I’ve always preached the importance of “shooting more” and showing more people.  And what better way than to start with things that you are passionate about.  For me….family and doing things outside.  Simple.  They are my best teachers, muses, subjects and reasons for capturing good moments.  When you can let go of the restraints of “what you have to shoot” and get in touch with “what you like to shoot,” you will undoubtedly find who you are an an artist.

I had the privilege of going out to Mosquito Lagoon with Willy Le of Native Fly Charters.  Willy and I became fast friends after we worked together down in the Keys during an Everglades Boats shoot.  We share a passion for fly-fishing and followed through with a trip to the coast to chase some redfish around.  Willy is an incredible fisherman, photographer and guide.  He knows those waters well and can spot a redfish from damn near a country mile away.

I shot some photos of our adventure.

A huge thank you to Willy for hosting me and pushing that boat around all day.  It was a humbling, yet more importantly, awesome experience.

Check out his site.  Great report and blog in there.  Willy Le  NativeFlyCharters.com

Back in September, I had the privilege of working with Mastercraft Boats to shoot their 2012 line.  It was a real game-changer for the boat industry and I’m proud to say that I was a part of it.  It’s a great feeling when people take risks, step outside the comfort zone and create something to be admired and followed as opposed to falling in suit with everything else.   We had Nemo on board for this one and they kicked some serious ass.  They were essentially responsible for creating the lifestyle-heavy concept, bringing the vibe and executing the idea all the way through.  Its so nice to experience creative people becoming infectious and pulling the best parts out of everyone on the team.  We all “got It”….and it shows.

Huge thanks to:

Trevor Graves / Nemo   Agency

Jay MF Floyd   Art Director

Jason Boertje  Mastercraft

Rebecca Hynes    Producer

Ian Reid   1st Assistant

Jess Gruneisen   2nd Assistant

Matt Staker   Photo Boat driver

All of the athletes and models involved.  I really appreciate you going with the flow and making it fun.  Its makes a huge difference.

My family.  This is what it’s really all about.  No matter how many lavish hotels, amazing destinations, first class upgrades and cool stories I get to experience…it doesn’t come close to what I’ve already got right in my sweet little hand.  They make it possible for me to do what I love and I appreciate that more than anything.  Here’s to a great year and the back half of that round trip ticket to paradise.

I figured I’d stay on a roll here.  This is little edit that Ian put together after we shot the Nike BMX team out in LA last year.  We had a local high school shut down and had an all access pass, all night.   I’ve attached some images that were used in the campaign so you can get an idea of the result.  Enjoy.

I just finished shipping the first of a series of 4 newsprint promo pieces.  This first one was themed “at_night” and showcases work that was shot primarily on the recent NIke “Chosen” print campaign.

We put together a little BTS video that takes you through our process from concept to print.   A huge thanks to my main man, Ian Reid, for putting in a rediculous amount of hours to shoot, edit and put it all together.  It was a huge learning experience for us both.

Back in July, I got a request from Runner’s World Magazine to shoot a sunrise running series on spec.  It would potentially be used as a spread to open a section appropriately entitled “Morning Run.”   It was a really quick turnaround time.  I needed a runner, a location, and an idea.  I personally like being in a time crunch.  Like my man, Justin Stephens, always tells me… “with constraint, comes creativity.”  So, I made a facebook post looking for runner, found a willing friend within an hour and I headed for the coast.  Just before dark, I scouted this boardwalk that I’ve ran down many of times to go surf and laid claim on the spot.  Our awesome runner, Caroline, and my cousin Justin met me at 5:30am the next morning, but the sun decided to sleep in.  The biggest lesson in photography…let go of all expectations.  This is the moment when becoming more than photographer comes in to play.  You have to adapt, nothing is ever going to be like the sketch in your notebook.  Adapt.  It may not be what you thought, so make it what it IS.  We shot for 2 hours, experimented, watched the sun peek out for a hot minute and packed it up by 9.  In the end…we got the spread.  Nothing comes easy.  You have to go through the process.  You’ve gotta do the work.  Set your intention, reach out, build your team and adapt.  Magical things will happen.  Thanks again Caroline and Justin.

Yeah, this is really happening right now.  Over a year of late night brain storms, sloppy notes, sketches,  dreams, mind-changes, meetings, conversations, tweaks, revisions, reviews and whole hell of of lot of patience.   I’m gonna let her fly.   In short:  New logo, new website, a newsprint promo piece and a new custom-bound portfolio.

Yes, I’m excited….beyond belief.   I’m anxious for you to jump in there and check it all out.  Read through the whole post here for a complete breakdown of all the website’s features.  But first, I can’t go on another second without calling out the key players that really made this Brand overhaul a reality.

Amanda Sosa Stone.   She’s an amazing photographer’s consultant that I’ve had the privilege of working with for the past year.   if you’re looking for someone that can walk you through the entire process, breakdown your body of work with no personal attachments and make sense of the bigger picture…then she is your ticket.  She dissected over 5000 images and challenged my every-last attachment I had to them.  The result:  Clarity and confidence for how I shoot and what I like to shoot.

Steve Hoskins.  If you follow this blog, you’ve seen this dude.   He’s got big hair and a mustache.  In fact, I devoted an entire post to him that consisted of all the “stand-in” shots that I so torturously put him through.   He’s one of the lead Art Directors over at Nemo.  We spent well over a year straight with each other working on all of the Nike 6.0 campaigns.   He did all of Branding and initial creative direction that gave this whole project a face.  Thanks for the face, dude.  It’s pretty.  I like it.

Wilkie Birdsall. Mike and Jenn are the web developers that made the whole schematic visual in my head, a reality.   It’s one thing to “think it” and completely another to make it all “work” with functionality, style and positive user experience.  I came to them with a list of ideas and they would return with solutions and better ideas.  The result:  A website that will reshape the way I communicate and convey my work to clients.

Thank you all so very much, I truly couldn’t have done it without you.  I can’t say enough about building a team that’s right for you.  Creativity, Ingenuity and Inspiration can’t survive on their own.