Editorial photographer

January Update

This one is definitely a little late, but each month this year I'm going to try and give a brief update as to some of the projects I've done each month. January was a crazy one. I was coming out of a slow month of work (the holiday's always slow things down). The month started out with an instagram connection to local filmaker, Mike Vance (Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/mikevance). 

Next, was a shoot I did of one of my wife's friends. Her name is Neema, and she is a refugee from the Congo. You can read her story here: Neema. I did this and Mike's shoot right after I got my first canvas backdrop. I loved the tones and feel of it.

This next shoot was one for TOPs Magazine. This is a portrait of Renee Murphy. She is a news anchor here in Louisville for WHAS news. She was as nice in person as she is on TV!

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Next up was a concept shoot I did with my friends new Subaru STI. We wanted to capture some images that look like they could have been used in an advertisement. I love the look and feel of this image. This one shot took about 1 hour to shoot and 2+ hours to edit. I light painted with a Phottix Indra strobe and stacked the photos in Photoshop. I think the PSD (Photoshop file type) was over 3GBs. 

This was another shoot I did for TOPs. It is of "Super Mom" Chesson Hazelwood. Read the story here: http://www.topslouisville.com/Read/8939/Supermom%3A+Chesson+Hazelwood

This next shoot is for my friend's new company, Spartan. He is making awesome lid organizers and lid organizer mounting plates for Pelican 1510 and 1535 cases. I couldn't just have one photo because this product is awesome and I give it my highest recommendation. Seriously check it out! 

This was one of my favorite shoots. I wanted to challenge myself with lighting and I normally shoot with artificial light. This was all natural window light. I had a scrim up on camera right to diffuse the light even more. This was shot for the Voice Tribune's food issue. The restaurant featured here was the 502 Bar and Bistro.

Close to the end of the month now, I connected with local artist Mallory Mesiner. She makes lots of awesome drawings and paintings and does custom portraits! We did a few photos and a short promo video!

Last, but not least, we did a part 2 of my friends Subaru STI. This time the focus was one the car's details. I had to include a couple photos here cause this thing was a beast. 

Food Photography is the Best!

I don't get to photograph food nearly as much as I would like. This shoot was for The Voice-Tribune's feature about some of the awesome restaurants around Derby City (that's Louisville long-standing nickname thanks to the Kentucky Derby). My assignment was to photograph the 502 Bar & Bistro's signature dish, Pan-Seared Diver Scallops with Heart of Palm Salad and Yuzu Crème Fraiche, along with Executive Chef Ming Pu. 

For this shoot, I photographed the entire shoot with all natural light coming in first through a window, then through a diffuser to create a nice natural polished look to both the food shots and the portrait.

Gear Used:

Food photography is something I rarely do, so that's why it's not included in my portfolio, however, it is one of my favorites! Not for the art form, just because I am a nut about good food. Moving to the Highlands neighborhood was probably influenced mostly by Louisville's food scene. There are some of my wife and I's favorite Bardstown Road restaurants right around the corner from our apartment. We also are close enough to Nulu, Germantown, and Clifton/Cresent Hill to enjoy some of the best food in our city. 

Here is a list of some of my favorite places to eat in Louisville!

Highlands Neighborhood:

  • Louvino - Italian Small Plates and Wine Bar
  • Stout Burgers and Beer - between 5 PM and 6PM, all food is half off!
  • Holy Grale/Gralehaus - Amazing burgers and brunch (brunch is at Gralehaus)
  • Game - amazing burgers with exotic meats 
  • Highland Morning - Delicious breakfast at reasonable prices
  • Ramsi's On the World Cafe - International food from all over the world

Nulu:

  • Feast/Royals - Both owned by HiCotton, both amazing!
  • Mayan Cafe - authentic Mayan food in the heart of Louisville
  • Harvest - amazing farm to table restaurant featuring local farmers
  • Rye - amazing American food and cocktails

Germantown:

  • Hammerheads - The sister restaurant to Game
  • Four Pegs - Super underrated burgers and Chicken-And-Waffles. It's amazing! GO!
  • Eiderdown - European Inspired Southern Comfort Food
  • The Post - New York style pizza only a neighborhood away

Clifton/Cresent Hill:

  • Varanese - Mediterranean and New American. They have an awesome Jazz band!
  • Volare - Amazing Italian. I've had the pleasure of photographing here!
  • Blue Dog Bakery - Go try their Egg Pizza, it's not what you think. Also best bread in the State
  • Irish Rover - Cozy Irish restaurant in an old converted house turned Irish pub
  • El Mundo - some of the best Mexican Food in town!
  • The Grape Leaf - awesome Middle-East food on a budget!

What's In My Bag?

Here is what's in my camera and flash bags.

Camera Bag (Think Tank Retrospective)

Lighting Bag

Other

Everything is linked via my Amazon affiliate links, if you decide to buy from amazon please use my links! Everything I own has a purpose. I don't own 15 lenses because these are the only ones I need for my style of shooting. I always will have a 50mm lens (read about why here) and something a little wider, like a 35mm. When the job calls for it I rent whatever is needed. Currently toying with the idea of switching to a Sony A7RII or Fuji X-T2 for the addition of 4K video.

Click here for all the gear that I recommend

Creative Space

Louisville is rich with some of the most creative people. With so many artists, painters, directors, photographers, and designers, Louisville is one of the most creative cities. I started this project by accident. I had scheduled a few test shoots with some people in the creative industry and decided to expand it into a personal project to feature some of the creatives in our community. 

The idea was to produce a portrait of my subject in their place of work and then take a couple shots of them working on their craft. I've also started making a short promo video highlighting the artists at work. 

This is an on-going project, to see the on-going project see this page here: Creative Space. Below are some of the artists I have had the pleasure of photographing. If you are a creative either here in Louisville or anywhere and want to be featured please contact me here: Contact

See some of the videos I have created for this project here: Creative Space Playlist

Subaru WRX STI - Teaser

Last weekend, my buddies and I shot a car commercial and some promotional photos of a Subaru STI. We shot a rolling shot on the new bridge in Louisville, Ky and some photos on a parking garage roof. I'm still working on the photos so be on the lookout for those. Here is the final video.