My oh my, what a decade...

So around this time ten years ago it all started for me photography wise. I walked into Photo 1, a professional lab and studio near my hometown with a print and strip of negatives. I handed them to the girl behind the counter and asked if she could darken the print for me. She took a look at the print and then the negative and then replied with something like "well I can darken it but first I am going to show you what it is really supposed to look like". I asked her what she meant and she replied that the print I had was not even close to right. I asked her again what she meant and she then told me that she would show me. A few minutes later she handed me a back a print that looked great.

You see, not long before this I had taken head shots of my then-girlfriend, Brandi, for a beauty paadgent she had been ask to be in that Christmas of 1999. She was told that she would need a current headshot but didn't have the money to pay a professional photographer to do them. I mentioned to her that I had been pretty good at photography as a kid but had never shot people. I suggested that I try doing some and ended up shooting four rolls of her one overcast December afternoon. I really had no idea what I was doing; I had not touched my Canon T70 in years. I put on my 100mm "portrait lens" and let it rip. Lucky for me Brandi was easy to photograph -- about as fast as I could focus she would be ready to go for another shot. Well, I took the film to a local Winn-Dixie to get it processed and was pleased to find that about ninety precent of the shots came out looking really good with some being a little overexposed or soft but most looking pretty good. This brings us back to Photo 1. One of my favorite shots from that day came back looking overexposed -- I thought it was my screw up. The girl behind the counter and daughter of the owner of the lab, Amanda showed me it wasn't when she handed back the new correct print. It looked soooo much better -- she didn't even charge me. I thanked her and left there with my mind racing -- the light bulb inside it flickering. Here is that shot:



And here is another favorite of mine I got that same day:



I came back up to Photo 1 soon after that with all the negatives from that day of shooting and had them all reprinted -- I was a new customer. After doing so I met Gene Shearl, owner of the place and photographer. He looked at the shots and mentioned that I might should look into photography as a career. I showed them around and other people seemed to think the same thing. The light bulb went off in my head -- at last it felt like I had something to concentrate my efforts on that made sense and felt right.

After that I set out to learn everything I could about photography. I contacted Don Farra -- who I credit today for having such supportive parents when it comes to photography. He had told them years ago that if I had ever expressed interest in photography as a career to encourage it. It was him that that gave my dad the Canon T70 and a couple of lenses to my dad one year before Christmas and told him to pass them on to me. My dad tried to pay him for it and he replied by asking them to just donate the money to a charity of their choice. He continued to give after he found out that I had rediscovered my love for photography -- sending tons of books and magazines on the subject, tons of film, a medium format camera, even a dark room setup.

Gene took me under his wing, too. He allowed me to come along with him to weddings and shoot for him as a intern. He would give me film and just let me shoot and watch him. He allowed me to be in studio with him while doing portraits. He taught me more than I could absorb it seemed. Here is a shot I did of Gene with his cousin Kenny at a wedding we were shooting probably sometime in 2000 (that is Gene on the left):



I asked both Gene and Don back then what or how I could pay them back for their generosity and they BOTH responded by just making me promise to do the same for somebody in the future that is trying to learn and I have tried my best to live up to that request.

I made the decesion in the fall of 2001 to invest in a very well respected advertising/photography school at the time called The Creative Circus here in Atlanta. I started the program that fall and it has been such a ride since then. So many ups and downs. I have changed so much since then -- for the better I think -- but I have paid my price for it. Today marks the end of a decade -- a very scary, wild, fun and emotion filled decade. I have so much and so many to be grateful for and to respectively.

So this blog post is my very own written formal thank you to all those that have helped me along the way. The teachers that have influenced me the most: Don Farra, Gene Shearl, Greg Strelecki, Benita VanWinkle, Robert Rostick, Joe Boris and Carlos Garcia. The talented classmates at The Circus that made me want to work harder in an effort to keep up with you. My friends -- I feel so lucky to have such a cool and diverse group of friends. My family for being so supportive and loving me no matter what and to Jill. We have been dating now for almost three years and you seem to love me regardless of my ups and downs financially and emotionally -- it means the world to me. And last but not least all of you who have hired me in some form or another over the years to work for you in the photography industry -- thank you for having faith in me getting the job done to your liking. All of you have encouraged me in one way or another for the past ten years and for that I can't say thank you enough.

I guess my status update on Facebook earlier today says all of the above in a much more concise way:

"So around this time ten years ago I dicovered a new calling in life -- photography -- and had no idea then how much work and sacrifice would go along with it at that time. I owe a huge thanks to all those who have supported and helped me along the way with it -- here's to another ten years."

This blog post is a much more personal thank you to those of you who have been with me along the way and kind of a visual diary of the past ten years for me photography wise. Here is some of my favorite images I made over the past ten years:

My friend Lynn. This is the first photo I had printed larger and framed nicely for display -- at the time I loved the composition and lighting as well as her expression. I still love it and have the same print hanging on my apartment wall today:



"Forbidden Fruit" This photo is literally the answer to a prayer and was made during a very tough period for me. It's very personal to me and represents kind of a turning point for me in photography school which was everything to me at the time:



This is another really personal shot to me. I couldn't sleep late one night while in school and went out in search of a good photo and came up with this. I call it "Burnt". It is a self-portrait. No photoshop here either - everything that you see can be done in camera with a film like Velvia:



I ran into this man one day at the Cherry Lake crossroads just down from my parents place. I saw him and thanked God that I had my camera with me, went up and introduced myself and then ask if I could make a portrait of him. He said yes and inside of ten minutes I watched him just light up with pride -- it was as if me taking his photograph made his whole year. It was a great reminder of how good I could make somebody feel through making a portrait of them:




My goddaughter Maddie. Her mom and long time friend of mine, Anne, asked me to do a conceptual portrait of her and this is what I came up with. And no, this is not a composite image -- she was actually in the dryer. She was only still for about two seconds -- which is when I caught this:



My nephew Peyton:



My other nephew and Peyton's older brother Dixon:



My buddy Jack's daughter Skye:



I'm torn between the two of these -- so I decided to post them both -- I just love the interaction of father and son in them. This is my friend and client Mace and his son Chapman:







One of my favorite music photos: Coy Bowles of the Zac Brown Band (prior to him joining ZBB). This reminds me of a Pink Floyd album cover -- I would love to do more work like this:



One of my favorite guitarists, the late Sean Costello. I feel lucky to have known him, worked with him and seen him play so many times. He was soooooo talented and such a humble, down-to-earth nice guy. Had he not passed away I think he would have been the Buddy Guy, BB King, Hubert Sumlin etc of the future. He suffered from biopolar disorder -- to learn more about it and hear his music click here:




Jill and I -- a very creepy looking shot -- but I love it. We were just having a good time in a old abandoned house:



My dear mom. My goal one day was to do a portrait of both her and my dad that said something about them. Well, my mom is the most religious person I know so I had to include her Bible in the shot:



And my dad. A geezer amongst geezers, he is. I love this man to death -- he is my hero. One of the most kindhearted and laid back people I have ever met and the expression on his face captures him to a tee. He collects and restores old radios and the cap on his head cocked to the side is just him:



A shot from a series I am doing. This was a church sign here in Atlanta -- I love everything about what it says:



And one of my most recent favorites is this shot of my friends Geoff's son Logan. To others this just might be a picture of a cute kid having a blast while being dangled upside down by one leg. To me it represents the idea of trying to keep a positive attitude even when all that is around you is turned upside down and out of control by anything that life might throw at you.



So here is to another decade of craziness in the world of photography for me. I hope that things will be as interesting as the last.

Cheers and Happy New Year,

Keith

Help-Portrait 2009

This past weekend myself and thousands of other photographers and volunteers all over the world joined together to give back this Christmas through the Help-Portrait project. I could write a lengthy explanation of what Help-Portrait is -- but this short video clip says it better than I ever could in a lot less time.

So as you can see, it was about everybody coming out just to give - not making it about their work or their portfolios. We came out to shoot knowing that we would never see how the shots we took would turn out or how the people in the shots might react to them (which can be the most rewarding part of doing portraits). It was all done in the interest of helping out those that may never be able to afford to have portraits done in such a way -- it was done to make those in the shots feel good about themselves. Due to privacy issues we cannot share any photos that we did of the people/families from the event. I can, however, share with you the portraits I made of the crew from the location I was at here in Atlanta on Collier Road at the Georgian Hills apartments. Somehow I was the one that got elected to be the one to do the individual shots of all the volunteers -- which is fine by me I guess. It was a fun group to work with and and photograph as you can see in the shots:


Cat Gotti (our fearless leader at the Georgian Hills location):



Ed Selby:



James Pennyman:



Aubry Canales:



Tress Ritter:



Lee Starnes:



Elizabeth Johnston:



Sandra Platten:



Andy Clement:




Can't remember her name:



Can't remember her name either:



The lovely Bron Swart:



David Martinez:




Kevin Voth:




Can't remember her name either - I think she worked for Families First though:



Lil' Kaylinn Gilstrap -- droppin' da gangsta signs! Word:



And yours truly:



For a more comprehensive collection of the shots I did click here.

Thank all of you guys for allowing me to capture a little bit of who you are in these shots -- I had never really met or talked to all but two of you prior to Saturday. And props to each of you for for coming out and putting your time and hearts towards such a good cause. Mega props to Cat and all other location leaders for enduring the extra stress that went along with running a location.

Also thank you David Martinez for doing these group shots of all those working at the Georgia Hills location and for the excellent behind-the-scenes video of the crew working (which I think has too much of me in it -- but is still nicely done):








Please remember that there are lots of ways to give -- so think of just one way (or a few ways) and go do it for no reason other than to see somebody smile or make them happy and feel important. In my experience it always feels better to give than to take when you are giving to somebody that appreciates it -- for both parties involved.

Merry Christmas Everybody.

I Shoot Babies, Too

Just wanted to share these shots I did recently of Logan, who is the five month old son of a high school buddy of mine. Kind of hard not to look at them and not have your spirits lifted a bit -- they make your heart smile. It can be a real challenge / pain shooting kids at times, but it's all worth it when they give you just that one great but fleeting expression that you manage to catch in the camera. I was lucky enough for Logan to have given me multiple expressions like that. Check it out:













If you care to see a few more than just click here. I might be posting even more soon -- because these do not even begin to show all the good expressions I got out of him. It feels good when a shoot goes well with kids like this leaving the parents and myself happy with the outcome. You are at the kids mercy when it comes to getting good shots of them at a young age -- so cheers to Logan for giving me such a great opportunity.

Commercial Photography: At least I'm Not The Only One Stressed Out By It

"Stressful jobs that pay badly: High stress and a meager paycheck are just another day at the office. Here are 15 of the most overworked and underpaid professions out there" is the title and headline of the story that my friend and fellow photographer Carlos Garcia made me aware of earlier today on CNNMoney.com. It was no surprise to me that commercial photography came in at number eight on the list - stating that the median average photographers salary is $43,600.00 with 100% of those in the field stating that is a very stressful job. This statement is so right on the money: "The job may sound glamorous, but commercial photographers, who capture models, merchandise and landscapes for books, advertisements and catalogs, have to contend with long days, picky personalities and demanding deadlines -- sometimes withstanding precarious positions just to get that perfect shot."

So in all fairness -- being a commercial photographer can be really, really, really interesting, fun, and challenging way to make a living -- but it does come at a price. Sometimes I wonder what I have gotten myself into getting into this field -- but at the same time I can't imagine myself doing anything else. Being a commercial photographer is not just something you do -- it is something you are. It is not a career: it is a lifestyle filled with highs and lows.

Here's to more highs for everybody in the business.

Keith

For The Ladies -- and "that guy"

So a few weeks back I did a test shoot for Casey, a local aspiring model. After I started showing some of the photos online, I received comments from multiple girls I know in regards to him being “easy on the eyes” (to put it politely). And I can agree in straight sort of way – I mean, he certainly is not some troll that I found under a local overpass at all, is he? But what really struck me was a couple of the girls’ comments to me in particular. These comments were more about me posting the photos than Casey himself. They told me that they respected me for having the courage to post the photos online for others to see – stating that they felt a lot of male photographers would have no interest in photographing a male model in such a way, much less posting them online to be seen. Basically saying that a lot of male “photographers” they knew would feel that it was in some way a showing of homosexuality or lack of manliness.





This came as somewhat of a shock to me based on the photos that I was showing. Why would any photographer feel that way over showing nicely done and effective photos? Moderate insecurity? Yeah, for sure. But it goes deeper than that – some of these “photographers” see very little value in photographs or photography in general unless it involves a scantly clad woman. Why do I say this?

Ever since I got into photography on a professional level I have told many people that I am a photographer when asked what I do for a living. Women usually are much more interested in this. They might want to know more about what or whom I photograph. And then if I actually show them my work they seem to really take interest in not only the work – but also who the subjects are in most cases. They want to hear stories about the work.

On the flip side -- not always, but more often than not -- when I tell random guys I am a photographer they might express interest in hearing more about it from me. Well, countless times I have had them look briefly at a photo or two of mine and say something along the lines of “Wow dude, you’re really good! You should go be a photographer for Playboy or something like that. Got any pictures like that you can show me – I wanna see them.” Ok – so yes it is always good getting a compliment – even the ones that sound ignorant like what I have paraphrased above, I guess. Maybe I should be flattered that they see my work as being of good enough value to grace the pages of Playboy magazine. But other than this I am pretty put off by this attitude. It is as if they feel that my work or any other photographer’s work is of no value unless it shows attractive women wearing little to nothing. I get pretty sick of hearing it -- and I know I shouldn’t, but I actually take it as an insult sometimes.





Ok – so yes – I can agree that there is a certain “cool factor” with getting paid to photograph beautiful women for Playboy magazine. It is probably seen as one of the top dream jobs for a lot of guys out there. But do these guys really care about getting to see or interact with a lot of naked women all day? No – you can do that at any strip club with a lot less work and effort involved. So what it is? I’ll tell you what it is – it’s the status they would have amongst their buddies. They want to have the bragging rights for being a “Playboy Photographer”. That is the real draw – which brings us to “that guy”.





My buddy (and talented photographer) Lee Starnes and I were talking about “that guy” just the other day and expressing our frustration over him. “That guy” is the guy that cruises Model Mayhem 24/7, looking for young girls to photograph in next to nothing. “That guy” is the guy that has really no interest in photographing anything but scantily-clad women. “That guy” is the guy that more often than not has questionable skills as a photographer. “That guy” is the guy that might not have any idea how to interact with women in general – much less a highly attractive one without using his camera as a crutch. “That guy” is the guy that gets into photography just because that is the only way he is able to get a girl to acknowledge his existence. “That guy” is the guy who would be hard pressed to get a woman to just remove her clothes for him or so much as even consider for a nanosecond the idea of sleeping with him. And most importantly “that guy” is the guy who gives the rest of the male photographers out there a reputation as being creeps in some cases.





Don’t be that “that guy”. Sure, it is ok to appreciate a beautiful woman – Lord knows I do. And yes, it is ok to photograph them, too -- but don’t ever think that they are the end all, be all of the entire photography world. And when you do photograph them be professional about it: No, it’s not ok to hit on them while working with them. Or assume they are into you because they might be looking at your camera as if they are longing for your loins. It is their job to look that way for your camera and any other way you might request of them if they are a professional or aspiring model. As the photographer it is your job to make that easier by working to put them at ease as best you can – and a real good place to start is by not being “that guy” – because they most likely will not be fooled by your façade.

Please note that this post was not written with the intention of putting down photographers that do nudes, fashion photography, etc. in a professional, tasteful, or artistic way. It is a field of photography that requires a certain skill set that not all professional photographers have and I respect that. This post was created and written with the sole intention of A.) Giving the ladies something to look at while mocking any male that might look down on me for doing so and B.) Hopefully making “that guy” aware he is doing himself and the photo industry no favors by aspiring to shoot nothing but women wearing next to nothing with less than honorable intentions.

For those interested in technical side of these shots: They were all made with a single moonlight and large Octobox boomed out just above and in front of Casey. I had the subject standing maybe fifteen feet from a white cyc wall. The one exception to this is of the tight-in headshot, which was made with the same lighting rig. It was placed at a forty-five degree angle to his face at camera left and a little high to get the classic Rembrandt-style lighting. Special thanks to Scott Moore for assisting for me on the shoot and staying on top of things while doing so -- and to Casey for being a real down-to-earth, easygoing subject to work with.

The right place at the right time -- and the right people.

So a week or so ago I ended up going out and shooting for fun one afternoon even though I had work I was needing to get done on the computer. I thought about it and weighed my options. The way I saw it - the work could wait until it was dark out - the beautiful day would not. Smart decision I think now looking back. I ended up shooting in a awesome location with beautiful natural lighting. On top of this I had the company of two other great photographers that were shooting too - and of course two easy going and good looking models. It would be hard to make bad shots in those conditions I think. Anyway here are some of my favorites from the shoot.


Love the deep red color of this painted wall that was in the place - and the awesome window light I was getting.



Can't decide if I like this one more because he is wearing a white shirt or not. The white shirt adds to the high key look of the shot and allows his face to stick out more but a darker shirt may have worked better to kinda warm up the shot. I like it as it is either way though. I guess if I really wanted to I could change the color of it in Photoshop? I think I'll leave it alone.



Women in guys shirts or kinda hot - especially when it appears that there is nothing under that shirt - like this:



This one is just fun - you pretty much just have to smile when you look at it.



And more of the red wall.





I think this one should be captioned "lets get a room". Love how their bodies kinda form the shape of a heart.



And this one really kinda stands out to me - can't put my finger on why though. Looks like something you would see plastered all over the walls of a Abercrombie and Fitch store. Matter of fact the "lets get a room shot" seen above does too.



This one stands out too. She looks great - totally at ease. And the lines in it - well I was taught years ago by Mr. Gene Shearl that triangles in photos are good. Managed to get five in this one - which makes for a very angular shot. Keeps the eye flowing through the shot while allowing her eyes to still be the center of focus.



And this one is my absolute favorite out of everything I got that day. The composition, the light, the tones, her expression and body language all come across as being very tranquil. I could have walked away with only getting this one shot that day and been totally happy - I just love it.



So if you care to see some more of my favorites from that day you can check them out here.

Trent, Chad, Steven, and Misha - THANK YOU - I enjoyed it.

The 27's

So back in September I had the pleasure of working with two guys that were in the process of self-publishing a book that they were co-creating called The 27s. Eric and Josh both seemed to have a very clear vision about what this book was to them -- and what they wanted the final product to be. I could see that they had put so much of themselves into it.



Well -- their hard work seems to be paying off for them. I received an email from Josh late last week informing me that the book had been picked up by Random House publishing and would be released worldwide today. What a huge deal that must be for both Eric and Josh. Couldn't be happier for them -- and they deserve it, too, I think. The book itself is like a work of art -- filled with cool illustrations and interesting information about all the musicians that have died at the age of 27 in the past: Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and so on and so forth.

The book seems to be creating quite a buzz, as it has obtained favorable reviews nationwide by critics and radio stations. Apparently their first printing has almost already sold out. So my hat’s off to both Josh and Eric.

If you are interested in seeing a REALLY cool trailer promoting the book, it can be found here. The 27s website can be found here -- and if you’re are interested in getting a taste of what the design is like check out a preview of it here. And last but not least, it can be found on Amazon here, or at your local bookstore.

So how did I get mixed up in all this? Well, I was asked to create the following portrait of The 27s creators to be published in the finished book. It is an honor to have asked to take part in such a cool project. They seemed to be really pleased with the outcome of the portrait, as was I. So thank you, Josh and Eric -- thank you for trusting me to be part of something that you both put so much into. I am happy that it is becoming such a success for you. For those of you who care to hear more about how the shot was created, keep on reading.



I was initially called by Josh and told that they were interested having me create the portrait of them. Of course, the first thing I asked was what look they had in mind for the shot. His response, as I remember, was that he wanted me to just do my thing -- but that he did really like the idea of shooting the shot much in the same way that musicians have been photographed in their recording studios in the past. Kind of a candid type feel -- not over done -- just showing who the musicians were and where they created their music. Well, this shot was my interpretation of that. It is shot in the house where they created the book. Subtle things were placed in or omitted from the shot due to special connections with the project – such as them both being barefoot.

Let me tell you though -- this WAS NOT an easy shot to do. Josh and Eric were great to work with, but it was tough. Sometimes I can just walk into a place and know almost immediately what I want to do lighting- and composition-wise. Other times it feels like pulling teeth. All I knew was that I wanted to do a good job not only for my clients but for myself as well; I don't like disappointing either. My problems started with lighting: I knew what I wanted it to look like in my head -- but this was one of those times that it took me a bit to get the light where I was happy with it. My goal was to create a sense of depth through the lighting and restrict it in such a way that it kept your focus on the both Eric and Josh, while allowing the environment itself to add to the shot but not distract from it in the process.

So what was my biggest issue? Well, I wanted to shoot from the perspective you see in the shot -- but notice the glass. My lights reflecting in the glass would not have looked very good at all, so I had to work with the lighting in order to keep it having the feel I was going for -- all the while looking good on my subjects, yet still placing them and my subjects in a way that you could not see the reflections in the glass. So after working with it for a bit I finally got what I was looking for, which is what you see in the final shot. I ended up having to use Josh (in the foreground) to hide the reflection of the light lighting him. If I had moved up my camera angle six inches up or to the left or right even a foot you would see the reflection in the glass behind him of my softbox lighting him. In the background I was using a grid to light Eric. The reflection was not so much of an issue with it -- the issue with it was keeping an eye on the harsh shadows that it created. I raised it up pretty high just outside of the frame to the camera left of him to keep the shadow of his nose and the liquor bottle from being distracting respectively on his face and the wall behind and to the camera right of the bottle. Keeping some light on the left side of his face but placing it just so I wouldn't catch any reflection in the glass. In theory it sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not always. Lighting with grids and hard light sources in general can look very cool, but they require for you to place the light in a much more precise manner than, say, a 7 ' Octabox that you can just point at your subject and shoot for the most part and get a good result.

This particular night was one of those when things just were not clicking into place for me. At one point I started to just give up on the idea of shooting it like you see it and doing something totally different. Luckily both Josh and Eric liked where I was taking it and encouraged me to keep on working on getting it the way I wanted. They were really cool, but I tell you -- minutes can feel like hours when you have your client standing right there waiting as you are trying to get things set lighting wise. With them I had the luxury of taking extra time with it, but with other clients it is not always that way. I have had executives show up to shoots earlier than scheduled and expect me to be already ready to shoot. What fun it is to be under the gun and have to make something happen in minutes in a unexpected way. It's all part of being a professional photographer, I guess.

Special thanks to Justin Phillips for coming along as an intern/assistant and helping me out with it all. Cheers to Josh and Eric for creating such a cool book -- you should be very proud of yourselves.

Keith