The Process

From the very beginning of my journey through the world of commercial photography, I’ve preached one thing: production at the start brings you the image you hope for at the end. Let’s produce a job the right way from the very beginning and I guarantee everyone will be happy. A recent client took this to heart. I think you’ll agree, as they have, that there’s no trading great production.

The following set of images takes you through a bit of the process. The first image is from my website. It’s the reason I was chosen for the job. The second image is a test, keeping in mind the criteria set by the client. And finally, the last few images are from the shoot.It’s all about the process. From start to finish, the most important thing in mind was great imagery.

Charlotte School of Law Viewbook

As a commercial and advertising photographer, I most often create photographs that fit into a much larger puzzle of imagery for my clients. It's always nice when I have an opportunity to work with a great organization and art director to capture all of the images for an entire product line, a whole website, or a complete piece of collateral.

Just recently, I had an opportunity to do just that. I was asked to capture images for a new admissions book. The outcome of that shoot landed in my inbox a few days ago: the final PDF version of a printed Admissions Viewbook for the Charlotte School of Law. It is a great feeling to see a piece that is well designed and image-driven, especially when all the images are ones that I shot. I'm proud of this work and thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating it.

With about a dozen students standing by on shoot day, we were able to put together scenarios that made sense and made great photographs. We rolled from one scene to another using minimal lighting and just the right gear and camera angles. I'm really happy with the outcome. And I'm really happy to have had the opportunity to work with a killer art director.
Have a look.

Skyline: Charlotte, NC

I remember the very first skyline I shot about 25 years ago. It was a summer night, hot but clear. I was a student in Atlanta, GA at The Art Institute and I was looking for the ultimate spot to catch the city known as The Big Peach. Hotlanta.

After a couple of hours of driving around, I finally found THE spot. A bridge just out of downtown with the interstate running beneath. It seemed like a perfect place. On the night in question there were about 20 other photographers standing by tripods. The bridge was famous for catching the right shot.

I jockeyed for position. Set my tripod in place and put my new 35mm FM2 on top of it. That night I must have shot 4 rolls of film (Remember film). It was gorgeous and somewhat reminiscent of a recent attempt here in Charlotte.

Same sort of night - hot, but thankfully clear. My position: a bridge just out of the city with an interstate running beneath. Among a few of the obvious differences, such as I'm 25 years older, on this night I was alone on THE bridge. Oh, and I shot not with my trusty FM2, but with a Hasselblad outfitted with a 40 megapixel back tethered to a laptop.

Though many things have changed, one thing remains the same, a gorgeous shot of a skyline can always excite.