Houston Trials

Deena Kastor, Olympic medalist and dominant marathoner for last 10 years, after finishing 6th.

Shalane Flanagan, the new "queen" of American distance, heading for victory.

Meb Keflezghi knows he's got it in the bag with quarter mile to go

Abdi Abdirahamn makes a bold move to push the pace mid-race, leading Ryan Hall, Meb and Ritz

FIrst mile as the elitest of the elite get away fast. Half of the race was through downtown skyscaper-lined streets, and the other half along a river bikepath.

10:24AM - BRUNSWICK, MAINE:
I took a complete "winger" last week and grabbed a flight from wintry Maine to sunny (but chilly) Texas. It was a speculative freelance photo-assault for me, but also just a chance, as a fan, to be at the heart of the action in what was promising to be an epic showdown in the marathon.
The Trials to determine the team representing USA in the marathon were held last weekend in Houston, Texas. For the first time the USATF had combined the men and women not only same location same weekend, but they ran them in the same race with a 15-minute stagger. Wow, bold move. As a spectator is was great, as they ran 3 laps of an 8-mile loop and you could see the race pass by at least 8 times by walk from one block to the next. Very cool.
Except, the good times all caught up with themselves when the men were trying to finish, and the leaders, all within a handful of seconds of each other and vying for those coveted 3 spots, had to dodge packs of women runners who still had 8 miles to go.
In this picture of the winner, Meb Kheflezghi, it looks like he's winning a race against women (actually not an easy thing. I would have got dead last in the women's race - on my BEST DAY!!)
when actually Ryan Hall was only seconds back, and Abdi Abdirahman and Dathan Ritzenhein desperately digging for the last seat on the plane to London.
All in all a spectacular weekend (I sadly didn't stay for the Houston Marathon and RunningUSA convention afterwards) of distance running.
We are at the threshold of a resurgence in elite running in the USA. The next few years are going to be very exciting to be distance running fan.

Soldiers and Marines

It seemed an appropriate time to feature this story I shot as an email promo that I sent out to a big list of potential clients today with this grid of images and a link to www.sudsdiving.org where people could take a look at this amazing program to train injured soldiers and marines returning from the battlefield with life-altering injuries as open-water scuba divers, giving them another challenge and reward in what must be, without exception, a difficult transition into a new life.
Hopefully one or two were even challenged to support the SUDS efforts with a donation.
This group of images was edited down from a thousand, and sums up my time spent with them in the Keys.
Luke, Kent, Tim and Greg "The Colonel" Gadsen.
Heroes.

We Have a Winner!

Turns out a fellow musician from many years back recognized Jonathan Edwards right away. So the grand prize goes to Joe Deetz, who also happens to be the mastermind behind Visual Magnetics, which you can read about just a few blog postings down...... www.visualmagnetics.com
Jonathan Edwards, nicest guy in the world, came into my studio a couple weeks ago to have a rare set-up photo done for a Nashville music mag that was doing a feature story on him: M Music Mag
Quite a coup for me after hearing his current schedule: traveling to gigs, dropping a new album any day, and other very exciting developments you'll hear about soon...... www.jonathanedwards.net
Never know by looking at him, but this must be the hardest working dude in show business!

Not fade away!

Who is This?

CONTEST!
I shot this portrait in my studio this week for a..... magazine (can't tell you which one since that would give it away). Thought it would be interesting to see if you can I.D. this guy. Here are some clues: He's a hitmaker, always on the road, recently relocated to Maine, a veteran in his field, got his share of groupies, huge in Europe............
Another clue: While he looks intense in this image he's usually totally chill and easy-going. Almost as though he's just been laying about the shanty getting a good buzz on.
If you know, leave a comment.
The grand prize for the first correct response is....... the satisfaction you'll feel deep down just knowing you're right!
More images from the shoot in next post - along with the correct answer.

Visual Magnetics stills + motion

A recent project for an amazing company that supplies high-end large-scale graphics for the retail industry combined a stills shoot with video, and I'm here to tell you it's a beautiful combination, but nothing is simple in videoland.
It takes me about 4 people to make a great shot, takes them about 24!
This concept called for the video crew to bring my fashion shoot to life by recreating the hero image and animating it. Giant prints were made of my still image, and then the models in the shot walked into the video frame and rolled themselves right off the wall - way cool.
Credit to Barnaby Jackson, creative director at Hero Machine - What goes on in his head I don't want to know too much, but what comes out is brilliance!
Visual Magnetics, based in Mendon, Mass, has been the dream client, which makes sense when you talk to the President, Joe Deetz, about his past life which included several years in the photo industry building sets, props and models for the advertising industry in Boston when it was booming - a very creative guy who just makes big stuff happen.
animal studio was the production company, based in Providence, RI, and the collaboration between my fashion images, and their special fx video world is right now in the process of bringing an exciting new branding to the client.
Oh yeah, the models, Jasmine, Ariella and Rich, proved modeling is glamorous but hard work, and they were all amazing to work with.

Esther and Kevin get married in Kona, Hawaii!

almost 5000 captures on this destination wedding. Needless to say it was an editing challenge - so many great pictures.
almost 5,000 captures at this destination wedding made for a challenging edit - but very rewarding, and one that I'll go back to several more times to rearrange and look for those treasures that didn't make it in the first go-around.









We had 30 minutes after the ceremony to race to the shoreline for sunset pictures. Moving fast, but having fun taking amazing pictures.


When a couple are so obviously in love and totally comfortable with each other it makes shooting the pictures that much better. The love you get is equal to the love you make ... or something close to that anyway. (John Lennon?) My version: If you show the camera some love the camera will love you back.







Can't argue about anything related to a week-long wedding on the Big Island. And having a beautiful bride and cool groom made it a photographer's dream job.

Michelle and Sam get married!

Michelle, such a gorgeous bride, gets ready for her big day - but where's Sam?

She met Sam on the beach in Pine Point where he was waiting for her. This was his first look at Michelle in her vintage wedding dress, and he was obviously blown away.

After a stroll on the beach on the soft hazy day, they came back to the venue where preparations were under way for the ceremony and reception to follow.

Family pictures and bridal portraits were taken outside amidst the stunning fall foliage.

A gentle breeze and a veil always makes for really fun pictures.

The ceremony was held outside in the garden, where the sunlight streamed through the trees from behind.

The woods also provided a fun place for the bride and groom to wander through together for some beautiful pictures, and hang out with the bridal party before being announced at the ceremony.

The Landing at Pine Point was a stunning location for the grand celebration. Enormous vaulted ceiling and a spaciously open ballroom made for an evocative setting.

Sam and Michelle's first dance together as Mr and Mrs Irish was followed by a delicious - and social - dinner.

Then the fun began in earnest.