Frito Lay Headshots at Wild Dunes Resort

As part of our contract to cover Frito Lay’s Atlantic Region Rollout Meeting at Wild Dunes Resort, we were asked to provide headshot stations for anyone needing an updated portrait.

Over 200 employees signed up…and we had a very short window in which to photograph them before the general session began! So I reached out to my good friend Jason of Docent Prodigy to double up with me. Jason is my Moto Photo Adventures partner-in-crime (check out our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/motophotoadventures), and an amazing photographer in his own right!

We set up our “double-trouble” studio in the Boardroom at the Boardwalk Inn, using a Savage Studio Gray backdrop in a diagonal pattern to allow more shooting space on each side. Each station included a Z9, Flashpoint trigger, 2 Flashpoint Speedlights in a Westcott 60″ umbrella as the main light, 1 Flashpoint Speedlight in a 43″ Westcott umbrella as the fill light, and 1 Flashpoint Speedlight in a Westcott Apollo Strip soft box as a kicker light. Everything was placed on Manfrotto supports, held down by BoaBags for safety. In one station, the Z9 was mounted with 24-120S f4 lens (set at around 105mm). In the other station, the Z9 was mounted with a 70-200G f2.8 (also set around 105mm). Everything was shot at ISO 400, f5.6, 1/200, with the flashes dialed to 1/16 power. These settings ensured fast recycle time and no risk of running out of battery power in spite of such a large group.

Even though we had calculated a window of approximately 2 minutes per person, our task was made even more challenging when we were told we also had to rename each person’s headshot to include their region, first name, and last name. This meant each camera had to be tethered to a computer. We used Lenovo Yoga laptops for the task. But since Lightroom doesn’t yet support tethering to the Z9, we used Nikon NX Tether software for the job. It’s a simple, clean, and robust program. And the best part is, it allows you to press a shortcut key to bring up a renaming dialogue box before you shoot each person. This allowed us to input each person’s region, first, and last name into NX Tether before each client. Thus, each image was being automatically renamed by the program while it was transferring to the laptop.

The system worked beautifully, everyone was so friendly, and we had a BLAST!!!

Many thanks to Kate at Destination South, Jason with Docent Prodigy, and Donna & Tracey from Frito Lay for all their help. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Frito Lay Conference at Wild Dunes Resort

Photographing the annual Frito Lay Conference last week was an absolute pleasure!

During this Atlantic Region Rollout Meeting, we photographed everyone’s headshots, their meetings, keynote speakers, awards ceremonies, team-building activities, and the fabulous Oyster Roast to celebrate the conclusion of this awesome event.

Many thanks to Kate at Destination South, Jason with Docent Prodigy, and Donna & Tracey from Frito Lay for all their help. I couldn’t have done it without you!!!

* Nikon Z9 (x2), Nikkor 14-30S f4, Nikkor 24-70S f2.8, Nikkor 24-120S f4, Nikkor 70-200G f2.8 + FTZ, DJI Mini 3 Pro, Flashpoint speedlights, ThinkTank Speedbelt, Spider Holster

Estuary Beans & Barley

Charleston has so many cool venues…yet I keep discovering new ones ever day! Here are a few photos from a fun “Sip & See” event I photographed for my good friend and amazing photographer, Gary Colemen. I met up with the group at the Estuary Beans & Barley and the adjoining Charleston Distillery on Johns Island. Afterwards, we all stopped and admired the iconic Angel Oak. Exploring this beautiful 500-year old tree never gets old (pun intended)!

Trident Literacy Association 50th Anniversary Gala

What a milestone event!!!

I had the pleasure of photographing the Trident Literacy Association’s 50th Anniversary Gala this weekend. The evening was full of music, keynote speakers, awards presentations, a fundraiser, and a live auction!

The incomparable Carolyn Murray served as Mistress of Ceremonies. The keynote address was delivered by the eloquent British Robinson from the Barbara Bush Foundation. And the lively Tom Crawford served as auctioneer when the bidding began.

Many thanks to Lee & Taylor from Experience Holy City for helping make sure everything ran perfectly. And a huge “thank you” to Joanne and Judianne from the Trident Literacy Association for bringing me in to cover The Golden Gala!

Shot with Nikon Z9 (x2), Nikkor 14-30 f4, 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8, Godox flashes (x8)

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 3

With 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 3 of the conference capitalized on all the informative presentations and relationship-building from the previous two days! There were many more powerful presentations, as well as panel discussions for everyone to attend. Plus there were many new connections established during the networking breaks. The day culminated in a fun group shot of all the amazing people on the US Grains Council team that made this whole conference possible! It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!!!

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 2

With 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 2 of the conference was all about the keynote speakers in the main ballroom! There were lots of networking breaks as well. At the end of the day, once everyone’s brains were filled to capacity with new knowledge, a nice reception was held at the Minneapolis Orchestra Hall. (Stay tuned for Day 3.) It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!

Export Exchange Conference in Minneapolis – Day 1

With over 500 attendees from over 50 countries, The Export Exchange is an international conference held in Minneapolis, that provides overseas attendees the opportunity to build relationships with U.S. suppliers of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn, sorghum, barley and other commodities. The speaker line-up for this year’s conference was a “who’s who” array of experts in the industry, with a variety of programs to educate and build awareness of environmental sustainability, weather patterns, the world political climate, historical data trends, and the benefits of U.S. products. Event sponsors from all over the country were also there, displaying products, answering questions, and building relationships with buyers.

In addition to hosting the conference, The U.S. Grains Council sponsored the attendance of international trade teams from more than 30 countries that will get a chance to meet farmers and see the U.S. grain supply chain firsthand before and after the conference.

Day 1 of the conference I was busy photographing candids of everyone arriving and registering, team photos of the various delegations, as well as the welcome reception.  (Stay tuned for days 2 and 3.)  It was an absolute pleasure photographing this year’s Export Exchange!

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 3

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from the final Day 3…

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 2

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from Day 2…

US Grains Council Conference in Sacramento – Day 1

The US Grains Council’s 62nd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento is in the books! It was another fantastic event. I am humbled and honored to be the official photographer for this amazing group.  Their destination conferences are always so informative and inspirational!!! Here are a few shots from Day 1…

New Orleans Greenscreen Event

We live in interesting times!!!

Photography certainly has evolved over the 40 years since I first got “hooked” with my Dad’s Pentax K1000. I photographed all through high-school as the senior yearbook photographer with that camera and a Rikoh KR-5, switching to the Pentax Program Plus and ME Super in college. I upgraded to medium format Mamiya 645 when I turned pro after college. When auto-focus technology arrived, I converted to Nikon N8008, N90, and F100. Things got really interesting when digital hit the scene. I was an early adopter with the D100, progressing to the D2x, D3, D4, D5, and many other variations in between. Most recently, the big change has been switching to mirrorless. I’m currently working with the Z9 and loving it!

But what’s really cool is how cameras and computers have become so integrated! Last week I had a fantastic time photographing a greenscreen event in New Orleans for one of our favorite clients, the US Grains Council! Similar to how the weatherman shows you the maps on TV, I used a green background that the computer would later drop out and replace with a digital background.  With my D5 tethered to one laptop, Lightroom would instantly import the image. Then a special program from the awesome team at Photo Party Upload would watch that “hot folder” and pop the image up in an intuitive kiosk app.  If the first laptop was still being used by the previous guest in the booth, I had a second laptop set up with the same kiosk app running on it for the next person to use.  After getting their picture made, guests would go to one of the kiosks to choose which background image they wanted, and use the touchscreen to pinch and zoom their photo, placing themselves in the “scene” wherever they wanted. Finally, they could instantly share the final image on social media, or simply email it to themselves.

It was so much fun watching everyone get creative and have fun with the system! 40 years ago, if you had told me I’d be doing this king of “magic” with today’s technology, I would have told you you were crazy!!! 🙂