Random Thoughts and Photos » Travel

So, are you gonna do a blog, or WHAT ???

randomphotog — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:20:19 +0000

Well, that’s what I’ve been kind of asking myself lately, because YES, I want to keep updating my blog, but I’ve had quite a busy couple of months that I’ve kept pushing this update back further, and further, and all of a sudden I realize it’s been FAR too long since I’ve updated. So, as a way of apology to the couple of devoted readers of my blog (hi Mom!), here’s an update to tell you a little bit about what I’ve been up to the last month and a half.

One of the most FUN shoots I’ve had lately, and some of the coolest shots, was for a company called Three Dog Bakery. If you’ve never heard of them, just ask your dog. I’m sure he or she has heard of them. And if he or she hasn’t, then they’ve not been paying attention to the neighborhood bark-wire. It’s a great company with their headquarters here in Kansas City, and we had WAAY too much fun shooting their new line of Summer Treats! Many, many thanks to Teri and Sarah for making the stuff look (and presumably taste) great! Here’s a couple of the shots from that session, which are now in all of their stores nationwide:

Yep - all dog treats (except the flowers and ants!)

YUMMY! (yes, people can eat them too)

MARATHONS!

Here's Betty!

Lots of marathons. One darn near every weekend in different states. From Chicago, IL to Grand Rapids, MI, to Denver, CO, to Traverse City, MI and now Deadwood, SD – it’s marathon season. And I’ve photographed all of ‘em, working for Action Sports Images. Good times, lots of travel, and racking up the frequent flyer miles.

Um...yeah. Marathoner. In Denver. Mile High City. Go figure.

Speaking of speed….

Indycar

Photographed the Indy Car races at the Kansas Speedway for the Associated Press. Indy car is fun to shoot – great colors, interesting drivers, and man, do those babies fly!

And, of course Danica Patrick….’nuf said.

Danica Patrick

Also had the opportunity to photograph a former NY Mets player, who then went to the Royals, and consequently suffered a series of nearly fatal illnesses. This was an assignment for the New York Daily News. His name is Ed Hearn, and his story is really incredible. This very gentle, very friendly and accommodating gentleman is truly an inspiration for everyone, and I highly recommend reading his book and visiting his website. Thanks very much to Ed and his family for allowing me into a little part of their daily lives.

Ed and family

Ed's championship rings, worn by his son.

Also had a couple of aerial jobs lately, one of which involved both air and ground photography for an engineering firm. It was a completely gorgeous day, and perfect for flying. Here’s a couple of photos from that awesome shoot:

Brush Creek to the Plaza

Brush Creek

I’m very grateful, and it’s always a blast these last few years to be chosen as the photographer for the Great Dane Club of Kansas City’s annual show held in Kansas. I LOVE shooting these shows each year, and I get to spend the entire day (or two sometimes) around the most wonderful breed evah!! Here’s two shots from this year’s show – check out my website for more!

Best of Breed

And, of course, more Royals games – several in the last month or so. What the heck has happened to this team??? Wow…I mean, they’re not sucking as bad as previous years, but come on! We were doing sooo well. It’s like all the talent has just been drained out of ‘em. I know – it’s still a long season, so I’m hoping they’ll come back around and start the winning again. I was kind of getting used to starting to think about maybe we might have a team this year. Not completely giving up hope – yet.

Our "White Knight"?

Yeah - he was safe at home.

Academy Award material here - that pitch wasn't THAT close!

OK….this isn’t nearly ALL I’ve been up to in the last month and a half, but some of it. I wanted to share a few photos, check in, and let y’all know that I’m still around. And making a commitment to try, try, TRY to update a little more often.

Thanks for reading this RANDOM sampling of what I’ve been up to lately, and I really hope you’ll check back soon for more!

Underwater time

randomphotog — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:40:35 +0000

A whale shark swims directly above a viewing port

OK. Well, sort of underwater.

Been a while since I’ve updated, and I thought it was high time! I’m currently in Atlanta, Georgia to photograph the American String Teacher’s National Orchestra Festival and conference. We arrived last night, then went and checked out our venues today where we’ll be shooting. Then this afternoon got a chance to tool around the city a bit and we decided to take a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium.

It was awesome! There are a lot of really cool areas there, but one of my favorites was a huge tank that had about a bazillion different species of fish in it, all swimming happily and curiously around. Even though there was a very large crowd there, with a little patience there were plenty of areas to view the fish. There was also an area that you can walk directly under the tank, with a circular, glassed in ceiling:

Walk-through tunnel at the Atlanta Aquarium

There were some amazing fish there, including these guys – meet the Weedy Seadragon!

A Weedy Sea Dragon is curious about my lens!

We saw lots of other cool fish – not sure exactly what kind these guys are, but they looked like they were having a good time!

Another shot of the large viewing area, with a whale shark and manta ray

Whale shark and manta ray

If you’re in Atlanta, I highly recommend going to the aquarium – it really was awesome, and a great way to spend a few hours marvelling over the cool fish and animals there.

I’ll be posting more of the shots from today on my Random Photography website in the next few days, so be looking for them there!

Atlanta Aquarium

Rockin' roadtrip – Finale

randomphotog — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:40:14 +0000

Hangin' out at Deadhorse Point, Utah

A few more random shots from the rockin’ roadtrip, then a bunch of goofy golf shots

A look at Deadhorse Point, Utah, through a circular polarizer filter

An arch with a bird soaring through – somewhere, Utah.

Check out that form!

We actually got back from the rockin’ roadtrip on Feb 16th, but I’ve been too busy playing catch-up since then to update the blog. So, in honor of the wonderful weather, good company, and lots of miles and fun, I thought I would re-start the entries with one final one from Arizona.

We played 4 rounds of golf in three days – then had to shoot the Lost Dutchman marathon the day after the last round. The weather was just incredible the entire time we were there in Arizona – perfect for some golf, so golf we did!

Yep – that one went in. Too many of ‘em didn’t, or at least not soon enough! I can’t really say that I embarrassed myself with my game, but could’ve played better.

That one went in ‘da hole’ too.

Never gonna find that one...

Unfortunately, I also spent a fair amount of my time on the course like this:

Da beach

and this

Ignore the golfer - look at the mountains!

But, overall, we had an awesome time – great courses, great weather, and some good times.

Being a full-time freelance photographer, I spend the majority of my time behind the lens, and rarely post photos of myself. I thought it might be kind of fun to post a few of my bad golf form on here, and open it up for any of the comments and criticisms that may show up if any golfers are reading. Mainly, though, I wanted to share with you all some of the really beautiful scenery on these courses we played on. The view on some of the holes just basically took your breath away. They were awesome.

Big thanks to my best buddy Mark Coffey from ActionSportsImages for really making the trip possible, and to my friend Aaron Lindberg for (wisely) deciding to not play and just shoot photos of us so we can really see how goofy we look!

Thanks for looking, and more blog updates to come soon of some recent shoots, and some cool places I’d like to tell you about!