Southern Flourish

Laurel-Dawn McBurney, the talent behind the blog Abode Love, asked me to shoot her house for the up coming issue of Southern Flourish and we were both pleased to discover it was chosen for the cover.  Laurel-Dawn has an amazing way of turning what seems to be an ordinary space into something spectacular. Check out her blog when you get a chance, it's great.  Congrats Abode Love on the cover.

Alabama Magazine - Cowboys + Indians

This was my first chance to shoot for Alabama Magazine, and it was also my first chance to shoot a spring spread in 38 degree weather.  It was literally one of the coldest days of my life and I'm pretty sure our model got pneumonia soon after.  The styling was done by the one and only Stephanie Drake from Proper Measures.  She's incredible to work with.  

--Please take note of the strategically placed cat sitting by the horse.  It makes the shot.

 

Family Photo Session - The Moon's

 It was just your standard Birmingham family portrait session.  Family home for Christmas, family wants pics with the grandbaby, grandbaby is having this kind of day:

  In the world of photography, sometimes it be that way.  You can't make a situation be something different than it wants to be.  So you look for ways around it.  There's a picture to be had no matter the situation.  Whether the kid is upset or there's a torrential downpour, it's my job to tell the story.  

The Moon's and I have been great friends for years and when we were discussing where to shoot, we thought it could be cool to head downtown and shoot at the brand new Railroad Park.  There's no way we could have predicted that Holland would have been so excited to see the park herself that she wouldn't want to be touched.    Seriously.  No touch.  The above picture is what happened to her dad (Ben) when he tried to pick her up.  This all sounds bad but it wasn't.  Holland provided tons of comedy and I couldn't be more pleased with how the pictures came out.  I love the Moon's.

PS - It turns out I only needed Photoshop for one pic.  Care to guess which one?

Bobby Smith

 Here's another one of those uber-talented friends of mine.  Bobby contacted me a while back to shoot some photos for his new album, "Wretched Man".  It was an honor to be chosen seeing as Bobby is really good friends with a lot of great photographers in Birmingham.  He's currently the featured artist on SongCircle, which is very exciting.  Great guy, great talent, great album, check him out:

Bobby's website

Bobby's MySpace page

Bobby's SongCircle page

Ben Wallis

I don't know if I've ever taken a picture that so accurately depicts the subject.  Ben is a writer and producer at Student Life.  He kind of weirded me out a few years ago when I first met him as an actor for the summer.  An enthusiastic idea machine is the best way I could describe him.  I was impressed at all the things he could do creatively, but annoyed at how easily it all came to him.  We became fast friends once he was brought on to the staff.  Ben's the kind of guy that can write a score for a cartoon he wrote, animated, and voiced all by himself.  That level of creativity makes me sick, but it's also the kind of people I'm surrounded by... people far more creative than myself.  

So back to the picture... He came to me with this idea to show what he does with one frame.  There's a lot of detail in there.  I'd love to take credit for the idea, but it was all Ben.  

This is another shot from months ago I just forgot to post.  And since it would be weird to have multiple Ben Wallis posts, I might as well just include it.