Monday, August 30, 2021

Back In The Saddle...

Seven years ago, I was hired by St. Augustine Social Magazine as a photographer. It was a real magazine with a shiny cover and pages and an editor and everything. But before the first issue ever went to print, I was asked if I wanted to write articles for the magazine, as well.

My first article was what became known as "Spot Check". I would check out local eateries, sample the food and photograph it.

Tough gig, right?

My product photography background was, let's say, "lacking", so photographing food helped me hone those skills.It finally got to the point where I was quite comfortable doing what I was doing, despite the fact that my role with the magazine was more on the literary side than I expected:

 




I then started a column call "The Music Chair", with an idea stolen from a friend of mine in California. I dragged this gawd-awful green wing-back chair all over town, and photograph local musicians sitting in it for a photo to accompany the interview I did with them. It was a blast:

 




I retired the chair when I sold off my 1999 Ford Explorer. The sad reality is that the chair wouldn't fit in the Nissan Altima I'd purchased. "The Musical Chair" then became just a metaphor for being photographed for the magazine. It was now more the article than the chair. This allowed for some interesting "environmental portraits" that the chair would never allow: 


 



 

Not soon after, the world was hit by Covid-19. Everything stopped. My photography business ground to a halt in a hurry. Because of when Covid hit, and the fact that I did some traveling overseas in 2019, it was almost three years before I had any work with the magazine. It definitely sucked, but it also allowed me time to focus and re-evaluate things; what I wanted to do, what I felt was important, yadayadayada. I did some traveling with my daughter and drove coast to coast, seeing and experiencing those things you can only experience from the highway. It was worrisome, to be sure, but there was also a part of it all that was a bit exciting, too.

I definitely enjoy writing, but photography is where my primary interest is. If I get to write some, that'll be great. But the photography aspect is where I want to spend the majority of my time. And, the best part is that it looks like I'll be able to do exactly that, as I've been asked to focus on photography for the magazine. Seven years ago, in 2014, I was the magazine's first employee. They didn't even have an editor yet. Naturally, I feel a strong connection to the magazine so, when the publisher asked me back as a photographer, I couldn't say "yes" quickly enough.

I'm excited to see what a post-Covid world will bring, photograph-wise. The phone is starting to ring, the e-mails are starting to come in, and it's beginning to look like we may even get back on an even keel before too long. That'll be nice, especially considering the seas in which we've been sailing the last few years...



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Sunday, August 8, 2021

So, What's On Deck?

You know, I really hate unpacking. I'm just now unpacking from a weekend trip I did to New Orleans back in June. It's horrible, I know. Somewhere, I think, I may even have a yet to be unpacked bag from the cross country trip.

The upside, though, is that I've now got time to do that unpacking. See, not long after coming back from New Orleans I have two week long shoots in the time span of three weeks. It was fun and profitable, but also time consuming. I decided I would rein it in a bit in August. The only shooting I plan on doing in August is for my tattoo project.

What's that? You don't know about the tattoo project? Well, click here: The American Ink Project

That project's been going on embarrassingly too long, so I need to give it a swift kick in the ass to get it back on track. Let me know if you'd like to take part!

Travel-wise? I don't know that there's anything on the calendar just yet. I'm always up for an impromptu road trip, but as far as one of those trips which requires actual planning? Yeah, I got nothin'. In all honesty,  the next thing  I actually "gear up" for to shoot will be Biketoberfest in Daytona. There are also a few smaller regional car shows that I want to hit to generate some content for another website of mine, High Octane Photography. 

Oh, you're not familiar with that? Click here and check it out: High Octane Photography

And, of course, seeing as schools are reopening post-Covid, I'll be getting back into my college photography in September. That should carry me through the end of November and then start back up in January.

So, it's not like I won't be busy, I just won't be on the road that much (I think I did enough of that this year, anyway). It'll be nice to be able to not worry about packing a bag for a trip.

Which, of course, means I won't be unpacking, either...

The Final Hours...

The final hours in Seattle were fun, low voltage and relaxing. Jess and I have learned not to plan minute by minute and having everything la...