the SOUTH (and other randum thoughts)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

honestly, thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. low on expectations, low on commercial intrusion (cause they've already moved on to christmas)... it just feels more focused on the things that matter like family, food, and feeling grateful for all our tremendous blessings. in a few minutes the kids and i will cross the road and hike through hitchcock woods to the memorial gate. there we will enjoy one of aiken's wonderful traditions. the "blessing of the hounds" occurs before the aiken hounds annual thanksgiving hunt -

from aikenhounds.com:

The Aiken Hounds' Opening Meet and Blessing of the Hounds is held on Thanksgiving Day at Memorial Gate in the Hitchcock Woods. Father Garrett Clanton of All Saints Anglican Church will officiate. The public is most welcome to attend, but please do not bring your own dogs to the Blessing.

i'll most likely have a post of the images from this morning early this week.

THE ABOVE IMAGE: is an outtake from a recent photoshoot. it really illustrates much of what i appreciate about the south. i am thankful for family, warm sun, large established oaks, spiritual foundation, tradition, and laughter. we have a special brand of these things here in the south that feels substantial, genuine and comforting. i love to travel all over the world when i can and appreciate and try to dissolve in every different culture and community i have the pleasure of visiting. i believe much of my desire and comfort with losing myself elsewhere in the world comes from my strong sense of place and comfort when i am HOME. for that and many other things... and i am truly thankful for my FAMILY and my HOME.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING again.

the EXEC

i read an old article in PDN about executive portraits done when the photog was told - "you've got ten minutes." this wasn't exactly that kinda job, but imagine it was a similar challenge. the senior vice president of Christie’s Great Estates who oversees the Christie’s Great Estates exclusive affiliate relationships for the finest real estate brokerage companies in the Southeast, caribbean and latin america needed a more casual executive portrait done while in charleston touring billion dollar properties. SO - in a pretty well appointed, yet way too busy hotel we had to work with little lights and less time. one SB-900 and a lumiquest box on on of those ultra light bogen stands and we were set up to get a couple simple portraits done.

maybe it was joe mcnally that said sometimes you make light more interesting by not lighting everything - greatt advice to lean on when you gotta do it quick with the gear you can carry on your back up several flights of stairs... nope, the strobes weren't making that trip.

look forward to your thoughts on the shoots. THX for stopping by,

cheers.

sepia polo and equestrian images of aiken - Images by brent cline

a few images from my favorite pastime with my kids. we spend many sundays at the oldest continuously used polo field in the country... which happens to be in our small town. these are also available as prints for anyone interested. just saying.

cheers.

the CLASSIC CARS

spent a great day helping SEIGLER HD (the owners of 613 atomic studios) film an episode of DENNIS GAGE's "MY CLASSIC CAR." it was a beautiful day in SAVANNAH, GA and we saw so many interesting cars - everything from a PINTO powered race car to a chevy powered FERRARI. DENNIS GAGE is one of the nicest people... and THE BEST person to "TALK CARS" with i've ever met. For those who may be tempted to ask: DENNIS GAGE has allegedly had his mustache from birth AND his favorite car is the one with 4 wheels and a internal combustion engine. ALTHOUGH, it turns out DENNIS also has quite a passion for motorcycles - especially BMWs. JASON and DENNIS had a rather spirited conversation about each others BMW motorcycle collections.

speaking of JASON, he was rockin' that f1.8 4.5-59 wide angle on the HD Panasonic... which was a ridiculously wide shot which is really useful for filming car interiors and long car walk -rounds.

it was a great day and a real privilege to see how my son's fav channel (SPEED TV) gets to business filming a show. look out for the episode early 2010.

check out more images from the day here:
My Classic Car SlideShow

cheers,


PS: i must say, watching those PORSCHE CAYMANS blast around that track gave me a new respect for the "hard-top boxter."

the FIRMANS

good times with with dave and corrie firman at their wedding. nothing more fun than a rock-and-roll couple.

cheers.

the CLINIC

140 - turn into a facebook entry - turns into a blog post...

spent an eye opening evening with the good people at the community clinic. had a great visit with shirley brown and dr. mike vasovski watching them care for those people who need a little help getting back on their feet because of an illness during these challenging economic times. did you know that little clinic has given out almost A MILLION dollars worth of free medication. that my friends is not washington politics... that is getting the work done. good people GREAT JOB - look for more as we try to raise awareness for these incredible servants.

peace -

the FOOD

i love the trend in food photography where we now shoot food you can actually eat. i'd be guaranteed to gain 15lbs after a VERA VERY shoot except that there is so much energy in that company. VERA STEWART is such a great client with her culinary talent, unstoppable work ethic and incredible energy. it's no wonder her incredible products have made OPRAH's "O" list and are carried by NEIMAN MARCUS, SAKS, and others.

check out VERYVERA.com

taste and see, it is all VERY VERA good!


PS:
set up on this shoot stole a page from chase's blog about making subtle light:
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2009/08/making-subtle-light.html
a great read for dealing with that particular challenge. i suspended the disc between the food and strobe on camera right to balance the rim light which is popular with food photography.

cheers.