Archives for December 2007
Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) Awards
The WPJA awards were announced for their Artistic Guild. I was honored to receive two placements in this international competition. A big thanks to Toni Blake and Leigh Ann allowing me to document their wedding and provide me with such wonderful opportunities!!! If you have a free moment, there is some stunning work on this site. I am always inspired!!! www.agwpja.com
Judge’s Comments: 1. The bride looks like she is flying across the dance floor and her obvious joy can’t be missed. By converting the image to b&w, the dance floor now works in your favor.
Judge’s Comments: 1. Strong, straight forward and clean with a little accent of lace. The blue of her eye and the background compliment one another and keep you staring right into the bride’s eye.
B.B. King
Every now and then, you need a little bit of time to focus as an artist and do what we do. I’ve been excited about decorating my new home office with some of the photography I’ve done over the past 15 years. The opportunity to photograph B.B. King not once, but twice, has been a dream come true. Arguably, he is the single greatest figure in American blues history and is an inspiration for me not only as a musician, but as a photographer. I decided to print an image of Riley B. King and Lucille (his guitar) from The Paramount Theater in early 2007 and blog the result. This is a split toned image (or duo-toned)…..meaning it has two tones–sepia for the highlights and blue for the shadows. The photograph below represents a musician 60 years into his career–and one who is extremely grateful for a consistent audience since the 1940s. This photograph is my way of giving back.
………another print for the office
I wanted to make a print from a photograph that is still one of my favorites. This was taken with an exposure time of 1/8 of a second from the stage. I have a sequence of photographs in this series, but this is my favorite…….the movement and strong diagonal line element as well as the use of negative space provide a certain “feeling” that always draws me in. I printed a sepia toned copy for The Paramount in 2006, but wanted to revisit the image with the purity of a black and white. A big thank you to Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for giving me this wonderful photographic opportunity.
Elizabeth and Ben
I had the pleasure of documenting Elizabeth and Ben’s wedding in Naples, Florida with a beautiful ceremony at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. The reception was held at the stunning Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club. Elizabeth has been a lifelong friend of mine as well as my attorney for our photography company. She and Ben will reside in Lexington, Virginia with Elizabeth continuing to practice law while Ben continues to represent the 24th Legislative District in the Virginia House of Delegates. Ben is also the President of New Dominion Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm providing marketing and public relations assistance to new technologies seeking to expand their presence in rural Virginia. I cannot express enough how much it means to me that Elizabeth and Ben asked me to document their special day.
Ricky Skaggs and Family
In his over 35 years as a professional musician, Ricky Skaggs has brought bluegrass music to greater levels of popularity in the past few years than the father of the genre — the legendary Bill Monroe — could ever have imagined. An accomplished singer and mandolin player by his teens, Skaggs became a front runner in country’s neo-traditionalist movement before establishing his own record label, Skaggs Family Records, as his then-current recording contract was coming to an end in 1997.
Since that time, Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder have released an amazing eight consecutively Grammy-nominated albums, (five of which have earned the revered award) while also opening the label to a variety of other musical artists in bluegrass and roots music, such as The Del McCoury Band, The Whites, Mountain Heart, Blue Highway, Melonie Cannon, Cherryholmes, Keith Sewell, and 13-year wunderkind Ryan Holladay.
Ricky Skaggs is a delight for any musician to watch. He brought his family and their incredible bluegrass show to The Paramount on December 16th.
Ricky watches his daughter, Mandy, sing and play piano.
Ricky Skaggs’ son, Andrew, performs.
Before leaving the stage, Andrew receives a kiss from his father after a blistering guitar solo.
Leo Kottke
Profoundly original and unexpected, Leo Kottke is a deep-talking Midwestern raconteur whose quick wit is matched by his astounding virtuosity on the six and 12 string guitars. For the past three decades, Kottke has been indefatigable in his pursuit of a unique musical vision that has placed him among the foremost acoustic guitar stylists of our time. Kottke’s ability to embrace folk idioms and pop melodies as readily as he assimilates jazz and classical influences makes him unique among guitar virtuosi. He brought his unequivocal talent to The Paramount on December 4th.
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots performed at The Paramount Theater on November 25. You may remeber their famous song “I Don’t Want to Set The World on Fire” which was often sung by Fred G. Sanford during many episodes of the 1970s television hit, “Sanford and Son.”
Their search for a recording contract landed them in New York City, where they met up with singer Bill Kenny, who replaced Daniels as the group’s lead tenor in 1936. Three years later, The Ink Spots had their first million-selling record with “If I Didn’t Care.” The song, which would be their biggest hit, ultimately sold 19 million copies.
The Ink Spots introduced a number of firsts that had a direct impact on the development of rhythm and blues in the 1940s and rock and roll in the 1950s — a soaring lead tenor and revolutionary talking bass parts among them. No less importantly, The Ink Spots were one of the first black groups to cross the racial barrier in radio and live performances.
The group broke attendance records wherever they played, performing with Glenn Miller’s Orchestra, Lucky Millinder’s Band, Jack Benny, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, and countless others. Their film appearances included The Great American Broadcast (1941) and Abbott and Costello’s 1942 romp Pardon My Sarong. A 1944 radio poll voted the Ink Spots the second favorite singing unit — behind Fred Waring’s Glee Club, and ahead of greats like The Andrews Sisters.
The hits — “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire,” “To Each His Own,” “My Prayer,” “I’ll Never Smile Again,” “A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening,” “Java Jive,” “Maybe,” “Into Each Life Some Rain May Fall,” “We Three,” “It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Prisoner of Love,” and many more — continued throughout the 1940s. While the frequency of hits slowed in the mid 1950s, The Ink Spots’ influence was heard in the many doo-wop vocal groups formed during this period, and carried over to many groups which would come along later, like the Temptations.
The Ink Spots’ musical impact on American music history has been recognized formally by induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame (1987), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1989), and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (1997). As said by soul singer and founding member of the Impressions Jerry Butler, The Ink Spots are “the heavyweight champions of quartet singing.”
If you look in the background, you will see my personal “Black Face” Fender Deluxe Amp that I loaned to The Paramount for the show.
$22
there are a lot of things one could spend $22 on… some fun artwork on etsy, a dinner out with friends, a good bottle of wine… well, today i chose to spend my $22 at doggyday care. a doggy day filled with lots of running, playing, drool, and treats… when i look at these resting paws i just cant think of anything better!
just because
i should be in bed, but for some reason my creative energy turns on at night and i just cant go to sleep. anyway, i had the burning urge to play with a picture from a wedding i shot last year. maybe because its just so stinkn fun!
Baby Luke
is he not the cutest little munchkin!
