Sure, as a photographer, most of would want to get hired to shoot a magazine cover. It’s great visibility for your work and shows that a magazine client has put great trust in you to represent the brand for their entire issue. In the case of this beautiful 1967 Fastback, built by my good friend Brian Dean of WheelsOnSite.com, I actually shot first and got the magazine cover later. You see, my friend Brian built this beautiful car and asked me to photograph it for him. In the process of prepping for the shoot, we discussed how it would be cool to get it in a Mustang or Ford Magazine. When I did the photos, I made sure to shoot for magazine layouts… horizontal shots, vertical, 2 page spreads, and even a cover option. At the very least, Brian and his client would have cool photos for themselves with this shooting format.
Following the photoshoot, I reached out to my old car magazine contacts and ask for the names/emails of the editors from some Mustang publications. I sent some of the lowres best photos out and ended up getting a couple of nice responses back. I spoke with the editor of Modified Mustangs and he loved the car and the photos. The next step was to provide the story. Brian and I already had a vehicle specifications sheet and a story angle (the fact that through a series of extreme incidents, it took nearly 6 years and over $200k to build this car if my memory serves me correctly… some thought the car may have even been cursed). All Steve, the editor, had to do was have a writer put the story together, buy the right to use my photos in the magazine, and he had himself a cover feature. Proof that you don’t have to wait for someone to hire you to shoot a magazine cover, you can sometimes create the opportunity for yourself!
Make sure to check the issue out on newsstands now.
A couple of White Lightning x3200's, and a vagabond 2 battery pack for the cover
You can catch some of my images in the newest issue of Washingtonian Magazine. I photographed Laura Amico, who started a site called Homicide Watch D.C. with her husband Chris Amico, which documents all of the reported homicides in the Washington D.C. area. Read more than just a surface story of a faceless victim being murdered. Read more about it starting on Page 64 of the magazine!
The great creative team at Washingtonian and I worked cohesively on the development of the concept. We decided to create a wall of faces of D.C. homicide victims. I think it really makes an impact. Kind of haunting having all of those faces looking back at you.
Shot it in color and created a gritty look by first converting it via the Bleach Bypass plugin in Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro software, then converting it to black and white using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro plugin. I used an x3200 White Lightning strobe with a 40 degree grid placed within a 7″ reflector to create the spotlight effect on Laura and placed a large 6′ silver parabolic umbrella behind me (the shooter) to create a slight fill in the shadows so you can see all of the faces.
My main question is: What on earth were they thinking when they made this video? Haha there are so many things awkwardly wrong/hilarious with this… from the Mayor’s dancing, to the awkward cab driver and his facial reactions, to the excited girls at the end of the video.
My video production company, 8112 Studios, was named the official delegation representing DC’s interests in filmmaking at Sundance by the DC government. Pretty big honor. Never thought I would officially represent the DC government for anything! Looking forward to an adventure-filled week. If you’re here and want to connect, hit us up!
If you’re ever in Sebring, Florida visit Alan Jay Automotive’s Chevy/GMC/Cadillac dealer. You can see an installation of about 14 six to eight foot long canvas prints of exclusive automotive photography that I shot right in Sebring for the client. The client wanted unique automotive adverting content shot exclusively around their home base.
Shout out to Canvas On Demand Pro Support for working on our pricing and incredible shipping rates. Imagine how much 14 canvas prints averaging about 6′ long cost to ship… Only cost me a total of $30! Everything shipped cost under $5k to print with COD’s holiday discount codes.
As you can imagine, the file sizes were huge! I shot these on Canon 5d Mark 2′s originally and used Perfect Resize 7 by onOneSoftware.com to enlarge these images without serious file quality degradation. I used Nik Software Photoshop plugins Viveza 2 (check out those moody clouds) and Color Efex to bring out detail in the cars, clouds, and background content and Silver Efex to do some awesome black and white conversions on color files (see below).
What a great group of people over at Alan Jay Automotive. They have a great reputation for being an honest dealer with excellent customer service. Next American car I buy will definitely be through them!
See your Photoshop World email this morning? They announced that you can have a chance to do a photo walk around DC with me during the next photoshop world in March, which takes place March 24-26, 2012. Happy to have the opportunity! I mean if youre going to do a photo walk around DC, might as well do it with a Kelby Trainer thats born and raised around DC!!
More information: Register for Photoshop World from Monday, January 16 – Friday, January 20 and you’ll have the opportunity to participate in an exclusive pre-conference photo walk* on Friday, March 23. Taking place in the afternoon, the “Explore The District” photo walk, led by noted photographer Douglas Sonders, will take you through Downtown DC and give you the chance to absorb, embrace and capture the essence of Washington D.C.
To take advantage of this special offer, simply use this special code-PE12-DOUGWALK-when registering online or by calling NAPP at 800-738-8513, M-F, 8:30 am – 7:00 pm EST..
So make sure to register today to get inspired education that will change your life and an expert-led photo walk through the streets of Washington, DC!
Drifting Cobra Mustang cop car chasing drifting modified Triumphs. If you like Ken Block’s drifting videos, you’ll certainly love this one. Thanks for the tip Matt!
I was in Florida this past weekend for a few projects. One of which, was to take some shots of a client’s racing team while hanging out in the pits. It’s actually my first time doing such a thing, but I had fun. Here are a couple of snapshots from my time there. Love working at the Daytona Race Track. It’s so beautiful. I had been there before for previous events.
I really had fun with my Nik Software plugins on these 2 track photos. Viveza 2, Silver Efex Pro 2, and Color Efex Pro 4 were all used on both images.
Im starting to look over my recent blog posts and I’m seeing a lot of car stuff, which is pretty weird considering I’m primarily a portrait guy. What is going on!? Haha I guess that’s the way things go for a guy who bleeds 100 octane. No complaints from me!
Click to see full size
If you didn’t catch my Instagram iPhone photography feed this past weekend, here is what you missed:
I flew in one of these
I arrived to the Daytona track in one of these... (the new Lamborghini Aventador). Whew I'm in love.
Saw one of these at the track. Beautiful Ferrari 458 race car
My weekend loaner car was one of these babies #lotusfanatic
#lotusfanatic
