The Men of Bound4LIFE

I was going through some old photo sessions to find a classy, yet hopeful and inspirational photo of my good friend Ian Kelly for his blogger bio on moraloutcry.com. I stumbled upon a series of photos I took of Matt, Ian, and Craig in downtown Charlotte, NC. These are the men of Bound4LIFE.

Wearing a Kenya Hat

I was just telling my good friend Craig that I never posed anyone while I was in Africa earlier this year. I always had my cameras on and around my neck, so I would grab whatever photo I could, whenever I could. Because I was pulling double-duty by recording video and still images, I had my mind going in two different directions at all times. The subject matter made it easy to always get a good shot. It's a target-rich environment in third-world countries, you can basically just close your eyes, lift the camera, and snap away.

This woman had just returned from the field where she was either herding the goats or hunting. She was my favorite woman in the village we were at during the day because of her glasses. Plus, you can't beat that knit cap in the middle of an African Summer.

This One is For Lindsay

When I was in Africa this past February, Lindsay asked specifically for pictures of trees. She was on the team as a hygiene training instructor, and she has such a loving heart for the people of Africa.

Why does the sun seem so much bigger in Africa?

East Africa, Old West

This is a photo I took while in Africa last February. I never really noticed it before, but while sorting through photos to get printed, I realized how "old west" it looks. I could totally see that building in Arizona somewhere. Instead, it's in Kenya.

Inside The Senate Building 8

This photo is the final image of a series from one hour in the Hart Senate Building in Washington DC.

Out The Window

I snapped this photo during a friend's wedding reception in downtown Norfolk, VA.

That is my brother Jared holding my son Isaiah.

More Stained Glass

This is a photo of Christina from one of the first portrait sessions we did back in June for the Organic Visual Facebook portrait giveaway.

Shot using two hot-shoe flashes, I set one Nikon SB-28 flash behind the stained glass at 1/2 power, and then another SB-28 also on 1/2 power with a 60" shoot-through umbrella just right of the camera. There was a lot of natural sunlight in the room, but I wanted to get rid of it. Success.

Inside The Senate Building 4

I really appreciate when an architect doesn't just design for necessity, but for art. When style compliments function, it is the best of both worlds.

Taken inside the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington DC. Part of a personal black & white series.

Branches And Sky

One of the rare "clear skies" day in Africa. This was taken toward the end of the day, hence the long shadows, right before we got to the safari park in the Masai Mara.

Buy Prints

You can now order prints of my photos directly from my blog. You can stop trying to drag the image to the desktop, open it in Paint, erase my watermark, and print it on the HP printer that you got free with the purchase of an Emachines desktop from Circuit City five years ago only to find that the photo you stole is a low-resolution version anyway.

Get glossy prints of your favorite photos from my blog with simple clicks through Fotomoto.

This is one of the photos that I brought back from Africa when I went with the zao water project in February of this year. Click on "Buy Print" below the photo to purchase it in your choice of 3 sizes.

Nearly all the photos on my blog are for sale through this system, and additional sizes, including direct to canvas, are available by contacting me. Some of the larger sizes are limited edition, and prices are low right now, so get while the getting is good.

Check out more of my photos from Africa.

Bombs Bursting in Air

Oh Zay, can you see by the donzerly light?

Family

This is Lee Worley playing drums for Jonathan Helser during Two Nights in June at MorningStar.

I'm pretty sure this is his most recent tattoo, and I stumbled upon it by accident. I originally had my 85mm lens outfitted to shoot past Lee to get a shot of Jonathan with some crowd behind him, but I saw Lee's tattoo, so I popped on my 24mm.

I've been asked a lot why I carry around so many lenses, and why I don't just use one zoom lens. I used to own a zoom lens, it was a terrible zoom lens. I think it was some kit lens that came with a camera body. Those are great if you're in need of some glass on a budget and you're not delivering images to clients, but... I'm not, and I am. Camera bodies come and go, but the lens is an investment.

I mostly use Nikkor prime lenses (non-zoom lenses made by Nikon) because, aside from the very evident increase in quality, they force me to be creative. If I want to zoom in on someone's face, I have to either slap on a different lens, or actually walk closer.

The argument can be made that a zoom lens provides you with more flexibility and broader options in order to capture the moment without having to move. Which is why I would highly recommend having a couple zoom lenses to cover most focal lengths if you're an event or wedding photographer. Because I shoot mostly portraits, I have the benefit of composing the shot and having control. However, this is at the top of my wish list: Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF (drool).

Bottom line: You get what you pay for when it comes to the glass.

Rest Stop Self Portrait

I had a legitimate reason for stopping at this location at 11 o'clock last night, but this is the only part of that journey that I will share with you.

This is a 30-second exposure, with me standing there for about 20 seconds or so.

Drive-By Storm

This one was taken out the driver-side window while traveling south-bound on Interstate 85 last night. 4-second exposure with traffic going the opposite direction, and I got lucky.

Lightning on the Highway

If my wife knew how many times I almost died in order to get this shot, she would kill me.

Over The Ocean 2 of 2

I was playing around with two off-camera strobes, with slow shutter speeds. The venue was unique in that the only significant lighting on stage was LED lights, so the colors were super vibrant and changed instantly.

Over The Ocean 1 of 2

I was playing around with two off-camera strobes, with slow shutter speeds. These are some of my best friends in Virginia. I really miss being around them. They sounded great, looked awesome, and smelled even better.

Le Tigre. Use it for footwear.

This is my pudgy little niece, Isabella. I'm not a violent person, but I want to eat her face off, she's so cute.

This was during a family outing to the Norfolk Zoo this past weekend. It was a hectic, and short trip, but one of the best visits to Virginia in a long time. I love my family so much.

Almost Deleted

This is another photo that got mixed in as a test shot that actually turned out well. This is a self portrait done with the remote on my Nikon. I had the camera set to manual focus, and was checking the exposure. I love that hat.

This is why you shouldn't get in the habit of deleting a photo from the camera. Always import it, give it a chance, and then delete it if you need to. I'm trying to get in the habit of checking the photos on the camera less while I'm in a session. I just need to trust the consistency and focus on the subject.

One More

Ok, one more from the shoot with Rhonda.

I had so much fun. I think a lot of that was Rhonda's fault, she's just a lot of fun to hang out with, but also I just have fun pushing that little shutter button down.

This was shot using my homemade snoot with a 20 degree grid strapped to the front of it. I basically stole the idea from one of my favorite photographers, Zack Arias. Instead of buying a lightsphere and painting it, I cut a hole in the bottom of an old Lysol Disinfectant Wipes pale, and wrapped it in black gaff.

Oh, and I love this location. There is still so much more of it to explore, and it's right in my backyard. 10 points if you know where it is.