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100 Best of the Decade – Part 4

After having my portfolio reviewed, it was recommended that I add more campus life to complete a higher education section. One day I had some free time and decided to walk around campus to see what I could find. I got very lucky! Students were doing free yoga classes out in a common area. After photographing some of the standard angles, I climbed to the 5th floor of a nearby building and shoot down on the students for my favorite image.
I got an idea to make a portrait of Mr. Alvin Frye, the owner of a full service gas station across town. On a free day I made the trek over to ask him to pose for a portrait. He agreed as we had a long conversation about our military service. The wind was horrible and he was getting busy, so I scouted his service station for ideas when I returned. Months later my scheduled opened up but Mr. Frye was no longer working. Apparently he fell not long after our visit and had to be placed in a nursing home. I throughly enjoyed our conversation, and hate that I wasnÕt able to make his portrait. Here is an empty chair sitting inside his service station that I shot during my scouting. It service as my what could have been portrait.
The always fun and funny Paula Pell poses in the studio for a feature article about her career as a comedic writer.
Wondering around Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort looking for different images to showcase it beauty. I found this while laying on the ground looking up at a candle light chandelier.
When you look at Mr. Marshall, you see photographic gold. He is a very happy person with a unique look. He was an obvious choice to photograph when shooting a human resources employment campaign of real workers at Dollywood.
My father-in-law was known for his love of fishing. He was impressed and bragged about how nice I made this fishing hole look. This was also the last place my boys and I got to go fishing with him.
Working on anything for University of Tennessee systems has to be very careful to give equal attention each campus. For this annual report, my client came up with the idea of hanging shirts on a clothesline. I made a portable clothesline that we took to a local park to photograph. I made a clothesline in a studio to photograph everything with a clean background. Then the final cover was this image with t-shirts hanging on a grass rope between two trees in my backyard.
Workers of a hotel remove all of the bedding from the rooms after the Gatlinburg fire of 2016. Not only the sheets and blankets, but also all the mattress had to be replaced in the rooms to remove the deep stench of smoke imbedded into them.
Dr. James Hildreth dances with his wife during a reception celebrating his investiture as President at Meharry Medical College.
A graduate waves to family when walking back to her seat after crossing the stage during a University of Tennessee graduation at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Here I was hired by artists to capture different aspects of their act. This is one of the rare images, that I loved as soon as I took it. The white on white tone with he pop of red hair inside the hoop, I felt all came together.
Nothing worse than rain sitting in on your advertising shoot. Good thing we were photographing water rides, so the small amount of rain is not noticed. The image was suppose to be a line of the whole family coming down the slide at once. Unfortunately, everyone came down at different speeds, but the mom and daughter still killed it with their expressions.
When working as a stills photographer with a video crew, typically video has priority. This morning video was running way behind schedule. When I finally had the chance to make my photos, I was given extras and I had one go on the ride. I got one image out of the 300ft drop, but that one was a hero and all I needed.
“You want more sparks? HELL YEAH!” That was these essence of Greg Tune, of Scrappalachian Metal Work. We worked together as he created a special art piece for the cover of an annual report for the University of Tennessee Foundation. Greg had such a huge personality and a true creative. It was such a loss when he left this world to early.
UT Foundation annual report cover art created by Greg Tune. This was my first time to attempt light painting techniques. I learned a lot as I used a flashlight to light the front of the piece and traced the back with a sparkler.
An advertising image of Meharry Medical College students working on patients. When working with real students, you never know that you’re going to get, but this one brought it.
I had an idea to make catch lights in my subject’s eyes in the shape of UT’s logo Luckily, my client loved the idea and turned it into an annual report and long term project.
I had always wanted to photograph someone that painted UT’s Rock. While covering an awards dinner, I met the famous Peyton Miller. She is known for her work on the Rock and prepping for another painting. Once she finished, I met her for a few special portraits.
A graduate straightens the cap on her service dog before commencement starts.
A couple slow dances as an event comes to a close. Staying that extra bit sometimes pays off with an intimate moment like this one.