Feedback: Day One

Yesterday was the first full day of the Feedback Conference in beautiful Lake Junaluska. To put it simply, I'm having a BLAST. I'm rubbing elbows with some of the best and brightest bands in the Christian indy scene. There is so much talent on display. Even the super young bands have ridiculous amounts of potential.

While here, I'm giving away two full photo shoots. Upon arriving here Thursday afternoon, we imediately got to work. Good Tomorrow is a (mostly) North Carolina based band playing some great rock. The shots they had already weren't bad at all. In fact, they were much MUCH better than most of the bands I'd seen... But I knew we could do even better. Check out some of the shots (not QUITE finished) below.

Friday was packed full of excellent speakers and performances. Rory Noland, Fate of Angels, Ryan Dobson, Disciple and Blaine Hogan. What a day! These musicians have been nourished, coached, goaded, scolded and most of all encouraged. So much fun.

Stay tuned for more... It's coming!

Triathletes for Africa

Chad Nikazy has been a friend of mine for about four years now. Perhaps that's why it's been so difficult for me to write this post. I've been trying to express just how excited I am about what he's doing without sounding goofy or fake.

Chad has combined his love of triathlons with his desire to make an impact in the world, particularly in Africa. Earlier this year he founded Triathletes for Africa. He goes to the many and various races that he would normally be at anyhow (and quite a few others) and collects lightly used shoes from spectators and athletes. These shoes are then taken to Africa and distributed by different NGOs. It's a simple solution to a huge problem, and I love it.

Be sure to drop by www.triforafrica.com and find out how you can get involved.

Oh! So anyhow, I got to shoot some promo shots for Chad and the organization. We also did some shots of him training for the various publications that he's trying to get some attention from. They like to see that sort of thing so they know he really DOES do what he claims.

When nature lets you down...

Bob, a great friend of mine, wanted a photo of the fireflies around his cabin. He's not planning on being here forever and wants something to take with him that will remind him of the hazy, bug filled evenings of Tennessee. We picked an evening a couple of weeks ago to try to capture the little buggers. It was hot. It was buggy (I have the bites to prove it). It even had the fireflies we were looking for.

Unfortunately, they KNEW we were their to photograph them and they ended up getting camera shy. We shot and shot and never got more than one or two in a shot. When nature lets you down, that's where technology comes in. The image above is a complete digital manipulation. Of the fireflies you see in the image, only three on the far right were actually there. The rest are all cut, moved, stretched, flipped and generally pulled from other shots we took.

This is all a perfect setup for the HUGE ethical gray area that is digital manipulation. That image is a good representation of what Bob sees on a regular basis. Heck, *I* saw things that looked like that while I was there. But that image never happened. It's a fabrication. It's a lie. It is not a documentation... But it's accurate to his memory. None of that really matters for this image, but what about photojournalism? Don't think that happens? Here's a story about a Reuter's photographer you may remember from a couple of years ago. That photographer was only caught because of the heavy handed, poor nature of his changes. National Geographic recently had to admit that many of their photos had been significantly altered for publication. Thousands of photo's are "tweaked" every day and published without hesitation. Is there any level of acceptable changes? Where do we draw the line? How do we confirm that what we're seeing isn't faked? Welcome to the debate.

Road Trip to Gadsden, AL

About a year and a half ago, my best friend, Will, and I went on a road trip to Gadsden, AL. While there, we found the most remarkable industrial park I've ever seen. Most would probably call it an eye soar or worse, but that's just part of what made it so exciting. The place was clearly in shambles. most of the buildings had been abandoned for a long time and were showing their age. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to shoot before they were closing up for the day. This time, we had a LOT more time.

That top image is a VERY quick composite in an attempt to show a little of the park. We were roughly 8 stories up on the top of a coke factory. We spent about 4 hours total there and we were just getting warmed up. I could spend years in a place like this and never run out of inspiration. The hardest part of shooting in an environment like this is calming down enough to focus on one thing and not get distracted. Both Will and I were wishing we had some models/band to shoot. It helps to slow ones heart rate when you have a job to do.

I primarily shot medium format film (see the last picture, below), so I can't share those right now. Still, stay tuned. Perhaps they'll be coming to a gallery near you!

Shannon and Turner's Engagement Shoot

Saturday night, the three of us made the trek up to the Parthenon in Nashville. It was warm, but not unbearably so, and the sun was just going down. It gave us exactly the right kind of light for what we were wanting. Turner and Shannon laughed through the entire shoot, hopefully a sign that they were having a good time!

We tried a couple of different, more unique shots this time around and I think we got some great results. If the amount of fun I had on this shoot is any indication, I can't wait to til their wedding in October!

To see all of their photos, click here.