Date/Time: Thursday, May 13th from 7-11pm

Involving: snacks | coffee | photography | music

Donations: 100% of all print sale profits will go to Nashville Red Cross

RSVP on the Facebook event page

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On May 3rd, I had to move the show from Crema across town to Bongo Java on Belmont Blvd. This isn’t what I wanted to be doing…I wanted to be out at Metro Center sandbagging, or delivering blankets to shelters, or distributing water to flood victims…or even just documenting the disaster to help raise awareness. But business must continue and promises must be kept. But now the show’s up, and which means we now have a new opportunity.

I’m going to shoot you straight, I don’t have money to give…I am the cliche’ “starving artist”. What I DO have is plenty of art to sell. Back in February, we raised $300 for Partners in Health’s “Stand With Haiti” campaign with the opening at Fido. Now we need relief right here in Nashville. The biggest need here in town is monetary. The organizations here in town know best how to distribute goods and services, and they need donations to rebuild.

So, this time…the opening for my show at Bongo Java will benefit The Nashville are chapter of the American Red Cross. On Thursday, May 13th from 7-11pm we will have coffee and snacks…possibly some live music and plenty of friends and photos. Still ironing out whether or not we will have wine or beer available.

During the opening, 100% of print sale profits will go directly to the Nashville Area Chapter American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help in flood relief here in town. In addition to that, buy a print at anytime during the month of May and I will donate 50% of print sale profits. Cash and Check donations will also be accepted during the reception.

Your financial gift to the Nashville Area Chapter American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund will help those affected by this crisis and countless others around the world each year. The Nashville Area Chapter American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund provides immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to those in need.

Please help spread the word, invite your friends…this is completely open to the public and should be a great time for a great cause. Hope to see you guys there!

To make a donation RIGHT NOW text REDCROSS to 90999. When you do, an automatic donation of $10.00 will be made. There will be a $10.00 charge on your monthly cell phone bill for the donation. It’s fast AND easy and I encourage all of you to do it.

The American Red Cross name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, individual or political position

OK guys…this has been crazy.  This is LITERALLY a disaster. We’re all living it now, some of us a lot more closely than others.  Nashville is still underwater…and probably will be for at least another week.  We can’t even BEGIN to understand the amount of damage that has been done to not just individuals and businesses, but to the city’s infrastructure as a whole.

Thankfully, my fiance’ and I were not directly impacted by this disaster.  On Monday night, May 3rd…I had to carry on with “business as usual” by taking down my photo show at Crema coffee and put it up at Bongo Java on Belmont.  This felt not just surreal and weird to be doing, but it just felt wrong.  I should’ve been down at Metro Center sandbagging, I should have been at shelters delivering blankets…but when you make a commitment, you have to stick to it.

Well, it got me thinking…back in February we did a benefit reception for my show over at Fido and raised $300 for relief in Haiti.  It was an amazing experience and I’m thankful for all who participated in it.  So, I just spoke to Shara over at Bongo Java and we’re set to do another one, but this time benefiting Nashville.  The details of the actual event are being ironed out as we speak, but I want to officially announce that 50% of all print sale profits for the ENTIRE month of May will go directly to The Nashville Red Cross and their flood relief efforts.

There are all kinds of options to buy a print…you can get one as it is on the wall, or I can do smaller sizes, with or without frame, etc.  The staff at Bongo Java will all be up to speed soon and will have a price list with all the different options behind the counter.  I’m currently working on getting signage and all that together to hang in the shop.  All that being said, the show is hanging in the shop right now and you can go there and check it out.

Please help me spread the word about this…I’ll have more specific details about when the reception will be tomorrow.  Stay safe and dry!  Also if you’re in Nashville, CONSERVE WATER!!!! I really can’t stress that enough.

I was set to shoot their wedding in May, but after booking me as their photographer they won the Perfect Match Contest sponsored by theknot.com and JW Marriot where they won a $150,000 destination wedding to a brand-new resort in San Antonio, TX!  A seriously once-in-a-lifetime thing.  I mean, who wins internet contests?! I’m absolutely ecstatic for them and this opportunity!  The caveat is that this all-inclusive package includes someone else’s photography services.

While that sadly cancels my booking as their wedding photographer, we still very much wanted to do this session.  Josh has been a friend of mine for my entire life, and I wanted to make the portion of their photos that I could control as awesome as possible.

So, without further ado…here is a sampling of what we shot

We’re still working on scheduling the bridal session with Chelsea, so look for that coming soon!!!

Michael and Roger are two of the most wonderful people you’ll ever meet.  Nice, funny, witty and so madly in love with each other!  They’ve been married for 4 years now, and a couple weeks ago we spent the day in their neighborhood in East Nashville shooting the engagement session they never had (much like my session with Michelle+Jason a few months ago).

The weather was absolutely perfect, they looked absolutely gorgeous, and they were a blast to work with!  (Also, BIG thanks as usual to my beautiful and wonderful assistant (and fiance) Trista!)

Thanks so much again for making this a SUCCESS!!!!  You guys rock!

On Feb 13, from 6-9pm Fido is hosting an opening for my show currently hanging there.  RSVP Here or click the link in the anyvite widget on the sidebar to the right of this post.

Also, due to the increasing need for crisis- aid in Haiti, I have decided to donate 50% of all profits from prints sold on Feb. 13th to Partners in Health‘s Stand With Haiti campaign.  In researching various charities that are currently active in Haiti, I decided PIH was doing some great work.  They also have one of the best ratings of any charity on Charity Navigator, spending nearly 95% of their total revenue on relief programs.  Here’s a list of some of their efforts in response to this crisis:

STAND WITH HAITI: PIH Immediate Response to Earthquake in Haiti

• PIH quickly established field hospitals in Port-au-Prince, and currently has 20 operating rooms up and running, with 12 functioning 24-hours a day. PIH has been designated by the World Health Organization to serve as the primary coordinators of University Hospital in Port-au-Prince (HUEH).
• PIH established a relief transfer system to transfer patients from Port-au-Prince (HUEH) to PIH sites in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite Valley, which includes 12 clinical facilities already treating patients.
• PIH was one of the first NGOs to evacuate patients in critical condition to hospitals in the United States and Dominican Republic and is now coordinating the evacuation of patients in critical condition to the United States Naval Ship, the U.S.S. Comfort.
• PIH has sent 22 plane loads with more than 140 medical volunteers – orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical professionals – and several thousand pounds of medical supplies to support the more than 4,500 PIH health care providers already in Haiti.
• The long-term ramifications in Haiti are going to be significant and far-reaching with a new, large group of vulnerable and displaced people. PIH has the experience and commitment to Stand with Haiti for many years to come.

So here’s how this will work…

When I sell a print I don’t normally sell the one off of the wall, I make a new one.  This process takes about 2 weeks, and your print will be framed and matted exactly like it is on the wall in the shop, by the same people that did it the first time.

So if you order your print on Feb 13th, 2010…I will take the “total amount paid for the print” minus “the cost to print and frame it” and I will donate 50% of what is left directly to Stand With Haiti.

Each print is different in terms of cost because many of them have slight variances in print size, but it should work out to around $100-$200 per print being donated to the cause.  Also please note that smaller sizes are available, so if you’re interested in one of the pieces let me know, we’ll have a price sheet with us that night.

I am personally covering the cost of the wine and food that night as well as any costs that may be involved in getting the money to Partners in Health.

Cash and check donations of any amount will also be accepted during the reception which will be added to the final totaly for the donation.

I’m hoping that this night will not only be a great night full of family and friends (old and new!), but also a great opportunity to give something back to a people that so desperately need it.

Hope to see you all there!!!!

In photography it’s very rare that the shot you end up using is the first shot you took.  A good photo kind of grows organically in the moment and many times that growth is captured as well.  But you never get to see that evolution, us photographers just show you the best one and rarely reveal the 30 other shots we took before settling on that one.  Photo Evolution is a how-to blog series where I go back to some of my most recognizable photographs and reveal evolution process by showing you the shots that led up to me getting the one I really wanted.

For this first post, I’m going to show one of my favorite shots, “Boston Red Line at Downtown Crossing”

Final Shot

Now getting this photo was really just a study in patience and luck.  About 3 trains before this one there was a female conductor who looked really interesting and I barely was able to snap a decent, but ultimately uninteresting shot of her.

And just like that, the train was gone and I thought I had missed it completely.  But I decided to stick around, and a few trains later my guy showed up.  And he was far more interesting than the first conductor that I was originally so excited about.  As soon as he pulled up I started shooting, determined not to miss getting a really great shot of this guy.  I wanted it to not just show him, but more of the train and somehow capture the conductors total lack of interaction with the passengers.

Here are the shots leading up to the final shot. It starts with the shot of the female conductor and then ends with my final image.

Final Shot

Sometimes in photography there’s not anything you can really do to force the shot you want, you just have to let it grow in front of you, and be ready for it when it does.  In this instance, as you can see in the gallery…I was actually completely satisfied with my shot of just the conductor looking out of his window with no one else around.  I could have said that I had it and left, but thankfully I waited.  Because as soon as I got what I thought was my shot, here came this lady running to make the train…and I sat and waited for her to pass and snapped the shot (well two actually…you’ll notice I missed her the first time).

So there ya go…Photo Evolution #1.  A little bumbly, I know, but hopefully interesting .  If you have any questions or anything, feel free to leave them in the comments below.  I read everyone of them and promise to answer as best I can.  Also, if you there are any of my photos that you’d like to see shown in this series, please let me know!

This year’s Santa Series is done!  This year the images were debuted at Crema Christmas.  A annual charity craft sale put on by local Nashville coffeeshop, Crema.  This was the first year that I’ve offered the cards for sale, and they went over VERY well.  Over $350 was raised for Safe Haven at the event, and the cards were a real hit!

I’ve tried to add some sort of element every year, and this year is no exception.  2008 saw the addition of reindeer, and in 2009 Santa gets not only a sleigh, but also two little helper elves! I really love shooting this series every year…so without further ado, here are the 2009 images!

If you haven’t gotten christmas cards to send out yet this year, give me a shout.  I have plenty leftover available at only $4 a piece and currently available at The Frothy Monkey along with my fine art photos!

More photos in the galleries:

2007 Series

2008 Series

This post is to let you know of my upcoming showing at The Frothy Monkey Coffeehouse in Nashville.  I’ll be hanging it all up this Saturday and the shop is throwing me a reception a week later on Nov. 14th.  The reception goes from 7-10pm , we’ll have food, wine, coffee, and live music from the beautiful and talented Rae Hering!

Check out the event on facebook for more info and to RSVP

Hope to see you all there!