cool, it was fairly dramatic and had a hint of high-fashion, but we really wanted to get the ethereal backlight look to these shots.

Taking in what I had learned earlier, we waited until the sun moved behind the house and covered the pool in complete shade. I asked Steve to hold ONE Profoto directly above the surface, 5 inches from water. I snapped a few shots and rose to find immediate progress. The one dramatic backlight poured through the pool providing the shadows and contrast we needed.

Using this knowledge, we setup one boom and one light directly over Hilary’s head, 10 inches above the water. Steve and I traded off sets and really started to find ways to make things work. Hilary was a real trooper and performed beautifully. It amazed me having never modeled in her life; some of the lines she formed and what she did under water. That is no easy feat. We threw her into the wolves and she conquered, prevailing when many would completely crumble under the pressure.

From a photography standpoint, I felt overwhelmed as we wrapped the shoot. I didn’t know what I would find when I imported the images and was unsure if we had nailed anything good. But, the one thing I do know, we learned what NOT to do and we walked away confident to take on the real deal.

If your going to take on an independent low budget underwater shoot this summer, please heed this advice…

• Shoot wide. Our model looked like a blob the entire time through the viewfinder, it’s not easy to compose properly. Most of our shots were taken at 18mm - 30mm. We cropped in from there.
• Shoot a lot. Steve and I are professionals. We know how to compose and focus. But, we took over 400 frames and only came out with a small handful of usable images.
• Safety first. You could die. Have an assistant above water, holding stands as well as use sand bags, weight everything down. You’ll save a lot of personal anxiety and will have a relaxed crew for a better, more fun experience.
• Prepare your time. You’ll need it, everything moves slower underwater and it sucks the energy right out of you. Around the time you’d normally be hitting your stride, your model will be exhausted and out of breath, ready to call it a day. Get your model in the water only when your ready to go.
• Proper equipment. Invest in your shoot and purchase the right underwater gear, including kettle bells, flippers, snorkel and most importantly goggles. I think our biggest fault was not having a professional pair of SCUBA goggles. Unfortunately, we had a cheap set from Wal-Mart that simply didn’t do the trick.
• Tweak your camera diopter. Because the your eye sight may distort when shooting underwater through goggles, a housing, then your viewfinder; tweak your diopter under the water before you start shooting. I think this may of been a large issue with not seeing anything but a waving blob.   
• Flash close. Because the pool water acts as one giant diffuser, the closer your flash is to the subject the more dramatically it will penetrate the water. Unless you want the flat look, boom that strobe.
• Shoot indoors or at dusk. Use an environment where you can completely control your ambient light. The less sun you have to deal with the more dramatic an image you’ll be able to capture. Use high wattage hot lights for added drama and additional light for focus. 
• Focus first. While you and your model are treading water right before you dive under grab focus and maintain position and focal length to guarantee decent focus.

THROUGH THE EYES OF CLAY COOK:

THROUGH THE EYES OF STEVE SQUALL:

BEHIND THE SCENES:

Summer Sparks

It’s always a true pleasure and great opportunity to work with fashion designer and stylist Gunnar Deatherage. I’ve had the chance to work with him on many occasions now and we seem to constantly up our game. Fortunately, with Gunnar and NFocus Magazine, I have a space of creative freedom that I’ve pushed to the limits. This particular shoot was no exception.

When I think of July, I think warm weather, fireworks and that summer nostalgia. I really wanted to push my camera and step outside the box. I had been doing a lot of commercial work and I wanted to flex my creative muscles. I approached Gunnar with an idea; using a combination of sparklers and steel wool, I wanted to create portraits that “shined” through the pages. 

It’s called light painting. With digital camera trickery and a bright light source, you can create out of this world stunning imagery. Many photographers have mastered light painting, but none have mastered it with fashion and portraiture. It’s called “painting” because when you click that shutter open the rest is up to your creativity to “paint” whatever you want for the image to display, as long as your tool creates a strong light source. In this case we chose sparklers and steel wool.

I’m constantly finding ways to set myself up for failure and this shoot could have certainly gone down hill quick. Inspiring from photographers like Aaron Nace and Brett Jarnigan, I took what I what I had learned and dove in head first, trial by fire. It was certainly one of the most challenging photoshoots I’ve ever taken on. You just don’t get instant results as most shoots. Light painting takes practice and time, with this style of photography the “3rd time MIGHT be a charm”. It’s all a gamble.

Being my worst critic, I can’t say I’m 100% confident in the work, I feel like I could fill a page on the imperfections, but at the end of the day, its art. It’s the imperfections that make the images stand out. Despite my own fuss, I’m proud of the creativity we put forth, it’s not everyday you push yourself and the entire team out of a comfort zone.

SUMMER SIZZLE

Things are moving at a pretty fast pace these days. I have so much work I’ve shot and most of it being publication work, I have to wait… and wait for release. Nevertheless, a shoot like this comes along and its quite the opposite. Shoot, Edit, Share. Time is everything.

Chris Caswell contacted me a month or two ago to shoot another campaign for Heyman Talent Agency. The last campaign was such a success and so much fun, I immediately cleared my schedule and agreed.

Not only would the advertisement be for Heyman, but also a portfolio piece for the 6 models that are set to head north to New York City for agency meetings at the end of June. Planning started immediately and we came up with several ideas and locations. It wasn’t easy by any means! We went back and forth on who was apart of the team, where we would shoot it and what date the shoot would be scheduled on.

That seems to always be the hardest part, it’s never the execution, its simply the planning beforehand to make it happen. After a week or two and a couple of meetings we finally landed on a date and had our team in place. But, location was still up in the air. First, we had our eyes on a rock quarry on the east end of the city, then we had plans to shoot at a beautiful poolside location called Lakeside, both turned out to be broken leads. Chris finally made the executive decision and set the location to a remote part of Waterfront Park. Honestly, I wasn’t confident we could make it work, but, we had to make the best of it. 

Since Heyman Talent photographer and coach Chris Kaufman would be on board and on location, whom mentored young stars like Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Scherzinger famed Pussycat Dolls, we reached out to WHAS11; a local news channel to potentially cover the shoot. It wouldn’t be the most enthralling news in the world, but future stars and any news about J-Law can attract an audience quickly. The bouncing of dates and locations made scheduling a live report nearly impossible to plan. Nevertheless, after a plethora of emails, in the end we were able to get a crew out to film the shoot and work a couple of interviews.

Day of the shoot; I woke up worried about rainy weather, I went to bed worried about the deathly sunburn I had received as a result of the head pounding sun. The day was flawless and everything went off without a hitch. We managed to squeeze in two very different sets on the Waterfront without the result looking as if we were actually in a park.

For months I’d been eyeing a Westcott Scrim Jim and it finally arrived a few days before the shoot. I was anxious beyond belief to break it out on a hot mid-summer day, this was perfect opportunity. The 2-3 stop silk created a gorgeous overhead light and its the sole reason these image came out as they did.

The entire team played a crucial part in the success of the day. I want to personally thank the fantastic team we had on board that day, as well as a special thanks to Cheryl Franck who brought in a king’s feast of food for the models and staff.

Below, I display the side by side comparison of the SOOC version and the edited version. This is a composite image and I spent a lot of meticulous time with the highlights and color.

LIGHTING, RE-TOUCH, PROCESS

Many photographers may hide their techniques as secrets or publish them in paid tutorials or reading materials. Everything I know, I learned for absolutely free, but I’ve learned with a lot of patience and hard work. I’ve soaked everything in like a sponge and then used it to form my own process. This may not be the process or setup for you, but I know it works.

This set was for Z Salon & Spa, a local salon that has a great marketing strategy. When they asked me to shoot some images for an updated look, I gladly obliged. 95% of the models on set that day had never modeled, which was fine, but it definitely struck a challenge especially with beauty shots. The biggest obstacle was to shake the nerves and get the models comfortable in their space. First up, a striking young model, Abigail Taylor. She was nervous, but I cracked a few jokes and she seemed to immediately carry on. She had never stepped in front of the camera before, but by the end of the day I was handing her a business card for more work down the road. We managed to nail the shot below within 15 minutes of her stepping in front of the lens and it turned out to be my favorite from all the images we snapped.

My techniques aren’t all that complicated.

I wanted the red of her hair to really explode off the white backdrop and the shape of her jaw line and shoulders to really have the angelic sense. So I setup two lights on the background at full power for a real backlight blow. The with the addition of the soft hair light overhead and the heavy white beauty dish everything came together at once. The silver reflector right under the chin completed the puzzle with a perfect glamour fill.

My re-touch and post process is over viewed in the video below. While you can see the difference between the SOOC(Straight Out Of Camera) shot and the processed image, it isn’t all that crazy. It always feels good to get it right in camera and that’s exactly what was done here. The post work is simply the icing on the cake.

Remember if you have any questions, feel free to comment below or shoot me an email info@clayccokphotography.com

THE FEROCITY OF FRANCK

I don’t usually post about development or commercial shoots, but this one was quite special to me. Despite working with many many models from all over the region, this shoot had a special place and felt like a baptism of brilliant new talent. 

Months ago, Cheryl Franck had reached out to me to book a model development session for her daughter and Heyman Model, Lauren. After many phone conversations and even a few live meetings we had our ideas in place and team set. Inspired by Gucci, Prada, and Dior ads, we wanted to go high fashion and fashion that could sell the look. Nothing over the top, just sexy, simple and sleek. It took a couple of re-schedules to finally land on the right time and location. Thankfully friend and photographer Josh Eskridge stepped up and offered his studio/loft space for what we needed.

Lauren had only posed in front of the lens a couple of times. It was my job to not only her teach her a few techniques, but also the ins/outs of a full-on fashion shoot. When Lauren showed up I really didn’t know what to expect, I had shot her the previous week, but only for video and a few short stills. I liked her elegance, but was really looking forward to one on one time with Lauren. Although somewhat reserved on set, I was impressed with her poise and attitude.

Our team consisted of master make-up artist and hair stylist Isidro Valencia, Apricot Lane manager and freelance wardrobe stylist Katie Meinhart, my amazing intern Jenna Madiona and assistant Josh Eskridge. 

The day started early and I had all the preparations in place. I was completely enamored and very excited for what was in store. By Noon hair and makeup was complete and Lauren suited up in her first look. She stepped on the backdrop and I started firing away.

Shot after shot we seemed to be nailing it and I could tell Lauren had been practicing and gaining inspiration since we first shot together. She had a ferocity in her eyes that I hadn't seen. She turned the switch in an instant and went from a lovable teenager to a powerful and engaging subject that demanded attention. I told her some of the best models I had ever worked with were photographers or had some knowledge of lighting and photography. She caught on quick. She learned her key and noticed her kicker. I was very proud of Lauren.

I kept the experimentation at bay, but brought on a few newly learned photographic skills to the table. We used Josh’s V-Flats, broke out the gold reflector and even explored the use of two reflectors at once.

I expected the shoot to last every bit of 6 hours, but with 4 looks, I quickly learned this would be an all day affair. We started at 10am and by nearly 7pm we had completed the shoot. 4 completely different high fashion looks in the studio, out on the roof and inside the complex.

I left the shoot feeling completely satisfied and excited to get into post process. Derby would come and go and the images sat for a bit. But, in the end, I put a lot of work into the editing. I spent meticulous time on color and the aesthetic of each image. Some took 30 minutes to edit, others took days of back and forth scrutinization. All the wait was worth the result. 

I’m very proud of what our team accomplished that day, not only did we build all portfolios, but we walked away with a sense of accomplishment and our creative tank filled for more.

I’ve heard things like “New York” and “one of Heyman’s brightest” from all around. This is only the beginning for Lauren Franck.

GEAR LIFE (IN MY CAMERA BAG)

I’m frequently asked the question, what camera is that? Or, what is your workhorse lens? I’m an extreme advocate of “it’s all about your eye, not your camera”, however in my field of commercial and print photography, lighting and gear play an integral role in quality. Whether I’m on assignment shooting a run-gun event or on location for a 12 hour fashion shoot, I have my setup on lock and a full proof system that works for me. As a disclaimer, this may not be the setup for you. Note: I’ve worked my absolute ass off to obtain these expensive products and I strongly endorse everything you see.

Featured below is not only a list of my gear and gear I regularly use(don’t own), but also some insight into my lighting setup and a few images showing just how much stuff I jam into my Gura Gear Bataflae 18L!

Bodies:

• Canon 5D Mark III
• Nikon D800
• Nikon D7000

Lenses:

• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
• Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II
• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
• Nikon 35mm f/1.8

Speedlights:

• Canon 600EX-RT
• Nikon SB-800

Bag & Accesories:

• Gura Gear Bataflae 18L
• Think Tank Photo Retrospective 5
• LensCoat Memory Card Wallet
• Black Rapid RS-4 Sling Strap
• Think Tank Photo Credential Holder
• CamRanger Wireless Tether & Remote
• OlloClip Lens System for iPhone
• iHome iDM8B Bluetooth Wireless Speaker (Music)
• Energizer 6 LED Headlamp
• Hoya Neutral Density Filter
• Nikon Remote
• Canon Remote
• Nikon CTO & Color Gels
• Cleaning Tools & Lens
• Eneloop AA & AAA Re-Chargeable Batteries w/ Charger
• iPad 3
• Apple Charger
• Sqaure iPhone Payment System

Radio Triggers:

• Pixel Soliders TF371

Tripod:

• 3 Legged Thing Jack w/ AirHed 2 Ballhead

Lighting:

• Alien Bee B800 Flash Units (3)
• Profoto D1 Monolight (4)

Lighting Modifiers:

• Paul C Buff Octobox (2 w/ grid)
• Paul C Buff Stripbox (2 w/ grid)
• Paul C Buff Parabolic Umbrella
• Paul C Buff HoneyComb Grids (All Degrees)
• Cheetah Stand 16" White Beauty Dish
• Westcott 16" Mini-Apollo

Lighting Accessories

• Cheetah Stand C8 (2)
• Manfrotto 420B Boom Stand (3)
• Manfrotto Sand Bags
• Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector

Derby On, Sunday Off

I’m feeling all different emotions and being pulled in all different directions. Confident, accomplished, determined, but also haggard and burned. I’ve had to push aside many people and projects just to keep my head above water. The Kentucky Derby is called “the most exciting two minutes in sports”, but for me it has been 4 weeks of non-stop action.

At the start of every new year Kentucky Derby preparations start heating up. By February, I was buried with the multimedia presentation “Fashion Pastiche” for the biggest Derby fashion show in Louisville; "Runway For The Roses". I had kept my options open and had heard chitchat of potential projects for the Derby, which never came to fruition. By the first of April, while others had there Derby planned, I had no plans. I knew I needed to get involved and it needed to be solidified soon. 

At the 138th racing of the Kentucky Derby, I sat in a posh box in section 113, hungover from the previous nights festivities, just staring. Staring at all the photographers on the track, I wanted to be them and I felt the itch. Right then, I told myself I would work 2013 and work it all.

The first week of April I received a call from interior designer and Louisville Magazine style editor Chris Caswell, I had collaborated with Chris on a few occasions and had a good working relationship. We had just finished up a fun Derby editorial for the April edition of Louisville Magazine. He had been contracted by a start up blog called MyDerbyLove to cover a plethora of events all leading up to the 139th racing of the Kentucky Derby. They needed a photographer. The pay was decent and the job was straightforward; shoot each event, pass out QR cards, take names and turn the images at journalism speed. Twelve events including the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, I was on board before I even checked my schedule. This was my ticket.

We jumped right in a week later to our first event, “Taste Of Derby Festival” at Louisville Slugger Field. I was nervous. I had covered a few step and repeats and candid photo journalism, but never a combination of event photography, journalism and step and repeat. It was all run and gun and it had to be good. We entered through the media entrance and were handed our credentials. We split up and I started shooting everything in sight. The florescent stadium lighting was gross, my speedlight was malfunctioning and I had forgot my Black Rapid camera sling strap. I was an obvious mess. Nevertheless, I kept my composure and pushed through the problems. I surveyed the area for photo opportunities, but came up short. Luckily, I received a text from Chris minutes later to meet, we hit table after table and Chris being the local rockstar that he is introduced me to a handful of important people. An hour in, I had a decent amount of images and we walked out the door, I was honestly relieved. The ice had been broken and I learned what not to do.

That Friday we were tasked with covering the Kentucky Derby Festival “They’re Off Luncheon” a kick off event for sponsors and media. Followed by the “Fillies Derby Ball”, a black tie auction event and dinner. The next day, “Thunder Over Louisville”, one of the biggest fireworks shows in the world.

We showed up a bit late to “They’re Off”, but we managed to snap a few images while people were settling into their seats and grabbing drinks. “My Old Kentucky Home” was gracefully sung by Miss Kentucky Jessica Casebolt and the lunch started with an introduction by our Mayor Greg Fischer. The room was very dark which offered a challenge, but the stage was well lit and I was able to grab a few high ISO shots without the need of flash. We enjoyed a nice steak lunch and headed out.

We returned to The Galt House 6 hours later to shoot the “Fillies Derby Ball”. Upon entering I felt immediately out of place; high-society women in sparkling gowns and black tie tuxedo brand men approached the event with there chins high. To avoid any possible awkwardness, I began shooting. There were an abundance of fashionable people and we had no trouble meeting our image minimum within the first hour. We sat down for a decent dinner and a few glasses of wine which helped ease the sense of unease. The auction ended and the band Louisville Crashers went on stage. Once Chris and I had had our fill, we cut out, party favors in hand and managed to stopped by Nulu’s “Before I Die” chalkboard on our way back to his home, where my car awaited.

When I booked these events I knew there would be some events that ran together or a few I just wouldn’t be able to shoot. Luckily, my intern Jenna agreed to take on the job of covering “Thunder Over Louisville” on my behalf. Nervously, I sent her into the wolves with my gear and quick 20 minute run down, yet she performed beautifully. I’m really proud of what she captured and how she stepped up.

The following Sunday, I was brought in by Aveda to shoot a clean water charity event for 21C. Hundreds of hair stylists from all over the city converged on the one event to not only show off some crazy cool hair styling in support of Aveda’s cause, but also to literally scream for their team. It felt exclusive and the fashion show was an absolute blast. However, the weekend had worn on me and I was ready for rest, which would eventually come… after I edited the images from the weekend.

We were coming down the strech,“Opening Night Cocktail Reception” at the Kentucky Derby Muesum and the “Heyman Talent Model Search” down at Fest-A-Ville Waterfront Park. Chris and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and attend the events together. It was dreary and drizzling, but I knew I needed to show face for Heyman as I would be shooting the winner of the search. Also, as a sponsor I would be judging the contestants as well. We arrived and made our picks, which was far more difficult then I anticipated. Not surprisingly, Chris and I differed on just about every single contestant! While the models trickled in, we engaged in causal conversation for another 30 minutes  then decided to move onto our next event at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Fortunately, we had Chris' lovely assistant Jamie a.k.a. “JE" around to write down names, which is my least favorite part about event photography. I have pretty bad hearing from my days of sitting in front of amps and screaming guitars, so typing in names in a loud venue can be trying for me. We walked in and the first person we stumble upon is Louisville’s own Tracy Blue. Boom. I walk around the corner into the venue and is handed a glass of wine. Chug. Snap. Snap. JE followed with a handful of QR cards and her phone for names. I went up to the second level to take some wide angle shots of the venue floor, which turned out to be my favorite of the night. Naturally, when you have a camera in hand, people gravitate towards you and ask for a photo. This event was a breeze, despite a few lighting hiccups. With the job done we left opening night at Churchill Downs with mobs of people still entering the track.

Now, with Derby week upon me, I was scrambling to get things done and edits completed before the big show. I knew that from Tuesday through Sunday, my life would be in complete madness.

It started with coverage of KDF’s WineFest 2013, a melting pot of winery’s that assemble to show off their prime products and share samples to hundreds of wine fanatics. We arrived at the East Belvedere early to find Wine Fest rather bare. Nevertheless, we stayed and explored, but decided to leave shortly upon arrival, without drinking a drop of wine.

The next day I headed over to Waterfront Park to meet up with my friends in A Lion Named Roar who would be performing an acoustic huddle session for ”America's Best Racing“ a group dedicated to promoting horse racing to a younger demographic. Upon arrival I suddenly found myself on a massive tour bus cracking open a cold adult beverage with the band. Speaking with the "America's Best Racing” crew, I received a synopsis of their intentions and tour. It was overall pretty exciting.

A Lion Named Roar grabbed their guitars and headed outside to begin their huddle session, which I gladly followed to snap a few shots. After a few well played tunes, we bounced back into the bus for an interview, quick shot of bourbon and I said my goodbyes.

I hopped over to The Ice House for an official media party where I rendezvoused with Matt Stone and Dustin Strupp, two Courier Journal photographers whom I had admired for quite sometime. It was quite an honor to join the fun with them and pick their brain over free drinks and food. We ended up hitting a late night karaoke bar and I couldn't of asked for better company.

As Chris Caswell covered “Celebrity Day At The Downs”, I reported to Dillard’s to cover an event for Nine West founder and infamous shoe designer, Vince Camuto, who was in town for Derby with his gorgeous wife, Louise Camuto. The day started slow, but when you put models in front of my lens, I get shutter happy. The event was fun and I got to see a lot of familiar faces as well as meet a lot of new ones. Dillard’s had a fantastic presentation and the line for autograph’s was steady throughout the day. The hubbub eventually slowed and we wrapped up, I handed Vince a business card and I headed out the heavy glass doors.

I grabbed a quick bite to energize and bounced over to the “Derby Poker Championship Celebrity Gala” with Chris. Myself, not being a poker player, I really didn’t know what to expect or didn’t expect much excitement. We arrived to a decent crowd and a painter stroking away on the backside of the floor. To the right was a dozen poker tables and a small step and repeat to the left, which we would cling to awaiting any worthy celebrities. After about an hour the entire left section of the building opened up to a club and people started to warm up. I snapped a few images and Chris made his normal rounds introducing me to his fine friends. The beauty of this event is I actually had time to mingle and grab a few drinks, as we weren’t under the gun for a quick turnaround. Then the ladies from “America’s Best Racing” showed up and we had a few good laughs before Chris and I headed out the door to catch some sleep before the big day ahead of us.

Morning came early and I starting prepping immediately. I knocked out a few edits and headed out the door to meet Chris, so we could get down to the track by 11:30am. The day was warm, but quite beautiful and the rain had subsided for the Kentucky Oaks. We parked and walked the half mile to the track. We arrived to a bare pink carpet and made a few rounds, when we ran into Churchill Downs official photographer Andrew Kung, who I’ve admired for years. We shook hands and made casual conversation, he mentioned the “Longines Kentucky Oaks Fashion Contest" would begin in about an hour. With time to burn, we decided to grab a Kentucky Oaks Lily:

1 oz. GREY GOOSE® Vodka / 1 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix / 3 oz. Cranberry Juice / Splash of Triple Sec 

I also took the opportunity to visit my parents in their box and take a quick snapshot, while Chris did some live blogging. Shortly after, I headed back down to the section entrance and rallied with Chris again. We headed over to the pink carpet where the fashion contest was set to begin. I staked my spot on the black astro-turf and awaited the contestants. I suddenly noticed a stunning red-head with amazing bone structure walking down the step and repeat. Always on the lookout for fresh talent, I pulled out a business card and was fully prepared to make a hand off. A voice came over the speaker system "Supermodel Coco Rocha”, I cupped the card and pulled up my camera in one smooth motion hoping she didn’t notice. A swift Google search proved this Vogue cover model was the real deal. I regained my thoughts and blew off the “epic fail”.

20 minutes into the contest, I looked at my watch and over to Chris and he nodded, it was time to move on. I really needed some candid lifestyle images, so we roamed to the jet set upper decks. Chris would point out the fashionable trendsetters and I would swing my camera around for that perfect shot. It was perfect team work and after a couple of races, we had ditch the track to get ready for the evenings festivities.

We were tasked with covering the “Barnstable Brown Gala”, “The Julep Ball” and “Unbridled Eve”. The media check in was 6:30pm and the red carpet opened at 7pm, for all of them. And there was only one photographer, me. This is where a clone or two would come in handy. We decided to split and I would cover the Barnstable Brown red carpet while Chris with his iPhone would cover Unbridled Eve. We would have to hit The Julep Ball later.

I showed up for media check in right at 6:30pm, there were some media outlets already setup and I really didn’t know where to go. This would be my first celebrity red carpet coverage and I had heard horror stories. I staked my place right in front and waited. Opportunely, a photographer from Getty setup right behind me and we struck up a good conversation for a few minutes. Then what seemed like a rabid monsoon struck the red carpet, it rained violently and the winds were strong, camera crews and photographers were scrambling for cover, but I held my position front and center. It continued to rain so hard that the PR crew let all the media on the red carpet to hide out under the tent until everything calmed down. An hour later, the rain had settled and people started showing up, but no celebrities. It was nearly 8:30pm and Chris was texting me on my E.T.A. to other events. I had only took one shot and that was of A Lion Named Roar, who were the first to grace the step and repeat. I had to stall time. My text to him: “I’m gonna hang for 20-30 more min, If nothing we should dip over to Julep. I’ll take a few crowd images here to fill the blog”. At 8:52pm things started to heat up and celebrities started to grace the red carpet. My friend from Getty had worked hundreds of red carpets and this was just another rodeo for him. He would yell out the celebrities name to grab attention and he would keep there attention by raising his hand. I followed suit. It worked well. By 9:30pm I had to hit the road, the last shot of Barnstable would be Miranda Lambert. I jumped out of my position and passed it on to my friend from Getty. I handed him a quick card and told him to touch base. I grabbed a quick beer from a friend’s house directly next door and popped my head in to say hello. Just a quickly as I came in, I was back out. I practically ran down to my car and high-tailed it downtown to the YUM! Center for the Julep Ball.

I parked in the media garage and took a sip watered down Dr. Pepper to wet my whistle. I walked a block to the YUM! Center where I met Chris and we walked in. It was already 10:00pm and we were obviously late, but we grabbed our credentials and briskly walked over to the main hall. The red carpet was barren. So we bounced upstairs and into the arena. It was dead. Nevertheless, we had to grab a few quick shots. So we did just that. As we exited the B-52’s were starting their set. I looked around and the majority of the tables were empty. I shrugged as we exited and moved over to Unbridled Eve in the Galt House.

Walking in I was slapped with yet another credential. At this point I looked like a billboard advertisement. I was also on a high. I really lived for it. I’m not going to lie, I felt like a celebrity all on my own right. I immediately started snapping away. I felt a confidence I didn’t have when I has started this gamut, I was going right up to celebrities of all kinds and asking for a photo, no matter what “list” they were on. I ran into a few familiar faces and met a few new ones. Chris and I grabbed a drink and I swallowed it down. By 11:30pm, I had a full set of images and I was ready to move onto my last stop for the evening the “Maxim & Maker’s 46 Fillies & Stallions Party”. Unbridled Eve was Chris’ last stop, so I said my goodbye and we would reconvene tomorrow at the track.

Arriving at Mellwood, I saw the line of women and got a pep in my step. I was technically off the clock, but would definitely be shooting. I found a parking space across the street. I walked in front of the line, then suddenly remembered I looked like a billboard. They let me right in, no questions asked. I hit the red carpet and it was great to see many of my friends awaiting in front of the hot lights. I was running on adrenaline. But gladly accepted the drink I was immediately given. That is when I was put on the spot and asked to step on the red carpet myself for a quick photo with Maxim’s Amanda Mertz and Jade Brownfield.

The rest of the evening escalated quickly and some celebs started gracing the red carpet. Including Adam Richman from Man vs. Food, Derek Anderson, Shaquille O'Neal, Aaron Rodgers, Kevin Ware, Russ Smith, Luke Hancock and many more. Inside the venue was a sauna, it was a hot mess, hot being the key word there. After a few drinks with my pals Joey Goldsmith, Dustin Strupp, Josh Eskridge and Steve Squall. I decided to call it and get into the office for some late night editing as I had to get all the images turned around by morning. I didn’t hit my pillow until 6am.

I woke a couple hours later and amped myself for the climax, the whole reason any of this was happening, the run for the roses. I looked out the window and knew it would be a long day. It was raining. But, I held my chin high and packed my gear air tight. My first stop was “The Julep Brunch” hosted by Lee & Babs Robinsion, A celebrity brunch that I was assigned to cover for NFocus Magazine. The brunch was in an beautiful mansion off River Road, it was quite surreal. Fortunately, my friend Gunnar Deatherage and his boyfriend Nick were in attendance  By 12:30pm I had to hit the road and headed to Churchill Downs. I said my good byes and thanked everyone for their hospitality.

Upon arrival to the parking lot, I fortunately found a wide open spot, closer to our destination. This proved to be a double edge sword as I had parked next to what seemed like the most inebriated group of dudes ever. The constant yells of USA! USA! USA! really jazzed me up to brave the cold rain. /sarcasm. I’ve totally been that guy, so I didn’t complain.

Still awaiting Chris’ arrival, I eventually stepped out of my vehicle and walked away to avoid any further awkwardness from the fun group beside me. A few minutes later Chris came briskly walking up soaking wet already. It would only get worse. After the half mile walk in the hard rain and by the time we arrived on the red carpet, we looked like we had just stepped out of a pool fully clothed. The celebrities were lined up and we had no choice but to rush past them to our allotted square. I began shooting immediately. Arriving late, I didn’t have the best spot at first and George Linsey from 102.3 The Max had the prime spot in front of me conducting iPhone interviews. As the celebrities walked down the carpet I knocked out shot after shot. This was a another moment where I feel sort of like a rockstar myself with the crowd of onlookers behind me screaming at the top of their lungs for stars like Kid Rock, Lauren Conrad, Emilio Estevez, Lance Bass, Nerlens Noel and Peyton Siva among others. The carpet became more stark by the minute and photographers were leaving their prime spots, which I gladly took for a few last shots of the carpet. At this point, my job was done. My Kentucky Derby was over. But, that didn’t stop me I wanted to meet with friends and have a good time. I pushed out a few text messages and went exploring with Chris. We made it onto Millionaire's Row, looking like lost puppies, searching for any friendly faces. No response, no avail. Chris was over it and decided to bail to go blog from the comfort from his home. I was on my own. I decided to take this opportunity to gain a different perspective and headed out into the rain near the track’s edge and captured what I like to call my “Pulitzer”. My gear was soaked, I was soaked and an hour searching, awaiting any calls or texts decided to head back to the car myself. By the time I got back into the car and turned on the heat, I was done. For me the rain never stopped and I didn’t even end up watching the race, I edited the days images instead. I did end up meeting with friends later that evening at Nowhere Bar to catch a drink and recount the month. I was numb to it all.

I woke the next day and took a deep breath. It was Sunday and Derby was over, what do I do now? Where do I go from here? The rain continued and I sat down to write this blog. I can only hope 140 will be a legendary as 139.

I want to thank Chris Caswell and MyDerbyLove for opening the doors. It was just another rodeo for them, but a brand new experience for me, that has proved invaluable.

FASHION PASTICHE

I’m always very eager to write and share my experiences. At this point, I usually start off with a simple “where do I begin?”. But, never before have I been at such a loss for words. When I started this project, I knew it would be extraordinary and a lot of hard work, but its surpassed all my expectations and its been one of the most shining moments in my life. And, I’ve never worked so hard. I’ve played music in front of 12,000 people, I’ve won awards, I’ve meet some amazing people, but this… trumps it all. Sitting at “Runway For The Roses”, as the intro played, we had reached the climax of the project, thinking back, it nearly brought me to tears. I’m incredibly proud of what Antonio Pantoja, Gunnar Deatherage, Andrew Kim and myself accomplished with the help from a large majority of the Louisville, KY creative community. 

From the repressed age of the twenties to the fashionable fifties housewife to the liberated seventies disco dance then finally to the future, complete independence. It began with a simple idea; time. We felt apart of that journey and it felt as if we had traveled through wormholes each and every shoot.

It all started with a meeting at Heine Brothers Coffee, between 4 of us creatives. Gunnar needed to create a fashion show experience unlike any other. We knew of the immediate impact and knew it would be one hell of an odyssey. 12 shoots, photography, video, lighting, numerous sets, hundreds of hours, roller blades, tons of clothing, the runway and the rendering, oh the rendering…

Man, where… where do I begin? I could write a book, but instead I’ll let you just watch and witness.

Here, Now. This is Fashion Pastiche.

IT'S BEEN XPRESSED

It’s been quite difficult to balance everything that is going on in my career. For those that don’t know, I have 4 solid and steady jobs. I do social media and marketing for Outdoor Photo Gear, freelance photography for Clay Cook | Photography, graphic design for Clay Cook | Design and finally commercial cinematography for Glass Label. I get asked all the time how I find the time to do it all, the best answer is… I work nearly 14 hours a day, everyday and I absolutely love it.

My passion for photography started with all creative personal concept shoots and because of that I’ve moved into more commercial and publication work. I like the bills to be paid, but now I have little time for creative concepts  However, every so often, I’m able to participate in a project in which I have pure fervor and affection for. “Xpressed - A Portrait Set” was one of the projects.

When Josh Eskridge and I team up, through hard work and some luck, we are able conceive projects that are larger than life. When Miss Kentucky USA 2012 Amanda Mertz and I were introduced, Josh and I inquired about a shoot, we had ideas, but nothing struck a real cord. In my opinion, collaborations that work off little to no inspiration and little conceptual-ism never really have a backbone or real meat to chew on. We wanted to make sure we did this right. After some discussion, the idea was born in September of 2012. We wanted to take a dip into the 1980’s and give our fresh perspective on the aesthetic of the decade.

Sometime after the project came to fruition, Josh had casually touched base with Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2012 Tiffany Cline. That’s when the stakes were raised. We would be taking two professional pageant girls and throwing them into a high-fashion situation. The concept couldn’t be more perfect.

After months of re-scheduling and delays, things finally started to heat up when our location came to a reality. We had been gunning for the massive nightclub called “Connections”, I had had my eye on the electric dance floor for quite sometime, Josh was able to correspond with the nightclub and finally get a date. With a date, comes crunch time.

Only a few weeks out, our team had to come together quickly. Antonio Pantoja was on board from the start to provide his vision through cinematography. Isidro Valencia stepped in to take on the creative task of makeup. Without Isidro our images just wouldn’t of had the same impact. Scooter Ray offered up his services on hair, big hair, my favorite. Having worked with Scooter on tons of shoots, I was completely confident in his hair skills. Also, having a fashion designer on set would be an obvious plus! Even though I have never met Genna Yussman, I’ve worked with her wardrobe before and her creativity always shines through on a shoot. We were lucky to have her ideas and pieces. We were also lucky to have great assistant’s in Tyler Zoller and Sarah Cattan who joined the fold shortly before the date.

Unlike most of my blog post’s, I’ll spare the shoot banter and sum up its entirety over a few sentences…

Although very new to high-fashion, Tiffany and Amanda performed with flawless energy and enthusiasm, it was a perfect pick. I was impressed by Tiffany’s energy and attitude; in the words of Steve Squall, “she’s a tigershark”. Amanda had the experience and collective coolness that exploded through each image. I was very proud to work with both of them. Set after set, I was having a blast, It was just a ton of fun, with zero pressure. Something I had been missing. 

From a photography standpoint, it was play-time. I was able to experiment with hot lights, gels, triple diffusion and background lighting i.e. disco balls, black cards and window shades. Gear was spread out all over the building and thanks to Tyler Zoller, I had that time to experiment and play with lighting. I really couldn't of done it without his help and input.

The post shoot beer & pizza was amazing.

At my fault, there was a 2 week period of downtime on turnaround. A couple of days after the shoot, I high tailed it out of Louisville to a Florida vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it. Upon my return, first on my agenda was importing the images into Photoshop and going to town. Processing the images was a blast. I felt a freedom, I was able to play with a lot of color balance, levels, light leaks and flares. I knocked them out in a few days and just like old times, we shared each image at the exact same scheduled time.

The response has been mind-blowing and I truly hope we inspired others to work together, respect each others art and think outside of the box. Just like Josh, Antonio and I strive for each and every time.

SPL ICEHOUSE

The majority of images you see in my portfolio are projects that have taken time, a lot of it. It’s a true rarity that I stumble into a project that is pure gold and it happens with a flash of light. Before you know it, you're writing a novel of a blog about the lasting impact… this is one of those projects.

On January 28th, 2013 I received a Facebook message from friend and photographer Steve Squall. He mentioned something about a massive collaboration. I immediately responded with interest. An hour later I received a message from L.A. fashion photographer and Black & Grey Magazine Editor-in-chief Bil Brown. 3 other photographers were also included in the message; Josh Eskridge, Antonio Pantoja and Steve Squall. Bil would be returning to Louisville(his hometown) for a week and wanted to setup a shoot. But this shoot would be unlike anything else, it would be a full collaboration of art. After messages back and forth through the day we had our concept in place and date set.

The concept would be simple. Each photographer chooses one model. Each photographer then chooses their own stylist. Each photographer is then able to collaborate with any makeup artist or hair stylist. One look per model and every photographer shoots every model. We then share all the images and create a collage which displays some form of each photographers image for their own model. Make sense? Well, it did to us.

Unfortunately, Josh Eskridge had booked a previous shoot and had to bow out as a photographer for the project. Nevertheless, we pushed forward and ended up meeting for a quick discussion at a dinner the next evening.

Naturally, I called upon my first choice as stylist Project Runway’s and Louisville’s own Gunnar Deatherage, whom I had worked with a lot recently for NFocus Magazine. Fortunately for everyone involved he was available and on board.  I then inquired with makeup artist Micah Severo Ruelas and luckily he jumped on it immediately. Last but not least, I called upon one of my very favorite models, Casey Neel (COSMO) to rock my look. She also jumped at the chance to be involved. The final addition to the team was assistant Shanna Simpson, who had been helping out on several of my shoots. Now, things were heating up and the stylists were pulling their wardrobe looks. My team was on complete lock.

It was Wednesday and the shoot was set for Saturday. We didn’t have much time and we didn’t have a location. My mind was racing and I wanted to make this project the absolute best it could be. I went through my phone and rolodex of business cards… who would be open to bringing on this huge collaboration of artists at such short notice? I suddenly remembered that I work at Outdoor Photo Gear with the son of the owner of a massive venue and old building called “The Ice House”. I immediately inquired and Deron did the same. Then next day I was put in touch with Derek, his older brother who runs all the events at The Ice House. Two phone calls and 48 hours later, we had our location set in stone and it all came down to the wire… literally the day before the shoot was planned to take place. The only stipulation, we had to be out before 4. Call time was set early.

It seemed like a miracle, would this really be happening? Did we just plan a major project in less then a week? An astounding, yes.

Saturday came early. Unfortunately, mother nature decided to drop about an inch of snow on the ground during the night. The roads were pretty bad and it caused delays. I was one of the first to arrive and everyone seemed to trickle in at their own pace. Nevertheless  soon enough, there was a herd of photographers, models, stylists, artists and assistants all ready to rock.

Because of the snow, Josh Eskridge had his shoot re-scheduled, so he decided to pick up his camera and shoot the behind the scenes video. Friend and photographer Will Cravens would be on all the behind the scenes images. It seemed like every creative artist involved in the fashion world was in attendance and the game was on.

Upon arrival of my team, I sent Casey into hair and makeup with Micah. I made a few quick calls and then scouted the building. I knew the place fairly well as I had shot video in the building on a previous shoot. It was still a labyrinth of floors and a lot of stairs. Just as I predicted, I was in for a workout and we all would be fighting the cold. Everyone would start with their own model then move onto the next model.

I decided to start on the upper floors and work my way down. The first set included a massive opening in the wall overlooking a the river and a high-rise apartment building. Right in front of the opening was a huge pile of concrete and ruble. Lucky for me, Casey was willing to climb up on top of the ruble.

It took sometime to lock in the lighting. It was a matter of balancing natural and artificial lighting which is not an easy feat and in many cases, will push your camera to the limits. We really played with different expressions and also pushed Casey out of her box. We explored with throwing rocks and yelling out obscenities among other things. We were obviously having a blast. Not too mention Casey was setting the camera on fire.

After wrapping that set, I needed to squeeze in one more set so I hauled up one light to one of the three roofs I would be shooting on that day. Fighting the extreme cold, we trekked to the far corner in which, I wanted to move into a motion set. Casey is tall and can work in heels, so I asked her to do lunges and jump. 20 to 25 frames in, I knew we had it. I was confident in the shots and told Casey to get warm. Around that time one of Louisville’s best makeup artist Isidro Valencia showed up, just to hang out! As always, I was happy to see him!

I headed down the long flights of stairs to the main center of the building to fetch the next model Kayla Tarter, who was on Antonio’s team. We started in the same room as I just shot Casey, back up the stairs. We shot on a black wall where her styling would really pop through. Simple setup, one light. We snapped a few shots then headed back down and to a terrace rooftop on the opposite side of the building. Kayla was styled in a white sheer cocktail dress and had deer antlers connected to her head. I wanted to totally exploit that and have the “deer in headlights” and somehow awkwardly pose in the same realm. Kayla was cold and I had trouble locking in her expressions and left the set un-satisfied. My lighting was boring and I knew the post process would have to be the shining star that could save the images. Nevertheless, I knew something magical was in the air and I praise Kayla for stepping out on the rooftop wearing what she did, I give her all the props in the world.

Within 5 minutes I had another model, Katrina Fitzpatrick, on deck. Steve Squall and Bil Brown were blowing through sets and had some downtime. On the other hand, Antonio and I had large setups and I was spending most of my time climbing stairs. Once Katrina completed her set with Antonio, just like a baton, we passed models. I headed directly up the steps to the very top roof. The roof was slick. I definitely fell and Katrina almost fell on several occasions. Looking back, I should have been more cautious and went for another area, but I’m one to not settle for less and I tend to push my models to the max.  We setup on the outer rim of the roof with a large zone of electrical towers and dangerous looking metal blocks that warned us from being on the roof. The snow was coming down and I was slipping all over the place. I corrected composition and blasted the shutter, upon review I was content. We moved towards the back side of the roof and proceeded to defy logic. I had Katrina pose on a green metal panel and in what looked like some quarantined military base. At the point we had locked in it, she was killing her expressions and completely ignoring the cold. You could tell Katrina had some experience in NYC and much like Casey, she set the camera ablaze.

After our set with Katrina I knew I had one final set with Megan Martin and we would wrap the day. But to be honest, by that time I was nearly spent. My time was coming down to the wire, I knew had to knock it out. My team and I grabbed all my gear and venture back down to the main level where we would stay and I would finish out the day. As predicted, Megan was ready to rock. We began in the basement.

Our first set was on a few old cars that I happened to find in a small room on the back side of the dark and decrepit basement. I knew Megan was tired, but I had to make the best of it. I did some extreme dramatic lighting on top and to the side of the cars, I was happy with it on set, but in the end I wasn't happy with the composition. Quickly we hauled everything into a middle room where it seemed as if everyone photographer wanted to finish their last set. We were all setup in different corners of the room and it seemed as if this was meant to be. I popped off a few shots with Megan in front of a cool green door, she posed with elegance, I got the shot and I called it a day. My mind was burned and I was freezing. 

We wrapped right at 4:00pm and I diligently packed up my gear. Everyone quietly discussed the day as we all exited on our own terms. We discussed plans for the evening and decided to meet for drinks and dinner at the Silver Dollar. Once I arrived my mind settled and I scanned through all the images, I realized I had actually nailed some really epic stuff. After we dinner, we said our goodbyes. Excitement was in the air, I returned to my office to immediately edit with Casey Neel who wanted to watch the process.

Everything moved quickly. Within hours Bil and Steve were uploading images. But, I wanted to be more calculated and hit it on high engagement times. My first image came out the following Monday, with a bang. The response was incredible and the out reach of people regarding the concept was amazing in itself. Several edits later, I had completed the project and finalized with the collage. Call me a nerd, but I haven’t had fun in Adobe Phototshop like that for sometime  There was a freedom there, that I don't experience a lot.

The world of photography is so competitive and there can be so much drama surrounding it. That day we told the world, you can do it. You can work together to achieve something great.

“Unite, friends. You have the potential, the talent, and the fortitude to take EVERYTHING to the next level. It doesn’t matter who is on top now - fame is fleeting - what matters is, that you are consistently driving yourselves to be OPEN, to MAINTAIN your VALUES and above all…

Do it TOGETHER. Don’t go BACK to the way it was. Ever.

Take yesterday as a new beginning of creative collaboration. Understanding. Those that want to stay the same, fight with each other over the smallest piece of pie, over dollars and cents… let them fight. Let them choke on it.” - Bil Brown

PHOTOGRAPHERS: CLAY COOK, STEVE SQUALL, BIL BROWN, ANTONIO PANTOJA

STYLING: GUNNAR DEATHERAGE, COURTNEY BLANTON, CHINA RAE SOPER, HEATHER LACE PRICE

MAKEUP: MICAH SEVERO RUELAS, MORGAN ELIZABETH

HAIR: MICAH SEVERO RUELAS, RIAN MILLER

ASSISTANCE: SHANNA SIMPSON, JOEY GOLDSMITH, JESSICA CARMEN

BEHIND THE SCENES(PHOTO): DEUCE LEADER, WILL CRAVENS

BEHIND THE SCENES(VIDEO): JOSH ESKRIDGE

Special thanks to Deron and Derek Stienbrecher with The Ice House, Dillard’s and B Chic Louisville. The project came full circle with our individual collages of images. There has been and will be nothing like it for sometime to come.

PEG BOARD CHALLENGE

Many of my blog posts start of with philosophical statements or they dive right into a backstory, but this time around I’ll be breaking the trail and venturing into technical details. If your not a striving professional photographer, then this post probably won’t keep your interest.

The shoot came out of left field. A student from Manual High School, Meg, touched base with me about doing a photo journalism project on my photography. I was both flattered and delighted. I immediately started planning a shoot that would fit within Meg’s deadline. Several days later, we had a shoot booked and plans in place. I took the opportunity of a fashion forward shoot to experiment and try some new lighting techniques that had been on the back of my mind. Several months ago, I happened on a photograph in which the photographer used industrial peg board to build a set and shoot light through the holes. The images were pretty poor, but the idea was definitely there. I wanted to take the idea, put it in the realm of fashion photography and expand on it.

I stopped by Home Depot and stumbled onto 3 decent size peg board sheets. I knew I needed something large but also mobile. So, I decided to create a 3 piece section using hinges, so I could fold it to fit in my car. The construction took every bit of 3 hours to piece together, but once the assembly was complete, my confidence was raised.

Day of the shoot. The models arrived and styling began immediately. Meg showed up and I made introductions then started working on my setup. I kept my cool, but was slightly frantic. Everything was improvised, first thing was first; I didn’t exactly know how I would hang the peg board to cover the 3 quarter portion of the models body. So, I went to the first thing that came to my brain, duct tape. Fortunately, Josh had some white duct tape laying around. I setup a background set and duct tape the center sheet to the horizontal bar. Then set up stands on the corners to hold the remaining weight.

I knew I needed to shoot light through the board, so I started with bare bulb Alien Bee B800 strobes bouncing of the parallel walls for a wide span of light. First test shot, nothing. The light simply wasn't wide enough to pour light through every hole and not nearly powerful enough. So I turned the lights around directly to the back of the board, it worked, but I only had a 14 inch diameter of spotlight coming through. So I started messing with modifiers to cover a greater area.

An hour into hair/makeup I was still locking in light. I had finally landed on a large Octobox and small softbox to cover the right side of the peg board, this would be my main source of lighting. Behind the center sheet and left sheet I placed two large stripboxes for fill. 

My next challenge was key light. I messed with grids, bare bulbs and even beauty dishes in front of the boards. Granted it was perfectly exposed and looked great, but it really washed out the back lighting and nothing was creating the drama I wanted. So, out of pure experimentation, I setup a 30-inch silver reflector in attempt to bounce all the back-lighting to the subject, just like that I had the drama I wanted. But there were still several issues…

Because of the shape of the octobox, the entire right side was peering out from behind the peg boad and created some nasty blow out highlights. So I taped a double thick white diffuser on the right side of the octobox to reduce the light and it worked perfectly.

After every bit of two hours messing with the power levels and diffusion of the strobes through the peg board, I had it tested and ready to go. Conveniently, as I locked in the lighting, the models were ready to rock. 

The first set, absolutely rocked. I gave myself a pat on the back and was proud of the setup. I knew it would require some slight post processing, but I was very happy with what I was seeing on my camera. By the second set, I knew I was forgetting something… fog. My original intent was to have the lights gleam through the peg board and have a mysterious aura about them with fog rising from below. Instead, I got a much better result. A consistent washed out look that couldn’t be done with post processing. The fog acted as a natural diffuser that played in my favor.

This what I was seeing on the back of my camera. This shot is 100% straight out of camera with ZERO editing:

As we blazed through sets, I began experimenting with the position of the stripboxes and changed it up many times. However, the bulk of the final images used the exact setup throughout. The styling really played a crucial role in the look of the images. I’m so happy with the team we had that day, the images shined because of everyone’s part in the shoot. I think Meg walked away with a fun understanding of how we spend our days with lights, models and makeup.

We closed the evening with another set in which I solely used two lights with stripboxes. A true experimentation, but that’s for another day.

I use shoots like this to both challenge myself as a photographer and also to find new unique ways to use artificial lighting. Many photographers get stuck using the standard 3 light setup and get wrapped up in client work to much to have fun. I’ve learned to step away and use opportunities like this to step outside the box.

Everything was captured on video by photographer and now videographer, Josh Eskridge. Check out the behind the scenes video below to grasp a bit more of the actual peg board challenge.

2012 - A REVIEW

I could probably fill a pool with the amount of blood, sweat and tears I put into 2012. It has by far been the most hardworking, hectic, yet awe-inspiring year of my life. I was lucky enough to accomplish all goals I had set out for myself and more. From leaving my dayjob of 8 years and being pressed in national publications to little things like opening a business bank account, all were milestones to me.

Today officially marks the second year of my photography career. Looking back, I’ve come such a long way and there are too many people to thank for having a hand in the success I’ve earned in that short amount of time. Nevertheless I must highlight 8 people, whether it be a constant inspiration or simply being a friend; these people are a big reason I’ve accomplished such goals in 2012.

• Josh Eskridge - Photography

• Lana Wilson - Photography

• Scooter Ray - Fashion Design, Hair, Makeup

• Micah Severo Ruelas - Hair, Makeup

• Joey Goldsmith - Photography

• Missy Brown - Photography

• Antonio Pantoja - Cinematography

• Chris Klapheke - Outdoor Photo Gear

For all those that have given me a “Like” on Facebook or commented on an image, whether it be good or bad, I can’t thank you enough. Having a constant source of opinion and feedback is really invaluable. I’m proud of both my success and failures. Pure determination for success and the constant yearn for a challenge is what I’ve always stood by and will continue to do so in 2013. I'm supremely confident in where I am and where the future path leads. I’ve met so many great people and I'm truly blessed. My goals for 2013 are very strong and will require a lot of time and fortitude, but I’m up for the challenge and here to succeed. This is a very exciting time for myself and a few creative peers around me. Ideas are abound and I predict magical things over the course of the pending months. 

The black stain that was left from my years starving in the music business has been washed clean and I can finally say, I believe hard work, pays off.

Happy Holidays and Cheers to 2013.

BEHIND THE SCENES

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The morning of the shoot, Antonio Pantoja and I were having a discussion about challenges…

I keep a close eye on many artists from all over the world. I’ve noticed that some photographers, over time… become worse. Shouldn't one become wiser and more educated as time moves forward? In the cases I’ve seen, it boils down to one belief; they simply stop challenging them-self. They may get comfortable with their setups or niche their way into an editing style that is widely accepted. Whatever the reason may be, I see it all the time in any form of art. The staleness starts to reek and the art grows tired. Without failure, that’s an easy path to stumble upon.

Several months ago I was approached by Kathy Campbell to shoot a promotional video for her agency Heyman Talent. I was completely on board and it was simply a matter of scheduling a date at that point. Fast forward a month, I met with Louisville stylist Chris Caswell regarding a few test shoots in 2013. An idea was sparked and he offered me the opportunity to shoot an entirely new ad for Heyman. After a brief conversation with Kathy it was decided I would take the given circumstances and shoot not only photography but also the promotional video we had spoke about weeks earlier.

After the date had been set, I made a quick realization that I would need some serious help to make magic a reality. So I enlisted my right hand man, Antonio Pantoja to help with the cinematography and possibly assist the photography portion of the day.

After a meeting with the stylist Chris Caswell and a short scout of his studio “CCaswell Inc.”, I was confident we could create something out of the small space with spark and glamour. Little did I know, it would create some extreme challenges right out of the gate.

Call time was 9:30am, Sunday December 9th. I arrived right on time to find most of the models early. Things moved quickly and hair/makeup preparations started immediately. I knew I would have a few hours of down time, so I prepared the set and tested a few lighting scenarios. After two hours, I had nothing but bad lighting and a mess of modifiers sprawled across the set. A few of the models were ready to go, so I asked Antonio to go ahead and start some filming runway walks and posing in the other room while I tried my had at a few other setups. I was frustrated. The ceiling was far to low to boom a light and there wasn't enough width to pull of a nice 45 degree key light, I was purely out of options.

Sometime ago, I had read into some photographers using composites for group editorials and individually lighting each person, merging the shots in Photoshop then masking out the light in post. I really didn’t know how it was done in details, but I had been backed into a corner and a composite was the only answer. A challenge I gladly accepted.

To avoid any lens distortion and capture a nice depth, I decided to use my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens in lieu of my 14-24mm f/2.8 workhorse. The problem here was that I had to be outside of the building in order to get everyone in frame, so I did just that. I locked the outer doors wide open and setup my camera on a tripod nearly 30 feet away from the subjects who were inside the studio. The models were ready and I was as prepared as I could be.

After a quick explanation to the models of what I would be doing. One by one, I asked Antonio to hold the light at 90 degrees above for a nice even light over each model. As the shots were fired off, I became more and more confident in the final result. I had to remind the models to be perfectly still and remain statuesque, but there was no going back now. Despite all odds, I reviewed the shots and was energetic and happy with the results. 80 shots later, we were done. I made sure to capture a clean background shot and a few basic boom lit shots for backup, just incase the composite didn’t work out.

The day was closing in fast, so we had to move quick. As soon as we wrapped the stills, I grabbed the Canon 5D Mark II and started assisting Antonio for the video. We moved from set to set working with each model and trying new lighting techniques. Two hours later we were upbeat about the footage and I was ready to wrap the day.

Like an other challenge, I took the project head on and immediately started editing the composite. It required many hours of messing around with ideas and working the background. When all was said in done I had completed the image with 60 layers in Photoshop and nearly 8 hours of time. I’ve broken down each image I used for the composite and also included a video where I breakdown the layers in Photoshop.

With the completion of the composite, the fun didn’t end there, I dove right into the video. There were certainly a few “3am nights” that were spent to make this project happen in the time frame it did. I spent an absorbanent amount of time perfecting the color grade and working in all the post effects. Luckily, Antonio is an extremely talented filmmaker and he made my job a whole lot easier. Check out the final result below, titled “Heyman Talent Agency”.

Thanks to the entire team for making this day, absolute magic. In all truth, taxing projects like this, define us as artists.