The cover shoot for the catalog I was working on was an amazing experience. Susan Rienhart, a writer for the Citizen-Times and our model for the day, was a real trooper with the myriad of set ups we squeezed in and Sam did a great job as my assistant. She even shot the behind the scenes photo of me. Everyone did fabulous work in design, hair, make up and more. I haven't seen the finished magazine yet, but the photos look great!
Here are some highlights from the catalog shoot I finished last month. I had to shoot a myriad of products, which made the job very challenging, but also very interesting. I shot everything on a white background so they could all be easily cut out and placed on different color backgrounds for the final catalog. Next up, the cover shoot.
Ah, Fall. The cool crisp air, the warm, vibrant leaves, the snow…yes, I said snow. I’m not a fan of the cold, but I say if it’s going to get cold enough to snow, it may as well. Freezing cold weather without snow is like crème brulee without crusty caramelized top, and what’s the fun in that. So I guess if it has to be freezing this early in the year, it might as well snow, and man did it ever. Our brightly colored leaves were blanked with fat white flakes of it and what a magnificent sight. 
I’ve been shooting the most amazing homes in Asheville for our local Parade of Homes in the Citizen-Times. I got to go out, peruse, admire, and photograph a hand full of some really unique houses in the area. If I had a few million kicking around, I might be tempted to snatch one of these up. This one was my favorite. It was an old barn that was completely taken apart and reused in the house along with both new and recycled materials.
How does that flying trapeze song go? Someone flies through the air with greatest of ease? Liars. Doing the flying trapeze is really difficult. The song writers only picked those words because they rhyme. I had the great fortune to have a flying trapeze lesson and I flew through the air with great difficulty. It was a lot of fun though, I had a blast. There are some flying trapeze artists in town who are giving lessons for a month. If you are in the Asheville area and have always dreamed of running away to join the circus, here is your chance for a taste. You can find all the info you need at the following site. Click on Flying trapeze:
When it rains, it pours and I have been in a deluge of work over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been prepping for a catalog shoot that I just became the primary photographer for. I’ll be shooting clothing, food, and artwork, among other things. I’ve attached the spec sheet of clothing that I shot. I also attached some of the pieces that I sent as samples of my product photography. On top of that, I’ve been shooting gorgeous houses for the parade of homes for the newspaper’s website, and I’ll be sending highlights from that soon. For now, I need to catch up on some sleep. More news to come.
I’ve had these pictures for a while and totally forgot to send them. Back when Paul was visiting, we went down to Dupont Forest to see waterfalls. There are a bunch in a close area and we went swimming and hiking and had a great day.
Feast your eyes on the carpet of flowers at the Biltmore Estate. My good friend Ashley, from ships, is on land and came for a visit. Ashley and I worked on the MS Rotterdam together about two years ago and yesterday we went to see the Biltmore on the busiest weekend of the summer. Despite be packed chin deep with guests, we had a blast and I got in some nice shots of the estate. I love the gargoyles and I don’t know about you, but the spookiest statue for me is the cherub. Those chubby baby statues have always creeped me out. I don’t know what it is, there’s just something not right about them.
These cats belong to my friend Brie. When I stayed over at her place on the weekend we went to Cherokee, her cats decided it was time for me to get up at some ungodly hour of the morning which for me is really any hour of the morning. They wouldn’t stop mewing and rubbing against the door, so I got out of bed and decided to pester them with my camera in return. I quickly discovered that they are a couple of hams, in as much as cats can be. I don’t know if they were attracted to the clicking of my shutter, or simply liked to see their own reflections in my lens, but whatever it was, they loved the camera, and the camera loved them. 
The new job is going well. I’ve been teased and had pranks played on me at work, which means of course that my coworkers like me. I’m enjoying my new video editing job and I am quickly learning not to stay logged into my computer when I’m not around it. 
This weekend I went to Cherokee, North Carolina. I stayed with my friends Brie and Andrew, who incidentally are both beautiful people. That should make photographing them easy, but it never is on account of they are both goofballs and don’t ever seem to want to simply sit still for a camera. I’ve shot Brie a couple of times and it seems I always end up with a little series, since one shot never seems to be enough to encompass it all.
Near the smallish town called Somerset in Pennsylvania, my grandparents have a cabin. They have had this cabin since my mother was a child. Summers at “the cabin” are a long standing tradition in the family, and though I have not made it every summer of my life, it’s something I start thinking about every time summer rolls around. 
