The Stoneleigh Hotel…

I found myself shooting at The Stoneleigh Hotel today. The architecture of the building is wonderful. I love the penthouse area, which used to be a special, private residence. After remodeling the building a few years ago, they have really brought back the elegance of the old Dallas landmark.






Another Photo Invoice Primer…

I know a lot of people still visit my blog post on how to make an invoice for your clients, but it never hurts to read another viewpoint on the subject. I found this today, and thought you might find it interesting:

www.mac-on-campus.com

There really is a ton of great info on the MAC on Campus website. It’s aimed towards students and assistants, but who could use extra information on important subjects like lighting, metering, dealing with clients, etc…

Another Batch Of Old Pics…

I took another look through some old photo folders and grabbed shots somewhat at random that caught my eye. Some of them may have appeared on my blog in the past, and some may have never been shown before…

I know flowers have been done a million times before, by a million different artists. I can’t help myself, though. I love to shoot them.
A detail shot from an Indian wedding. After seeing this image and many other detail shots of hands, I figure I could do a blog post focused on hands one day. For some reason, I have a lot of hand photos?!?
This was a food photo for D Magazine from last year. It looked great in print (and the food tasted great, too!)
The current Toadies line-up. The Dallas band went platinum in the mid-nineties, and they still rock today!
A portrait of Frank Campagna, the Dallas artist and muralist.
A Venice soccer court.
Me… and a dinosaur fossil… during a commercial/marketing shoot, while I’m balancing twenty five feet in the air on a tiny scissor lift. I couldn’t resist taking the shot during a break, though. How often are you going to find yourself that close to a giant dino?

The Good And The Bad, Round Two…

A while back I made a post on some really great photography that I found and some not-so-great photography. I figured I would do a second installment, hoping the not-so-great photographer doesn’t mind a little criticism…

First up is Garden and Gun Magazine, a publication that seems to always hit the mark. I chose the cover to represent the “winner”, otherwise I’d have to scan nearly every single page of this issue to show you all the amazing photo work they run! Seriously, their work always seems to be perfect!
Oh, and don’t let the shotgun photo on the cover fool you. The publication is filled with lifestyle features about fine food and wine, clothing and fashion accessories, healthy living, traveling, and a million other topics besides firearms. And the firearms that do take up the modest percentage of the magazine are all handcrafted, beautiful works of art – not your average Academy Sports $300 special. And speaking of Academy…

Unfortunately, Academy and New Balance have to be our losers in this round. I know that photography is very subjective. I know this style/look is very hot right now. I know many of you may disagree with me. However, I feel like this one just misses the mark completely.
This Urban Outfitters “trying to look like a snapshot” look works on certain subjects. I just don’t see it working on a pair of athletic shoes. I want an advertisement that looks like what I wish I could do in my running shoes – run through the park as I win a 5K. I don’t think the “I took this photo with my iPhone and then used the Hipstamatic App to make it look retro” style of photography conveys that feeling at all. Maybe I’m just too old-fashioned.

The Converse Crew…

There’s not a ton of Photography work that happens during Thanksgiving week. I have a couple things booked, but today was dead. So, what did I do? I took the boys to get a haircut. I wish I would’ve taken my camera. There were a lot of great missed shots at the old-fashioned barber shop. When we got home, I had us take a shoe portrait… The four boys, all in Converse!

Weatherford, TX…

I was shooting in Weatherford, TX on Saturday. Kind of a neat little town, not too far away from Fort Worth. I’d like to check it out a little more. There seemed to be a lot of old buildings, signs and odd things worth shooting.

Some Pics That Caught My Eye…

I have been pretty busy shooting this week, and the weekend will be just as busy. I didn’t want to neglect the blog, so I decided to quickly glance through an old photo folder from 2009 and grab a few shots that caught my eye. I’ll post a “real” story soon… maybe something about a recent shoot or a good photo tip? Hopefully, these will tide you over until then:





Shooting Dallas Skyscrapers…

There are a lot of new skyscrapers in Dallas, and the skyline has changed quite a bit in the last ten years. It’s pretty easy to find interesting buildings to shoot, if you’re into architectural photography. I thought Cirque, one of the high rise buildings in Victory Park was nice. They have an amazing pool that overlooks downtown. I have pics of it somewhere… I should post those sometime.