Tired, Slightly Sunburned, and feeling Scottish

When we pulled into the parking area of GP High School in Gatlinburg, TN yesterday, you could already hear the groan of the bagpipes drifting up through the hills. You could smell the fish and chips. You could hear the Scottish drums warming up, and men, proud of the heritage, walked by wearing their kilts.

What a beautiful and fun day we had at the Gatlinburg Scottish Games and Festival. From border collies to caber tossing - it was great.

Amelia Steele

Well, it's early Saturday morning, and I'm getting ready to hop into the shower and go to the Scottish Festival and Games, but I wanted to share a few of the images from my session with Amelia Steele with everyone.


Let me tell ya. Amelia and I had a lot of fun in the studio yesterday. What a sweetheart! She definitely brought her 'A' game to the studio, and that made all the difference in the world. So, thanks, Amelia. I'm looking forward to our next session.


Here's a few images. Now I'm getting in the shower.

The Weekend has almost Started!

Yep, my weekend actually starts tomorrow, but I'll be working through most of it.

Tomorrow I have a glamour/fashion shoot with Amelia in the studio. It's my first time working with this local model, and I'm really looking forward to it. Of course, if you keep up with this blog, you know you'll see the results of our shoot as soon as I get the images processed (LOL).

On Saturday, I'm going to travel up the road to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and shoot the Gatlinburg Scottish Festival and Games, and that should be a blast...bag pipes, Scottish games, and Scottish dancing all day long. Of course, the Armstrong Clan will have their tent set up for all to see.

My family heritage is Scottish. In fact, the Armstrongs are a significant border clan whose origins lie in Cumberland, south of the frontier between Scotland and England that was officially established in 1237. The Armstrong name has a mythological origin, in that it is said their heroic progenitor, Fairbairn, saves his king of Scotland in battle, and not from a wild beast as is the case with another Border clan - the Turnbulls.

It is said that, dressed in full armour, he lifted the king onto his own horse with one arm after the King's horse had been killed under him in battle. The family crest records this act of heroism that was to be rewarded with a grant of lands in the Borders and the famous Armstrong name.

One of the Armstrong Clan (wearing the traditional Armstrong
Tartan) competes in the Scottish Games.

"Playing" around...

Part of the fun of any photoshoot for me is "playing around" with the photographs. Creating art from the originals.

For those of you who don't know, my background is in art. As a child, I told everyone I met that, "I wanted to be an artist," when I grew up. And while it wasn't always the job that brought home the proverbial bacon for me, I have never stopped creating art. For most of the last ten years, I've worked as a graphic designer, web designer, and a product designer.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't keep coming back to a set of photographs and re-working them into something new. I like that one of my photographs can be soft and light at one moment and hard and gritty at the next. I love that emotion can be conveyed through vastly different post-processing, and I make no apologies for my ex post facto manipulations.

The image I made originally may have been captured by a camera, but I love taking it to a place that is more art than reality.

Here's a few I've "played with" this weekend from Bethany's Saturday shoot.

Uptown Girl, Downtown!

Thanks for crossing your fingers, folks. It worked. Bethany Mieloch and I headed downtown and shot this evening. What a beautiful girl and a beautiful day.

Yes, I understand it's crazy late for me to be posting images here on the blog, but I couldn't wait to get through these photos and see what they looked like after post processing. I've including a few here for your viewing pleasure. I'll put together a gallery sometime tomorrow.

Don't forget. You can click on each of these images below to see larger versions. I'm headed to bed now!

You can see a full gallery of this session here:Full Slideshow Gallery

Cross your fingers...

...that it doesn't rain. Got 'em crossed? Good.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to shoot with model, Bethany Mieloch. The plan is to head downtown and shoot in the city, and then eventually end up on Volunteer Landing playing in the fountains. That is, of course, if it doesn't rain.

Keep 'em crossed.

It's great to be alive...

...and livin' in the Southeastern United States!

That's right. I said it. This morning when I stepped out to get my daughter onto the school bus, it was sunny and 72degrees - absolutely beautiful. I'm ready for summer right now!

Speaking of summer, I want to do a lot more location work this summer, so if you're a model or just want to be a model, then drop me an email and tell me about yourself. I'm looking for brand new faces for the portfolio, yours just might be the one.

Have a great day, everybody!

Jump for Joy!

That's what I'm doing right now. I received email confirmation today for my airfare and hotel reservations for the wedding I'm shooting in Denver, Colorado this July 20-24. I can't wait. I've never been out to the Rockies and there should be some really great photo opportunities while I'm there.

So, I'll be in Boston to shoot a wedding at the beginning of June and in Denver at the end of July. This summer is going to be so much fun.

In other news, I've worked my little fingers to the bone tonight reformatting the glamour gallery on my web site. If you take a look over there (Glamour Gallery), you'll notice there are now four featured models at the top of the page, each with featured galleries. Those models are Carrie, Chisa, Coryn, and Nikki.

Don't worry, I didn't delete anybody, but I did get a chance to add a couple of new galleries: Nikki 3 and Miranda 2.

New Blog, Old Model

That's right. You're staring at a brand new blog. I got sick of programming the other one over and over and thought this might be an easier way to get things done.

It's easier to comment blogposts and look through the archives in this format.

Last Monday, I had the extreme pleasure of shooting with one of my favorite models again. Actually, I've shot with Chisa Meador more than just about any other model. She's been my "guinea pig" for a while - helping me to test new ideas and new processing techniques. I hope you enjoy a few of these here, and if you want, you can view the whole gallery of our last session here: Chisa's Latest Session