Rhett Canipe

01.8.2010 1 Comment

Rhett Canipe was the first person who ever paid me to take pictures.

I met Rhett in July at my buddy, Seth’s, place. We were helping Seth move across town. Rhett and I showed up to help and became good friends. As I often do, I brought my camera that day and was snapping random pictures of the moving process. At one point, not too long after meeting me, he said, “Bro, I’m working on an EP and I need someone to shoot some photos of me. I can’t pay you a ton, but I could give you something.” Talk about having faith in someone! WHAT AN IDIOT!!!! No, seriously, Rhett did me a HUGE favor that day. About a week later, we got together and these are a few of the photos from that shoot, some of which are now on his site. Amazingly, his EP WAS completed (produced by the guy we helped move – and my top dog here in Cashville – Seth Jones). One of these photos is part of his album art.

Alvin Love

01.7.2010 2 Comments

Alvin Love is an energy-packing adventurer. I first met Alvin back in June at a Chik-Fil-A here in town. We were at Kids’ Night dominating some chicken nuggets! And he was just about to head to Australia – for 4 months!!! He just up and left because he wanted to! Well, I ran into him again at a Christmas party. After the party we went to hear a techno DJ across town where we danced with a girl that was wearing a winter hat that looked like a bear head. Short story: Alvin Love attracts fun. So when he told me he was playing a show a few days later, I was excited!

Bruce Springsteen

01.6.2010 6 Comments

Bruce Springsteen sweat on us. That’s how close we were.

I won’t pretend like this shoot was no big deal. I pretty much freaked out the entire time. I mentioned in the Bon Iver post that my buddy Drew at Aloompa had received the 2nd best pass that Bonnaroo hands out for designing the festival’s iPhone app. We had been chilling in the hospitality tent eating food and rolled up to this special gate to see the Springsteen show about an hour before he went on. We got right in and maneuvered into position stage right, about 7 people deep from the barricade (which was still quite a way from the stage). As I also mentioned in the Bon Iver post, I had NO IDEA what kind of passes we’d have, so all I brought with me was a 4GB flash card (fairly small) and a 50mm lens. I never imagined being so close to the action!

Flash Mob

01.4.2010 No Comments

I was supposed to go see Avatar in 3D IMAX with some friends last night but I thought I’d be too tired to stay awake through the whole thing so I decided not to go. Then I found out a band called Flash Mob was playing at 12th and Porter. My friend, Tyler, told me they were rad, so I decided to shoot the show. Flash Mob snapped me out of my drowsiness in the first 10 seconds of their set.

Ben and Carrie’s Kids

01.3.2010 1 Comment

What if I told you that one of the dearest friends in my life is a guy I met on the internet a year ago? You’d think I was kidding. But I’m not. One of my good buddies is a guy named Ben who lives in Phoenix. About a year ago, Ben was looking for a domain name and I owned it. He looked up my information and called me to see if I’d sell it. We ended up talking on the phone for 2.5 hours about life. Two total strangers. Instant friends. About 4 months after that first phone call, I flew out to visit Ben, his wife, and two kids in Phoenix. In all, I visited them four times in 2009. And ate all their food on every trip!

The Magic Show

01.2.2010 No Comments

Ringy ringy. At 4:30pm on New Year’s Eve, my buddy Tyler called me to let me know he had been asked at the last moment to play a 30-minute set at an NYE party that night. He wanted to know if I could come out and shoot it. He said he would go on at 8:15pm (which means at least 8:30 in concert time). I had a party I was going to at 9, but shooting Tyler is so much fun that I told him I’d come out. I showed up in my business formal wear to shoot him. Tyler played the show with his regular drummer, Caleb Crosby, and since his full band wasn’t there, they decided that anytime the two of them play future shows together, they’ll be known as The Magic Show. Magic it was, my friends!

Bon Iver

12.31.2009 2 Comments

On Friday, June 12, I got a call from my friend Drew asking if I wanted to go to Bonnaroo – a huge, 4-day music festival held every year in Manchester, TN. It attracts some 80,000 people and I’ve wanted to go since I heard about it. Before I packed up to leave, I grabbed my camera because I figured I’d get some great shots of hippies doing awesome things.

Derek Wells

12.30.2009 3 Comments

If you’ve ever seen multi-platinum country artist Josh Turner in concert, then chances are you’ve seen Derek Wells. For the past 5 years, Derek has been Josh’s lead guitarist. A couple weeks ago, Derek decided he wanted some portraits and that shadows should play a big role in the shoot. I don’t think portrait photography is where I want to focus, but this was good.

Tyler Bryant

12.29.2009 9 Comments

I don’t like hype. But sometimes something awesome has a lot of hype. So when I tell you I’ve never seen anyone play guitar like Tyler Bryant, please believe me. This 18-year old guitar beast from Honey Grove, Texas (population 1,839) moved to Nashville in early 2009. His talent is undeniable. If you ever get a chance to see him play, you must! I would bet you’ve never seen anyone like him either. On the Friday before Christmas, Tyler and his band – Caleb Crosby, Calvin Webster, and Jason Stoltzfus – played at The Rutledge in Nashville. The fantastic Australian rocker, Sinead Burgess, also made an appearance.