My Black Widow PMA-X.

I somewhat reluctantly returned to Rochester on Sunday from a fantastic trip to Nixa, Missouri.  I had travelled there to attend the Instinctive Shooting Clinic at Black Widow Custom Bows.  The clinic is designed for bowhunters who use traditional archery equipment – recurve bows and longbows.  G. Fred Asbell and Ken Beck shared their knowledge with us during the two and a half day clinic, and covered topics such as arrow tuning, proper shooting form, spot and stalk hunting, camouflage and concealment, and mainly, the fine art of instinctive shooting.

The main premise of instinctive shooting is for the archer to shoot his arrow accurately to the intended target without the aid of sights or sighting references on the bow.  A great deal of emphasis is placed upon training the mind and body to work in unison to focus on the target and deliver the arrow precisely to it, all in one fluid motion.

Being able to immerse myself into this type of learning process for a few days was really fun, and extremely energizing!  It’s always really interesting to be surrounded by a group of folks from different walks of life who are passionate about the same thing that you are, and to see how they each put their individual twist on solving the different problems that arise.

There were a really great bunch of guys attending the course, and I’m sure that some new friendships have begun.  The people at Black Widow Bows sure know how to host a great event!  We all were made to feel right at home, and they really put some great food in front of us at mealtime!  Adaptations to the schedule were made very gracefully when Friday’s thunderstorms and tornadoes were knocking things around, and we never missed a beat!  On Saturday afternoon, many of us weren’t quite ready to break away from the group and head off to our homes.  One attendee had come all the way from Spain for the clinic, and another from Canada!  Really cool stuff!

Camera: Canon EOS 1DS Mk 2.

Bob, Grant and Arne.

Charles, Kevin, Aaron, and Don.

Pedro trading a customary arrow with Kevin.

Saturday morning practice session.

Grant with the three Laddy's he was presented with.

Friday, March 13 was a big night for quite a few people in Rochester!  The RAF Addy Awards 2009 event was held downtown at the Clarion Riverside Hotel.  From 6:30 pm until 1:00 am, people from all walks of the local advertising community came together once again to celebrate and honor excellence in advertising and the advertising arts.

Attendees were photographed on the red carpet upon arrival, then were whisked off to an energetic cocktail hour and walk-through viewing of this year’s entries.  It was wonderful to see such a huge collection of quality work!  Eventually, the crowd was encouraged into the ballroom for the presentation of awards, and entertained through the evening by the classiest of Emcees, Robin Lohkamp and Joe Mayernik.

Christine Walker and Grant arriving at the event.

Thirty Addy’s, the highly coveted trophies, were awarded, and thirty-five Laddy’s were presented as well, each in salute to great creative achievement.   Best of Show was awarded to Martino Flynn for their Dundee Ales & Lagers campaign, and the 2009 Silver Award was presented to Sharon Napier, President and CEO of Partners & Napier.

After the awards presentations, the masses headed back out to the cocktail lounge and social area for a couple more hours of celebrating, back-slapping, hand-shaking, congratulatory fun!  I think everyone that I saw was really enjoying the evening!  In many cases, it’s the only chance that some have to catch up with friends that they may only see once or twice a year.

Dan Hare, hunter and friend, poses with one of my winning entries.

I was really excited to have been presented with three Laddy trophies, one for my self-promotional booklet, “Seasons,” on which I collaborated with Rachel Spence and Matt Smythe.  The other two Laddy’s were awarded for two series of images from my body of bowhunting photography.

Our “studio family” really turned out in force that night!  We had a table full of smiling faces, and all had dressed beautifully for the occasion!  Christine had come into town for the event, Kathy brought Frank, in a bright red jacket, Heather (with baby on board) looked radiant, and our good friend Amy looked very springy in her pink dress.  John wasn’t able to arrive until later due to a stage production he was acting in, but Heather had made the trip to the stage to accept the two Laddy’s he had won for two separate entries in the photography category!

Here are a few pictures from our night!

Camera: Canon Powershot Pro S1

Rachel Spence, Christine and Grant at the cocktail hour.

Frank and Kathy Dicesare, and the infamous Red Jacket.

Chris Krapf, our good friend and client was in from Virginia Beach for the week!

Good friends Heather and Amy showing their support!

John Myers and Christine Walker hamming it up for the camera.

Paul Hill of Martino Flynn shares his excitement with John!