Morgan Kennedy, photographed February 26, 2011.

This post has been a long time in the works.  Not the mere writing of it, really, but the getting-in-place of the “necessaries” that all combine to make the post even possible.

For quite a few years, I’ve had several clients (from my previous place of employment) come up to me and ask, “Grant, when are you going to start your own business?  We love what you do.  When are you going to get out there and just do your own thing?”  Well, I’m very proud and excited to announce that time has finally arrived.  It’s here.  I’m doing it.  Now.  I’ve spent the past several months preparing, getting geared up, and learning a great deal.  I went “official” back during the weeks leading up to Christmas, already have some good projects under my belt, and a few others looming on the horizon.  It’s rolling.  Grant Taylor Photography has finally arrived.

Kristen Cammeyer, photographed May 26, 2011.

It’s been a very unusual, crazy year with all of the huge changes that have gone on, the shifts in thinking and routine, the obstacles, the unknown.  I’m feeling really good about it all, though, and am happy to say that this has likely been one of my favorite years ever.  I’ve had some wonderful creative collaborations with very good friends, have met some truly remarkable people, gained some new clients, and I’ve put together several bodies of personal work that contain some of the strongest photography I’ve ever created.  To me, that’s extremely energizing.  Really cool stuff.  The neat thing, too, is that this is only the beginning.  Things are just getting warmed up.

Jinelle Shengulette, photographed March 13, 2011.

One of the most (symbolically) important steps in my process of the past few months has been the development and production of my new business card.   The printing of the cards seemed to really legitimize what I had set out to accomplish.  It affirmed my intentions.  It made this whole thing mine.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to be surrounded by good friends who are talented beyond description, and am thankful to have had their help and involvement along the way.  Tim Winter is one of the people on that list.  Tim is the brilliant mind behind my business card design, and the rest of my identity kit as well.  It was a really neat process to go through with him, to see how he transformed and updated my existing name treatment, applied his own creative sensibility and what he knew of me, then projected it to the card, letterhead, envelopes, labels, website, all that stuff.

Matt Smythe, photographed April 16, 2011

The business card was the first of the stationery pieces to be produced.  Through the course of meeting with Tim and Kathy Prozeller, of XPEDX, we finally arrived on the right paper to use, and Tim’s idea for the use of silver ink not only would look cool, but also speaks to the use of silver in traditional photographic processes.  More importantly, the combination of the two, married with the character of the letterpress method of printing, would really help to convey the look, feel and soul of Grant Taylor Photography.

Rebecca Garlock, photographed September 2, 2011.

We enlisted the expertise of Dock 2 Letterpress in the printing of the business cards, and their partner-company, Weekend Printer for the letterhead, envelopes and labels.  I had met with Tony Zanni at Dock 2 for a couple preliminary tests, Tim finalized the artwork, and Tony placed the order for the plate.  On the day  we went to press with the cards, I was able to join up with letterpress guru, Dave Eckler at Dock 2, and photograph the entire, wonderful process as Dave printed my cards on a 1953 Heidelberg “windmill” press.  From the initial mixing of the ink, through to the finished piece, I was blown away by the beauty of the process and the “stuff” involved.  Gorgeous.  It was fitting that these earthy, traditional-feeling cards be printed on an antique press, using old methods.  My face hurt from smiling that afternoon.  It all just felt perfectly right.

The polymer plate for my cards, and a few other necessary tools. Dock 2 Letterpress, December 9, 2011.

Dave was really incredible to work with, patiently answering all my curious questions, and explaining the hows-and-whys of each step in the printing process.  After running some initial tests, he discovered that the openings in the small type would fill with ink, if the volume of ink on the plate was too great.  After a few rounds of adjustments, he had it all dialed in very sweetly.  Dave had also decided to reduce the amount of pressure that the polymer plate was being hit with.  In the end, two gentle hits of silver ink, with a 24-hour drying period in-between each, followed by a harder, blind-deboss on the third day would get the cards where they needed to be.  Gorgeous and legible, with that wonderful look and feel that only the letterpress process can provide.

Dave, mixing the silver ink with an amber-colored compound that gave the ink more backbone.

I need to take a moment and express my great thanks to the handful of people who have been directly involved with the developing of my identity, branding and marketing pieces, for without their passion, talent and commitment, it would have been a real struggle:  Rachel Spence, Tim Winter, Matt Smythe, Tony Zanni and Dave Eckler.  I also need to give a shout-out to my very good friends, Dean Milliman, T.C. Pellett, Katelin Ryan, Mieke Smythe, Sherry Jackson, Kristen Valent, Stephanie Miles and Lisa Jane Roman, for the support, smiles and insight they’ve provided along the way.  Thank you all so very much!  It’s wonderful having you in my corner.

Dave, inspecting the legibility of the small type.

A sample of the cards with one hit of silver ink.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark 2

Matt, in the bow of the boat, casting a Sex Dungeon to likely spots along an undercut bank during a drift.

September 7 and 8, 2011

Neither Matt nor I were moving very quickly this morning.  It actually felt pretty nice not to have to be geared-up before sunrise, hustling out of the hotel with camera bags and peanut-butter toast.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, got the room all squared away, loaded the Highlander and checked out of the hotel.  Our drive to Idaho Falls would take about four hours.  On the other end of it, we’d be meeting up with Colby Hackbarth of Kast Gear, and fishing with him on the South Fork of the Snake River.

The road to The Snake.

Matt was at the wheel as I was editing images on the laptop and running the iPod playlists on the car stereo.  Johnny Cash, Soundgarden, Ryan Bingham, Led Zeppelin, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Townes Van Zandt, Reckless Kelly, Beastie Boys, Alice in Chains, Chamberlin, Alison Krauss.  Oh, and Iron Maiden.  We passed through the lava fields and on up to Idaho Falls.  If you ever find yourself traveling this stretch of highway, be sure to pull in to the truck stop at the exit for Eden.  It has all the regular truck-stop stuff, but also boasts a “Garden of Eden” themed sit-down café, complete with a giant, red-eyed snake.  The bathrooms were pretty clean, too, as I recall.

Colby's 8-weight rig that I would later use to hook my "freight-train" brown.

Once we had checked in to our new digs, Matt raised Colby on the phone and arranged to meet up with him in a church parking lot about 20 minutes away.  We found the place eventually, exchanged handshakes and introductions with Colby, shot the bull for a few minutes, and transferred our necessary gear into his truck for the ride to The Snake.  Colby had so very graciously offered to take us out on the river in his jet-boat, and we were not the sort of guys to turn an offer like that down.  While most of the other folks fishing the river would be floating along with the current in drift-boats, Colby’s rig would allow us to cover more water with far greater ease, and to re-fish hot stretches that we had drifted through just minutes before.

Jetting back upriver to find some new water.

On the way up the road, we stopped at South Fork Outfitters to gather a selection of flies that were the “hot tickets” for this river.  Sex Dungeons.  We found them in brown, olive, black and white color variations.  Gorgeous, fat, drive-the-trout-crazy flies filled the sectioned drawer that the shop attendant had set on the counter for us.  Somebody had been busy at their fly-tying vise.  Matt also found himself a cool Simms hoodie that, as far as I know has been on him (or his daughter, Aleida,) every day since we got back east.

Countless gravel bars on the South Fork offered great opportunities to beach the boat and wade some really gorgeous stretches of water.

At the boat launch, Colby filled out the necessary paperwork while Matt and I transferred gear into the boat and got into our waders and boots.  Once the boat was in the water, Colby took us downstream to give us the lay of the land and find a good spot to start fishing.  From the very beginning, I was really impressed by Colby’s knowledge of these waters and his relaxed prowess as he navigated around boulders and challenging currents.  Occasionally, he’d pull the boat onto a gravel bar and have Matt cast flies along a good looking run.  If there was no action within a short period, we’d move on.  It wasn’t too awfully long before Matt had his first fish.

Matt's first South Fork rainbow.

And (yawn) Matt's first South Fork Brown.

Thunderstorms were threatening in the skies to our South, but they never came close enough to be of any real concern.  We just kept fishing as the afternoon wore on.  I was keeping pretty busy with the camera and laptop as Matt cast and cast and cast.  Gravel bars, undercut banks, hot-looking stretches, bald eagles, and several really good fish.  Rainbows, browns, cutthroats and cutty-rainbow hybrids.  Oh, and those stupid whitefish.  Yet, for every good fish brought to the net, there were probably something like ten strikes or slashes that weren’t capitalized on.  That made the netted fish even more rewarding.  Furthermore, they were absolutely gorgeous.

Rigging up the big stick with a Sex Dungeon and preparing for a drift.

Just before dark, Colby ran us upstream to show us a pretty cool waterfall on one side of the river.  As the boat ran swiftly upriver, our eyes and faces had to be covered against the blast of all the caddisflies that were coming off the water.  Millions of them.  The next day would be similar in structure, but on a section of The Snake that was farther downstream.  It was this morning that I would hook a fish that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.  It likely would have been the largest trout I’d ever caught, probably a 28″ class brown.  Only, I didn’t catch it.  Oh, I hooked it soundly, alright, and that sumbuck ran hard upstream for Montana, putting a gorgeous bend in the 8-weight rod that I had borrowed from Colby.  My “moment of greatness” lasted all of ten seconds.  The fish decided he’d had enough of that nonsense, and broke off in the rocks.  Gone.  Deflated.  Humbled.  God, I love Idaho.

The last, and happiest, image in a short sequence that Matt captured just before the "unbuttoning."

We had a really great second day.  The fishing was quite good, I was pretty excited with the photography I was getting, and the setting was stunning.  We were in a dream-world.  Gorgeous land, perfect weather, and fantastic people surrounded us.  Oh, and the fish!  I fished more today than I had on the previous one, but never did bring one to the net.  I was enjoying photographing Matt’s successes, and all of the goings-on, and that was alright.  For years, I’ve been torn by the sacrifices made when laying the fly rod down for the camera, but somehow, on this trip, I had come to terms with it.  Perhaps the photography aspect has become more important to me as time has gone by.  Great successes can also come when the camera is in-hand.  Still, it felt awfully good to have a handful of cork and a solid fish on the other end.  Some days, it’s a painful struggle.

Relishing every moment and stowing it all away for vivid recall during the long months of winter.

This river offered so many opportunities for different styles of fishing.  I said to Matt at one point that Colby seemed to have a nearly “tactical” approach to his methods.  Not overly aggressive, but decisive and purposeful.  Well thought-out.  Always moving, seeking good-looking water, deciding how to fish it, getting it done, and if it didn’t produce, you moved on to the next thing.  This approach surely comes from years and years of experience.  Colby has fished these waters since he was just 8 years old.  We waded and fished gravel bars, we drifted and cast into sweet runs and undercut banks, but not once during those two days did we stop moving.  Not once.  Colby’s camouflage boat and its 90-horse Johnson seemed to add a poetic attitude to the whole tactical approach, and was far removed in style from the relatively graceful Hyde and ClackaCraft drift boats that navigated their own ways downstream.  It allowed us to get to where we needed to be.  It got us there swiftly and surely, and with just the right amount of attitude.

Rapidly switching tactics. Matt, whopping Sex Dungeons at the riverbank while Colby controls the boat during a fast drift.

I hated to see these days with Colby end.  We were just starting to get in a really solid groove.  Over the past week, Matt and I had begun to establish a routine.  A lifestyle.  On this trip, each segment had been quite different from the one before.  Different in landscape, fish species, energy, fishing style, attitude, technique, and feel.  We were getting close to the end now, and in many ways, both of us hated to see it coming.  Matt was looking forward to seeing his wife and kids back home, surely, but I was really kinda wishing for another month or so out here.  There must be some way.  For now, for a couple more days, we would continue to live in this wonderful dream-world and soak up as much of it as we possibly could.

Colby hooking a really pretty Cutthroat along the canyon walls.

Canyon walls that describe the type of terrain we were encompassed by during our second afternoon on the South Fork of The Snake.

Gorgeous Idaho Cutthroat Trout.

The snake at the truckstop café in Eden, Idaho. Ultra-cool. So help me, he had red eyes.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark 2

Mark Daly, Chamberlin's front man, at ease among the cluster of microphone arms of the WBER studio.

Back in mid-September, I had the wonderful opportunity to join my good buddy, Joe Mayernik, aka “The Mayor of Nikville,” in the broadcast studios at WBER during his live interview with the Vermont-based band, Chamberlin.  I was along to photograph during the broadcast, and for me, it was one of these great little “dream-projects” that comes up every now and then when things are clicking and the stars align just-so.  It was one of those inspiring and re-energizing projects that tend to come along and give you a little “creative energy boost” right when you need it the most.

Eric Maier, Chamberlin's pianist, and "supplemental percussionist." Serious multi-tasker.

I had first seen Chamberlin perform at Water Street Music Hall on June 24, when they opened for another (dynamite) Vermont-based band, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.  I was toting five friends along that night, Joe included, and, truthfully, we were there to see GP&N.  I, at that point, unfortunately, had known nothing of Chamberlin.  That, though, was soon to change.  Big time.  During the second song in their set that night, I can vividly recall Joe and I looking at each other with expressions that betrayed our unpreparedness for how truly great an “opening band” could be.  Wow!  Where’d these guys come from? They were really amazing.  I still (and quite emphatically) proclaim that the entire show we saw that night at Water Street was the best live performance I’d probably ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty amazing shows along the way!  When I arrived home that night after the show, around 2 am, the first thing I did, before going to bed, was to log on to iTunes and buy their debut album, Bitter Blood.  Chamberlin has quickly come to be one of my absolute favorite bands to listen to.  Perhaps fittingly, I discovered the following day, that Bitter Blood was produced by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals guitarist, Scott Tournet.  Good, good stuff.

Joseph Mayernik, "The Mayor Of Nikville." 270 degrees of gut-punching awesomeness.

During the interview that afternoon, as I recall, Mark Daly, the band’s front-man, described Chamberlin’s music genre as “Indie-Rock with a Folk influence.”  I would probably add that there is a modern, unique, original sound and energy in what they put out there, and I really, really dig it.  There are other elements too, in much of what they do, that I might describe as natural or organic.  It’s a really interesting and nicely-gelled blend of traits that each of the musicians contributes to the group, too.  Eric Maier, the pianist and “supplemental percussionist” for Chamberlin was also along for the interview that afternoon, while the band’s other members:  guitarist, Ethan West; percussionist, Jamie Heintz; and bass guitarist, Charlie Whistler were downtown at Water Street setting up and doing sound-checks before the evening show.

Joe's "notes-to-self."

I had arrived to the WBER site a couple hours earlier in the day to set up a very modest lighting arrangement.  The studio space was tight.  The ambient light consisted of yucky, overhead fluorescent.  This photographer’s nightmare.  So, to add some life to the scene, I had brought along a single Lowell Caselite 4, a daylight-balanced (and bright) fluorescent source, and jacked it up high in the right corner of the room on a sandbagged C-stand.  This would give me the direction of light that I wanted, add some contrast, put sparkles in the eyes of the subjects, that sort of thing.  Simple, but effective.  Just right.

Eric, absorbing and contemplating Joe's "Would You Rather" question.

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to experience the whole interview process.  The studio space made for a wonderfully intimate setting, both for the photography and for the music.  Mark had brought along his Taylor acoustic guitar to play during the hour-long broadcast, and wound up performing the songs “Turn Around,” from the Bitter Blood album, and Chamberlin’s cover of Passion Pit’s “Little Secrets” from their just-released Cabin Covers EP.  In that small space, it sounded and felt really fantastic.  Stripped down to the basic elements.  Pure and perfect.

Mark, on training the "vocal muscle," and lessons learned from their friends, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.

I worked around the tiny room during the interview, shooting with nearly wide-open apertures, and trying to catch natural, candid expressions, interesting compositions, the energy of the moment and the process that was unfolding before me.  I didn’t have a sound blimp for the camera body, so I was trying to be conscious of my proximity to the microphones, and trying not to shoot too much during the quiet pauses in the conversation.  Joe, the consummate professional, had inadvertently left his well thought-out list of interview questions at home earlier that afternoon, and was very gracefully improvising and going “off the cuff” during the live broadcast.  Awesome!

Mark Daly performing "Turn Around," the third track on Chamberlin's debut album, Bitter Blood.

I was really happy with the body of work that came from this short hour of photography.  The collection of images shown here represents only a fraction of the “good stuff,” and it’s been difficult to edit down much further.  For me, one of the greatest successes of this shoot was in its simplicity.  I really love to work with pared-down lighting and camera gear, photographing people who are comfortable and in their natural element – especially in environments that convey a sense of intimacy or ease.  The combination of these things seems to help me create images that allow the viewer to feel as though they were part of that moment, right there, among those who were photographed.  Cool stuff.

Mark and his sweet Taylor 614 (I think) acoustic / electric.

Eric, on touring, and what makes Chamberlin tick.

The timing of this blog post is not entirely unplanned.  Chamberlin, you see, is currently headed East on the back-end of a nation-wide tour and will once again grace the stage at Water Street Music Hall. One week from this evening, on Thursday, November 3, the band will be right back here in Rochester, NY.  This time, though, Chamberlin is headlining and their guests are Wildlife.  We will surely be attending with a larger group of friends this time!  Tickets to the show can be purchased at Water Street Music Hall’s site. Hope to see you there!

Camera: Canon 5D Mark 2

Morgan in the old sugarhouse.

One of the greatest challenges, for me at least, seems to be carving out time in the schedule to create fresh personal work.  New portfolio images, bodies of work revolving around a specific idea for a self-promo piece, that sort of thing.  I’ve been feeling a little “creatively stagnant” lately, wishing for a good project idea that felt just right.  It’s been way too long since I’ve immersed myself in a long-term photography project that was just for me.

Fuel for the fire.

Fortunately, I have some very excellent friends who decided they needed to soak up some rays this week in St. John!  The house (and cat) sitting opportunity popped up just at the right time.  Their home and land in the country, an hour away, has been a very special place for me over the years.  I love their woods and fields and outbuildings, and their log home is a gorgeous retreat for me, whenever I visit.  Their property is adjacent to the land I’ve hunted for the past seven years.  For me, it’s a sacred place.  It’s also been an inspiring and grounding place for me to do my photography.  Much of my bowhunting-related work has been shot here, and I’ve spent time photographing many friends here over the years.  The heart and soul of the place just feels right to me in so many ways.  It seems that every little nook of the place holds promise, and becomes a great little environment to do photography in.  My gears started churning to figure out how and what I could make happen while I was in this wonderful place for a few short days.

Morgan loves her maple and oak.

I decided to take Friday off from work at Myers Creative Imaging, and make a little “creative work retreat” for myself.  I saw this as a great opportunity to get re-immersed in things that have been put on the back-burner, to surround myself with inspiring elements, and to get re-energized with the beginning of a new personal project.  Once I got my things settled in on Friday afternoon, (it seemed to take forever to get out of Rochester that day,) I set up my iMac, got a nice fire going in the woodstove, and sat down to catch up on some posts for the blog.  I’ve yet to publish all of the posts, but made good progress, and will soon make them available.  Later that evening, needing a little social interaction, I paid a visit to the home of my good friend, Matt Smythe, a.k.a Fishingpoet.  We discussed the heavy topics surrounding brown trout and the whitetail deer, enjoyed the refreshing essence of some Dogfish Head IPA, and I introduced him to the Heartland Bowhunter series of DVD’s.  Good, inspiring stuff.

She may not toast the "perfect marshmallow," but Morgan has her own 4-Wheeler, and knows how to drive a combine.

For Saturday, I had scheduled a shoot with Morgan Kennedy, whom I’ve photographed before for Myers Creative Imaging client, Athletica USA.  The work we’ve done for Athletica during the past nine years shows up in their cheerleading, softball,  volleyball and basketball catalogs.  Uniforms, team attire and accessories with custom embroidering is what they do!  Morgan has worked with us for more than a year now, modeling for the Girls Got Game Volleyball catalogs, and is currently represented by NY Model and Talent Agency.  She and I had been talking for a few months about getting together to do a fun shoot.  I’d always felt that her look, personality, energy and spirit would be a great fit with my photography, but I struggled for a while to find just the right concept for the shoot.  I wanted it to be something more interesting than just a portrait, something that revolved around an activity or a lifestyle.  Something that might tell a little story.  Something we could have some fun with.

Well done.

I suppose that it was the location, in the end, that inspired my idea of creating a little “outdoor lifestyle” pictorial around the activity of building a fire out in the woods on a winter day to make and eat S’mores.  Once I had settled on the idea, the images were popping in my brain like a little thunderstorm, (Morgan will have to tell me which part of the brain.  She’s a Pre-Med student and knows all the brain parts,) and I could see it all falling in place.  We only had about half a day to make it happen, and thankfully, every little necessary element seemed to fall into place just perfectly.  There was really great chemistry and energy during the shoot, and I think the results exceeded both our expectations.  I’m just thrilled with all of the work, and have felt a great boost on the old Creative Energy Gauge.  We shot nearly 900 images, and I’m far from being done editing!  There’s so much good stuff here.  The ones that accompany this post, though, are images that caught my eye immediately.  Ones that felt just right.  I really think that they’re going to be setting the tone for the rest of the project.

We had recieved nearly a foot and a half of fresh snow during Friday’s storm.  The woods were just perfect on Saturday morning!  Morgan and I had talked earlier in the week about my thoughts of what the wardrobe would be for the shoot.  I felt that a cozy sweater, mittens and hat were the right thing.  Natural fiber, earthtones, textural, warm.  Luckily, we’d made a quick stop in to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Victor, NY, and found an Under Armour hat and a little 3-pair pack of gloves (camo, olive, and black,) that fit my vision (and her) just wonderfully!  The sweater we chose was one that I’d hauled out of my closet “just-in-case!”

Morgan did a truly exceptional job out there in the cold with me yesterday, and while she may not be an expert at cooking the perfect marshmallow, I’m so very thankful that she made herself available to help get me going on a new project.  We worked, laughed, and had fun.  I’m anxious to see what the next step forward is in this body of work, and I know that I’ll share it here when it happens.  I’ll sign of for now, as I sit here and enjoy my last fire on the last evening of my retreat, listening to some good Reckless Kelly, the Bulletproof album, and wishing that Monday wasn’t coming along quite yet.

Then, standing there in the soft afternoon light and the freshly fallen snow, Morgan hauled off and sneezed inside my sweater. Classy, Morg. Thanks.

Camera:  Canon EOS 5D Mark 2.

Saturday, November 6, 2010. Canandaigua, NY.

I could see it coming from half a mile away.  It wasn’t here just yet, but it would be soon.  The air to the northwest was becoming more and more opaque.  The wind had picked up and carried with it a deeper chill.

There has, for years, been something very special to me about being in the woods during archery season when the first real snows of the year blew in.  It’s one of the moments that I look forward to each deer season, but don’t always get to experience.  Sitting in a treestand, watching the wall of snowflakes approach from across a field, or through the hardwoods, somehow has always brought me a wonderful sense of peace and tranquility.  I deeply inhale those first breaths of winter, watching tall, rust colored grasses sway in protest to the coming season.  I listen to the whispering static of the flakes throwing themselves at the last remaining oak leaves. It brings me to a place where I feel I’m a greater part of it all.  It brings a sense of belonging.  To the land.  To the Earth.  It’s one of those absolutely beautiful moments in the woods where I can only stand there and absorb as much of it as I can.  Here, in this moment, I’m no longer an intruder.

After a while, the snow falls harder.   The wind gusts blow swirling waves of snowflakes across the fields and through the woods.  As hard as it’s coming down, the snow still isn’t able to stick to anything.   The squirrels seem to sense what’s coming soon.  They pick up their pace, collecting and hoarding all the acorns they can gather.  Always looking over their shoulders for the fox whose den is nearby.  Chickadees flit about abruptly, almost nervously, looking for seeds among the branches.  I turn up the back of my collar against the wind.  I can feel the flakes melting on my face as I strain to look through it all for the forms of deer.  Nothing is moving out there.  Yet, everything around me is moving.  I’ve always been struck by this contrast, of how the scene before me can be filled with so much movement and busy energy, and at the same time, seem so very still and calm.  Silent, cozy and welcoming, despite the cold wind.

I take these moments home from the woods with me and store them away for a time when I long for them.

Camera:  Canon EOS 1Ds Mark 3

It’s not too often, this time of year, that I’ll take time away from my weekends of bowhunting to work on extra projects that always seem to pop up!  Usually, I tend to cringe if someone asks to steal some of my October or November “free-time.”  This request, however, had a sense of urgency that I had to cave in to.  My friend, Tisa Zito, a filmmaker, had come to me needing a new portrait that she could use for her self-promotion.  We had been talking about this back and forth for a little while, but with our busy schedules, it had been difficult to agree upon a shoot date.  She had sent me a text message, though, earlier in the week, announcing her imminent move to Oregon.  If we were going to do this thing, it had to be now!  We made a plan for Sunday afternoon at Braddock Bay State Park, along the southern shores of Lake Ontario.  Despite the lousy weather forecast, we did quite nicely in the field, avoided all but the wind and cold, and got some beautiful photographs.

Tisa met me at the studio in the city that afternoon.  She was just coming from work, and I had been on a morning hunt in Canandaigua.  I had already loaded the camera, laptop and lighting gear into the truck when she showed up with her “sippy-cup” full of black coffee.  We hopped in the Tundra and headed out of Rochester in the direction of Braddock Bay.  Tisa’s coffee was smelling awfully tempting to me, so after a quick stop at Starbucks for a Venti Pike, I was good-to-go.

The weather forecast had called for showers, cold, and wind.  Luckily, we avoided any rain at all.  Braddock Bay was windy, though, and the temperatures hovered just under 40 degrees.  As it turned out, the area we chose to shoot in was near a hedgerow at the field’s northern perimeter.  That tangle of trees and scrub did a fine job of blocking much of that harsh wind.  I had supplied Tisa with a couple of carbon handwarmers for her pockets, and she was sporting a new pair of olive-green wool mittens that she was super-excited about!  Kneeling on a small blue tarp, among the grasses, we started our work.

Now, Tisa tends to explain herself away as a more serious, subdued type of soul.  “Darker,” perhaps. She doesn’t like being photographed.  “I don’t photograph well,”  “I hate being in front of the camera,”  “I don’t smile for pictures.”   These were the “disclaimers” I had received from her leading up to this day.  Well, my perception of her wasn’t quite in line with her own, and I was curious to see if I was right about that.  As it turns out, I was the one who was correct.  Sure, Tisa’s a serious person, but hardly somber!  She laughs easily, and is adventurous and energetic to a point that I can only aspire to.  We had some really great conversation that afternoon, in the truck, at Braddock Bay, and over a couple of Veneto pizzas later on.  I feel that the images we collected in that short hour-and-a-half at Braddock Bay sum up at least part of who Tisa Zito is.  Some are serious, some are silly.  I love the look of them, and the little chemistry that happens in them.  We had a great shoot on that chilly afternoon, the kind you wish to have more often, and that, in itself, is cause for a little celebration.

We’ll really miss seeing you at Orange Glory, Tisa!  Good luck in your big adventures, and please keep in touch!  We’ll look forward to your next visit back East!

One of Tisa’s latest projects was to document a successful archery hunt for Elk in Oregon’s Starkey Experimental Forest.  It was absolutely thrilling to hear her perspective on the experience.  I can’t wait to see her finished footage!

Tisa Zito, getting it done in Oregon's Starkey Forest.

Camera:  Canon EOS 5D Mark 2.

My Black Widow PMA-X at rest in Canandaigua, NY.

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.

A "Pick-Up Line" journal in Cement color.

I spent some nice time in the studio over the weekend doing some photography for my girlfriend, Christine Walker, owner of Concepcioun Handmade Gifts.

For Concepcioun’s customers, Christine creates some wonderfully handsome writing journals and gorgeous wedding guest books.  One of her more playful ideas was for her “Pick-Up Line” series of blank journals shown here.  She’s also been busy with some cool new prototypes she’s very excited about, which I’ll be photographing for her website as soon as they’re ready!

Camera: Hasselblad H2 and Leaf Aptus 65 digital back.

The "Love Pirate" journal in Gravel.

Journals in Leaf, Cement, Sky, and Gravel.

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!

I would also like to thank my good friends and co-workers at Myers Creative Imaging for their continued love and support. John, Linda, Heather, Kathy and Eric – You guys rock!

The eve of a New Year is traditionally a time for establishing resolutions and setting goals for future achievement. One of my biggest goals for 2009, which this website will help to attain, is to gain new clients who have a need for great photography of people, food and products.

Another, more focused goal, is to create great images for new clients whose companies manufacture outdoor clothing and equipment, especially that which is related to hunting.

Having the opportunity to set such goals is something that I’m very thankful for, and I’m looking forward to all the possibilities that are ahead.

My intent is to use this blog to help viewers see a little further inside the workings of my photography, and to try and keep the whole website package fresh and interesting! Thanks for checking it out!