It’s back to school for many folks, teachers too, and it looks like it’s shaping up to be an involved and productive year! This is always an exciting part of the year, and I hope all of you keep all the goals (the word I use to mask ‘resolution’) you have set for yourselves for 2009! I believe it’s incredibly important to set goals, and I believe if you never set them, you’ll never achieve any. So, for what it’s worth, there’s my lesson for the day…

One of the great things about the winter is the time you are allowed as a photographer to reflect on your work and where you need to be going. It’s also a great time to work on new material in way of portraiture (at least in my world)!

Byron Kennedy is a great friend. The kind of friend that you can call when you get a flat tire on a dark, lonely highway in a state across the nation, and if he doesn’t show up to help you out, he’ll make sure you’re taken care of with as many calls as it would take. To say the least, Byron is a good guy, with plenty of story to tell if you ever sit down with him. I had an idea of a photograph of Byron for a while, as well as one of his dad, and here is one of my favorites from the shoot.

Three soft boxes with a Dynalite kit. The original thought was to post-process this photograph to replicate Velvia with quite a bit of contrast. However, I enjoyed the metallic sepia/duotone feel this one has!

Byron’s dad, Norvelle Kennedy, is a shooter, and another dang good guy! He is one of the main sports photogs for Texas Tech University. Catch some of his work here. Yes, that’s Wes Welker when he played for Tech, and yes, that’s a bunch of frustrated Aggies.

My idea for Norvelle came almost a year ago, my intention was to go all black-and-white with this one, but I’m not sure which one I like the best, but that’s why you shoot several photographs. The last one (above) I processed out of a black-and-white and gave it an Ektachrome feel (check out the blue tint in the shadows).

These photographs, especially when I relate this to students, are examples of conceptualizing photographs that benefit you personally or professionally, as well as others! I’d like to thank both Byron and Norvelle Kennedy for spending some time with me!