focal 3 feet

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Olive and Sinclair Artisan Chocolate

I recently had the opportunity to work with my good friends Scott Witherow and David Sellers, taking photos of their new chocolate company Olive and Sinclair. They make the worlds most delicious chocolates right here in East Nashville, about a 10 minute bike ride from my house. I got to spend the day just hanging out and photographing the process from bean to bar. Everything is made by hand in their small work space. I can still remember when the two of them were talking about starting the company and now seeing it up and running and seeing their chocolate in stores around Nashville is just a really great thing. I am also working on a video that will go along with the photos. Whenever I figure out Final Cut I promise Ill put that up here as well.

Check out Olive and Sinclair HERE.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

West Memphis Three Murders (New York Times)

In 1993, three boys, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. , and Jason Baldwin, were convicted for the brutal deaths of three 8-year-old boys, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steve Branch, in West Memphis, Arkansas. Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin are now in prison serving life sentences and Damien Echols is on death row. Now, many are questioning if these three boys, who were 17-18 year-olds at the time, actually committed the crimes. Even the mother of one of the boys, Pam Hobbs, mother of Steve Branch, feels that the trials may have been unfair and that the boys deserve a new trial. There are questions about a forced confession, little physical evidence and motive, and other things that have brought this case back to life now 16 years later. Two years after the convictions, HBO made a documentary about the case called "Paradise Lost" which brought a lot of the questions about the boys guilt to the attention of the rest of the world.

I recently spent two days in West Memphis with writer Shaila Dewan talking with people involved in the case and getting a sense of how the town feels about the case now.

You can read Shaila Dewan's story HERE.

Friday, October 9, 2009

All In A Days Work (for The Tennessean)

Working as a freelancer usually means that you get a call for an assignment and you spend the next day (or in some cases more) working on that one story. Most of the people that I get to work for have the luxury of being able to spend weeks on a story which means I have more time to work on shooting. So when I get the opportunity to work for the local paper here, The Tennessean, its a little bit of a different speed. I basically get my assignments and spend the day working for them as if I was a staffer, typically shooting three assignments in one day. On the surface it may seem like a bad thing, three is more, one is less, duh, but it really isnt. One thing thats really great is that I have been able to develop a relationship with the other photographers there. I just end up seeing them all the time when I come in to file or get my assignments. And honestly, being a freelancer can get a little professionally reclusive at times. Its just you, the internet, emails, phone calls, FTP, you hardly ever get to meet the people you're working for. Its nice to be able to hang with those guys and gals for a bit and swap stories and see their stuff too.

So I thought I would put up some photos that were all shot in one shift last weekend. The day was pee-wee football, a country ham festival, and a finally a Coolio show. Yeah, it couldn't be more random.

And dont forget, after shooting all this you have to caption and file on deadline. I dont know if Im a glutton for pain or what, but I really do like the pace of these kinds of day. It helps keep you on your toes visually. After a while, any photographer can walk into an assignment and immediately say to themselves, "This is the shot.". But trying to get something beyond "The Shot" a number of times a day and in a number of COMPLETELY different situations is just a fun challenge.