Photographically Speaking...

Photographically speaking, this has been a pretty good year thus far.

Relying on photography for your income can be feast or famine. At the beginning of the year, things were a bit lean. I didn't do a lot of shooting at the end of last year, which means there was no one satisfying those "30 net" payment terms at the beginning of this one. But, what comes around goes around, and the month of March has been, thus far, pretty busy. Now, busy is good, because busy translates to money, but it can actually get a little out of hand, as I was reminded when I'd inadvertently double booked myself not long ago (the first time that's ever happened, by the way).

I've been trying to branch out a bit from my concert, magazine and college shooting. The Mecum Auction in January flipped a switch somewhere in my interest bank, and I've since photographed the Amelia Island Festivals of Speed, which was a pretty cool event. Cars of all size and shape and vintage were on hand:

The 6th Annual Amelia Islands Festivals of Speed...

Right on the heels of the Festivals of Speed was the 77th Annual Bike Week in Daytona Beach. You know, sometimes I wish I was on a Street Glide cruising down Main Street but, if I was, I wouldn't be able to take photos of the really smokin' bikes there. Along with automobiles, photographing motorcycles has been becoming a more and more prevalent aspect of my photography; custom bikes, especially. These things start out as a blank canvas and it's a blast to see what the artists who create them come up with:

A couple of the custom bikes at the 77th Annual Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida...

Now, in just a couple of weeks, I'll be attending the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions in West Palm Beach. Barrett-Jackson is the grand-daddy of this type of auction and, as a result, media access is historically very difficult to get.
 

My primary focus of this year, though, has to be the tattoo project. I want to get it done. I've got a couple of people lined up to be photographed, but I really do need to start beating the bushes and getting more people involved. It's also about time I start deciding on my first tattoo and the artist who'll do it. That said, I've got a couple of good shoots under my belt already:

This could be my all-time favorite portrait...

Another portrait favorite...

On top of everything else, I've got my regular gigs going, too; college photography and magazine stuff. Those help keep the lights on. But I like picking up other shoots, both paid and unpaid. I've had a few area musicians ask me about new promo photos, and I'll be heading up to the Catty Shack Ranch in Jacksonville to photograph their new residents (and some of the old ones, too!). I do this one gratis. I see it as maybe being one small way to help them do the good work that they do for some of the most majestic animals I've ever seen:

  

A couple of the current residents at The Catty Shack Ranch in Jacksonville, Florida...

So, while I've been a bit slow in updating the blog, it isn't because I've been sitting on my ass watching Netflix. I've been busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate to be able to do what I do for a living. I've had the big six-figure gigs and I've also had to scrape by and what I've learned through it all is that there's simply no way to put a price on doing what you love for a living.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go scout out a couple of photo locales...