In the News

David Boraks did a very nice article about our portrait project on his website - DAVIDSONNEWS.NET.
We appreciate the coverage and we've gotten some great feedback on the project.
Check back soon for images from a fun wedding I photographed Saturday in Winston-Salem.

Unveiling the "Faces"

We first announced the project in February, started photography in March and today we are happy to unveil our "Faces of Davidson" pictures.
Click here to see the images. Scroll to the menu section and select Faces of Davidson. Be sure to roll over caption to learn more about the subjects.
Betsy and I wanted to thank everyone involved, from the many people who offered suggestions to all of our subjects.
Our only regret is that it was impossible to photograph all the people that deserved to be included in this fine group.
We had a wonderful time meeting all our subjects and we hope you enjoy the results.

Luck With Light and a Bit of Blarney...

I was lucky to run into some great light on a couple of recent photo shoots.
On assignment for The London Times, I photographed North Carolina author Eric G. Wilson in Winston-Salem.
Wilson, who earlier in the day had appeared on The Today Show to talk about his book, "Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy," rushed to meet me at his office at Wake Forest University after his flight was delayed in New York.
Daylight was fading quickly but we were able to find a room where a shaft of light was still coming through the window and we did some quick shots there. The drama of the lighting was a good match for the content of his book.
I photographed Lance Drummond, a Bank of America executive, for a magazine cover. This shoot was early in the morning in uptown Charlotte but I was fortunate to again be able to utilize some excellent window light for a colorful, evocative image.
I always carry portable lights on these shoots but I also enjoy the challenge of using natural light when possible.

Wake Forest professor and author Eric G. Wilson

Wilson in his office

Lance Drummond

Our daughter Alison continues to live and work in London and she is loving the experience. She sent us some photos of a recent trip to Cork in Ireland.
She is thinking about spending several months in Ireland following her stay in London.
We miss you Ali!

Ali, far left, with her friend Amanda from Salisbury, green hat, and their Australian friends Jib and Cathy

Ali after kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle

"Faces of Davidson" Update

We're very pleased with the response we're getting to our "Faces of Davidson" portrait project.
The calls and emails have been streaming in. Keep them coming!
Remember, we're looking for interesting people from throughout the community.
We'll continue to gather names through Feb. 29th and we hope to start the portrait sessions in mid-March.
Betsy is coordinating the event and you can reach her at erecord@carolina.rr.com or by calling our studio at 704.892.9662.
Thank you for all of your great ideas!

Jim and Susan's Family at Lake Norman

I first photographed Jim and Susan's extended family a few months back and Susan wanted to get more photos of her immediate family.
They live in a magnificent home off Lake Norman which had been used for some of the filming of the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Son Colin is awaiting deployment to Afghanistan and Susan wanted more photos of him as well.
We also had to get some new pictures of son Nate and daughter Peyton.
Thanks guys, I enjoyed working with you all again!

Family photo

Jim, Peyton and Susan

Colin

Nate and Peyton

Peyton and her pal

Cover Photo

Just got a copy of the Fall 2007 Davidson Journal, which has my photograph of new college president Tom Ross on the cover.
Following many, many years of seeing my work on poor newspaper reproduction, the beautiful glossy stock of the magazine was a real treat.
One of the many bonuses of having our studio in Davidson is getting to know some of the fine folks at Davidson College. Meg Kimmel, editor of the Davidson Journal, and media relations head Bill Giduz have been wonderful to work with.
Ross is a former Superior Court Judge and he becomes the 17th president of the 170-year-old college. He has a engaging style and it was a pleasure spending some time with him.
Here is the cover and a few other photos from the session.

Davidson College President Tom Ross

I wanted to mention an incredibly interesting talk I got to attend last Friday night at The Studio at the Cedar Street Design Center in Charlotte.
Our friend Nanine Hartzenbusch, who has started a children's photography business in Charlotte, organized a gathering to hear David Hobby, the creator of the Strobist photographic lighting blog.
David also comes from a newspaper photography background and I was glad to get to pick his brain a bit. I would encourage anyone interested in better, simpler photographic lighting techniques to check Strobist.
While I think many at the gathering were expecting to get some new lighting techniques, Hobby focused his talk on his blog and how his niche site had turned into somewhat of an international phenomenon. So much so that I would be very surprised if he ever returns to newspaper work.
He started small with his ideas of how to use off-camera flashes to improve the drama and quality of your photographs. As it gained popularity, Hobby's job has changed into more of an administrative role as he funnels the huge volume of ideas he gets from his readers.
One of his main concepts is freely giving information and knowledge.
Much like David Jay's Open Source Photo, Strobist encourages everyone to share knowledge for the common good. Hobby proved to be an incredibly smart and humorous speaker and his ideas gave everyone food for thought.

Studio Session

Did a quick studio session today for Dan, a local businessman looking for some promotional photos.
Dan and I hit it off right away as we chatted about our mutual loves of golf and music. (His wife recently gave him an awesome birthday gift as he got to play Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the best courses in the world.)
My son Sean has been helping me lug equipment as he learns more about photography. (Sean actually had his first photo published in the newspaper at age 13 when he got a great shot while working with me at the Carolina Panther training camp.)
We also had some fun taking some pictures as he helped me adjust the studio lights. I was also trying to show him how you can change the mood of the photos by using one light instead of two.
We did some standard head-and-shoulders photos of Dan and then did a few that were a bit more relaxed.
Dan was great to work with and I'm hoping we can get together for some golf in the near future.

Sean looking serious as we set the lights

The many faces of Sean
We utilized one light for the second shot and two lights for the other two

Standard head shot

More interesting lighting with a relaxed pose

Fun photo shoot

I had a great time on a photo shoot today with Sara and Pooran, the talented and beautiful stylists at Poza Salon on Park Road. The photos will be used to update their website and other marketing materials.
Here are a few early favorites. Thanks ladies!

Sara and Pooran

They were a lot of fun!

The salon is colorful and stylish

It's all done with mirrors