President’s Ranch - Crawford Texas

Monday, November 12, 2007 The opportunity presented itself to cover the arrival of the German Chancellor to the Bush Ranch, and while I had a tight schedule with commitments the day before and the day after outside of Texas, this was something that had just the right timing that lent itself to being covered. Concept/Objective:

The objective was to capture a nice image of the President and German Chancellor during their visit to the Bush ranch in Crawford Texas. The Chancellor and her husband came to see the President in a much more informal setting than would be at the White House, but it was important to me that there be something that places them there. A ranch house would have been nice, so too, livestock, or something “ranch-y”. Yet, I was on hand to document what happened, so my ability to control anything was limited to my position.

I Heart Huckabee

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Sometimes, you have to take advantage of someone's last name when it plays so well! Concept/Objective:

I as looking to make a nice portrait of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. I was with him at a town hall stop, and wanted to make a nice portrait of him. 

Spy Games Portrait

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Sometimes assignments are a subset of an overarching project. And sometimes, those assignments are self-assigned. This is just such a case. Concept/Objective:

While working on an assignment to cover this well known public figure’s recent book publication, and her appearance on a news radio program, the opportunity presented itself to make a nice portrait of the subject. It was my objective to do so. I took it as an opportunity to challenge myself, and my abilities to make a nice image.

Welcome To The Construct

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 I've launced another blog AssignmentConstruct - this time, it's a breakdown of assignments - lighting details, concepts and objectives, and everything that went into the shoot. There's assignments that have been back-filled going back to January of 2006, with over a hundred already online, and more to come, both in the future, as well as past.

To find out more about the blog, check this - AssignmentConstruct.com:

Below are 10 varied postings:

• A recent assignment at Arlington National Cemetery
• A magazine assignment that was just over 3 minutes long, on Capitol Hill in DC
• Another Magazine assignment
• Coverage of President Ford's Funeral
• A Portrait of NBC's Tim Russert for an in-flight magazine
• An assignment with Kirsten Davis and dogs on Capitol Hill:
• An assignment covering the President at the Library of Congress
• Making a server room look like it's interesting:
• Behind the scenes at a Democratic Presidential Debate
• Behind the scenes at a Republican Presidential Debate

On Hallowed Ground

The call came in at 1:30 on a Friday, while I was gathered with several photographer friends at our local Pho restaurant, and the assignment was for the upcoming Sunday. Concept/Objective:

This client was an award-winning production company that wanted to make a signature image of two mothers who, on the same day - Mother’s Day - lost their sons in the war effort, and both were buried side by side, which is how the women met. The client was turning to me to produce the image of the real mothers, and they were also producing a television production that would tell their story.

Because I was working with two people, and two additional “people” elements, I wanted my 5’ Chimera softbox. Having that much surface to light, and to be beating down a backlit sun, I chose my 2400 w/s bi-tube head, as the objective was f11 at 250th.