Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Edits

I’m not ALWAYS behind the camera. Sometimes I help move some lights around and edit other photographer’s photos. I’m definitely not above photo assisting. It’s a great way to pick up new techniques, and free food! My superstar friend Douglas Sonders got the call to shoot Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his #88 NASCAR for the National Guard up the road in Charlotte, NC. Besides the obvious benefit of getting to meet Dale Jr., I jumped at the opportunity to help Douglas with the studio shoot. Quantity was the keyword of the day, and we got a BOAT LOAD of diverse images of Dale, his #88 NASCAR, and various soldiers representing the National Guard. The beauty of shooting in a studio is it’s a controlled environment with the ability to knock out many angles in a short amount of time. The Phase One IQ140 camera and ProFoto lights got very little rest from 7am till 7pm as you can see from the behind-the-scenes video:

Atlanta to Daytona: Harley-Davidson

What an adventure. Nearly 1000 miles, 2000+ pictures, and 100+ drinks later I checked off one of my more memorable photography assignments. Did I mention I love my job? This is practically part 2 of my previous blog post, but this time I get to follow the guys down to Daytona Beach, FL for Bike Week. This was a big project involving RIDES Magazine and Harley-Davidson. For 3 days and 2 nights we followed around 8 Atlanta Harley-Davidson riders, and documented their experience during Daytona Bike Week. The most nerve-racking thing was piloting a big GMC Acadia SUV through Daytona Beach with literally 1000’s of rough looking bikers… I did NOT want to piss them off. I’m a skinny wanna-be pro cyclist that hasn’t done any (real) prison time, so I’m kind of lacking in the bad-ass department. BIG thanks to Andrew Link, Michael Crenshaw, and the rest of the RIDES Magazine crew for the opportunity.

Atlanta Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Iron Elite

A friend at RIDES Magazine hit me up and asked if I was interested in shooting a Harley-Davidson motorcycle club from Atlanta, GA. Going into the shoot, I had no idea what was going to happen. All I knew is I had to sneak in as many pictures as I could behind the video crew’s back for two days, so RIDES and Harley-Davidson will have plenty of options for their Iron Elite series.

PEW PEW PEW!!

“Ahhhhhhhh!!! The world is coming to an end!! Bring out ALL of the artillery! I don’t care if it’s from WWII, Desert Storm, or Grandma’s attic! FIRE!!… Oh and call Rokhsan in too, she’ll handle it.” Rokhsan “Roxie” Shafiei, her sister (Nabaht) and I got trigger happy and decided to work on a personal project. I’d never put Roxie in the line of fire of an Apache fighter helicopter. So obviously these images were pieced together brick by brick. The 3 guns attached to Roxie were loaned to me by my friend Ti Tong (who was obviously should have been born during the Wild West era), the dress was bought by yours truly at Ross, the ground is from the Salton Sea, sky from Anaheim, tanks from the Patton Museum, and lastly I couldn’t get an Apache helicopter and HUGE explosion picture without US Government clearance, so I opted for a stock image. Once pieced together the image came out to 1.22GB, possibly a new personal record.

Team Bahati photoshoot

My alarm goes off at 5:05am in the morning… The streets are clear, the sun is still hours away from peeking through the skyscrapers… “where in the hell am I?” were the first words out of my mouth. Then a few groggy milliseconds later I remembered I had to get up early to do a group shoot for the Bahati Foundation pro cycling team. More specifically the Bahati Foundation is a program that helps inspire youth in inner-city and underserved communities.

The Top Eagle

When I heard my high school baseball coach was awarded the 2010 National Coach of the Year, I wasn’t shocked. Coach Dean Jones has been a mentor for every player in a Chesnee Eagles uniform for the past 47 years of being head coach. Count that, 47 years. Not only was coaching his job, it was his way of life. With that kind of history, a kid being coached doesn’t even think of questioning his logic. Simply put, Coach Jones could coach a team just by putting his arms on his hips.

Trail Blazing with Rudy Napolitano

If you know me decently, you should know I’m a road bike enthusiast. So it was about time that I did a serious shoot with a local professional biker. Rudy Napolitano of Team Helen’s was my first victim. He suggested a local Malibu road for the shoot, and it was amazing to say the least. Remote, twisty, breath-taking views, and 1-way traffic. Perfect. The original pics came out great, but you know me, I had to take them over the top with some photoshop love. This is my take on road bike photography:

The Great Recession

Clinton has now been in front of my camera 3 times. Previously with a gritty downtown LA theme, and a cowboy/western theme. This time he wanted a fashion theme. I wasn’t sure what he was going to wear until he knocked on my door… Pointed black shoes, grey wool slacks, leather gloves, and a matching grey wool beret? 1920’s here we come! Which would go PERFECT with my loft’s atmosphere since it was built in the 1920’s and well maintained since then.