This is true story. My first camera, a classic Minolta SRT-101 fully manual little gem, cost me $150 in about 1973 or so when I was 7 years old. I borrowed the money from my father with a promise to work for him on one of his surveying crews for the summer to pay him back. I earned $1.50/hr (still convinced that was a 3rd world labor rate even then) to cut brush for all I was worth with men 4 and 5 times my age in the hot sweltering Virginia sun. I remember thinking I’d have Pop paid back within a few weeks but I failed to factor in expenses (lunch, a mid-day dr. pepper and a pack of “nabs”, etc.). This proved to be a valuable life lesson but nonetheless my entire summer was spent EARNING that first camera. It proved to be one of the most cherished things I’ve ever purchased partly because I worked so hard for it but mostly because it opened up a whole new world of technical challenge and creative pursuit for me. And, it has proven to be one of the most enduring pursuits of my life.

About a year ago, I decided I would procure a working model of that first camera and after a little research and digging locally and on e-bay, I finally found what I was looking for. My new “first camera” has been refurbished and calibrated to work with modern batteries and all of the moving mechanical parts are lubricated and in working order. The most amazing thing is not that it works. I could really almost care less. The amazing thing is the memories and connection with my past that the camera restores.

I still remember the smell and feel of the camera. When I first picked it up it was like traveling back in time to visit and old childhood friend. I so fondly recall those days. I still remember the smell of the film canisters which I collected and put pennies in. I remember getting photography magazines and wishing I could make images like the ones I saw . . . and of course own all of the equipment in the back of the magazine . . . some things never change I remember wanting a dark room so badly I could taste it but that was out of the question at the time.

My father would pay to develop as many bad images as I could manage to make and on occasion at first a good one or two would show up in the pile. Sort of like golf where that one good shot brings you back for the next round . . . so it was with my photography at first. I just kept coming back and back and back. Maybe I can call myself a “scratch” photographer now! Wish I could say the same for my golf game.

Well back to my story. I spent many years trying to figure out the technical side of photography and learned as much as I could absorb from books, magazines, and friends in those pre-internet days. I remember photographing anything and everything from insects on flowers, to sunsets at the beach. But my favorite thing was just chronicling our family events, trips, and life in general.

I recall a big change happening for me when my youngest sister, Liana, was born. I was about 10 at the time and evidently my fascination with her coincided pretty well with my gaining a basic understanding of the camera and she became my muse. I loved photographing her and so wanted to capture all of her milestones.

Today I have my own children. We just brought a new baby boy into the world last week and these feelings were stirred again which prompted me to finally make this post. I have loved photographing people since those early days and owe a huge debt of gratitude to my father for the opportunity and just the right amount of life lesson in the process and to my sister Liana and my entire family for serving as my practice subject then and to this day!

The first photo I’ve included below is of my new “first camera”. The second is one of my favorite shots of my mother and sister. Shots like this were fewer and further between for me back then but fortunately frequent enough to keep me coming back for more. I have always loved the power of that moment frozen in time and the potential impact it has when viewed later on. That power, the feedback loop, and the unknown potential is what continues to drive my work to this day.

But this is where it all began . . .

You can see more images here.

Click on the image below to view the web gallery of images . . .

Well let’s get on with 2010! I had the pleasure of photographing Jean & Alex at 8am on New Year’s day. Yikes! Sounded great at the time but by the second bottle of wine on New Year’s eve, I was second guessing the decision Well, as fortune would have it, the shoot was well worth it. Jeana and Alex are a great couple and so awesome together . . . a breeze and a delight to photograph. I’ll be shooting their wedding in Memphis in May and they just happened to be coming through town over on New Year’s day. So we setup a little couple’s session and bridal shoot. Thanks to Allan Mueller for assisting and Bobbie Clark for hair and makeup. This is just a taste of the fun we had. Hope you enjoy!

For the photographers out there, a number of these are shot with a tilt-shift lens to give the scene a “miniature” feeling.

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Front of card . . .

The flap . . .

Inside of card . . .

Back of card . . .

If you are interested, here is how I pulled it off. First, I went outside an hour or so before dusk and shot several images of the house. I then placed them in photoshop and treated them to look more like dark. I then searched for a suitable image of santa an his sled to layer into the money shot. Ultimately I actually bought one from a stock service. Gotta do my part to support the industry I suppose Anyway, I then blended the santa image into the money shot and applied some radial blurring, etc. Then I brought the images up on screen and photographed a series of images of the house and the money shot back onto my digital camera. Now the stage was set. Outside we went with much fanfare. Suspense builds as we shiver and wait, listening quietly. Then the big virtual fly-over and the big reveal on the back of the camera. Voila! The magic of Christmas lives on in a little girl’s 3 year old heart!

The show was held at the fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta and I was even treated to a fantastic behind the scenes tour of the place by it’s live-in caretaker who was an incredible man and story in his own right. I’ll post some shots of him soon.

I had the full run of the place and photographed both the actual show and rehearsals. Zac and all of his band mates and crew were just fantastic and so gracious and down to earth. They’ve had one incredible year and it’s easy to see why. It’s fun to see good things happen for great artists AND great people.

My primary assignment and reason for being there was to photograph Joey + Rory during the performance. Here are some shots from their time on stage. It was great to catch up with Joey and Rory again. They have been on the road and extremely busy. While most of my time was spent shooting, we did get to have some quality “down time” after the show. We’ve also started working on images for their upcoming second album. More on that later and more from the rest of the show soon. For now, I hope you like these . . .

By the way, Travis gives the best massage in all of Knoxville (well really anywhere for that matter). If you’ve got some kinks that need to get worked out, give him a call at Spa Visage!