rain

Taken with my polaroid 680, somewhere in Southern Cal-

Man I love the rain. Growing up it only rained about, oh..... maybe 6 times a year. Sure I enjoy nice weather but I enjoy variety more. Rain smells nice, it cleans the air and my senses.

applied arts

2008 Applied Arts Design and Advertising Annual-
Designer Eric Kass + Funnel.tv

traveling

Shot while traveling with my Holga-

I really enjoy traveling; meeting new people and seeing new places. The more I see and experience, the happier I am. People, places and my own life experiences inspire me.

baseball

Shot in Southern Cal with my Polaroid 680-

I played baseball for ten years. For the first few years we had practice every Wednesday at a park just like this one. Actually, it was more like a greenbelt than anything. Our practice field was under the power lines. During batting practice our main goal wasn't to hit screaming line drives over the shortstops head; it was to see if we could hit the power lines. We were young and scrawny back then, except for one kid who was like 5'8" and 300 lbs. He managed to do it, once.

clouds and my polaroid

Shot in Malibu, CA-

I really love clouds. I could lay on a mountaintop or a beach and watch the clouds all day, pretty much every day. I really love my Polaroid 680 SLR circa 1981.

props to my team

Photoserve has added my work to their portfolio of the month selection. Although it's always nice to be recognized for my work, I would not be where I am today without the help of my team.

So...props to my team, without them my productions would not be possible:

Jed Colledge- 1st assist
Matt Tafoya- 2nd assist
Steve Currie- Producer
Carey Hendricks- Producer
Switchman Studios- Digital Artist
Sugar Digital- Digital Artist
Laura Johnston- Digital Artist
Kate Chase- Digital Artist Rep
Selina Maitreya- Consultant
Peggi Jueng- Stylist
Lisa Thomas- Stylist
Eric Kass- Designer

coastal memories

See this big at edshoots.com

When I was a kid I would spend a few weeks in the summer visiting my grandparents ranch in Northern California. Their spot was in Redwood Valley but they also had a small piece of land just north of Mendocino.

During those excursions to Mendocino my sister and I would stand on the outcropping and throw french fries into the wind. The gulls typically didn't have to work much since the fries would usually just kind of float by them. While we were having fun defying balance and death, my dad, grandpa and uncle would dive for abalone, sea urchins and starfish in the cove below. I can still feel the grease in my hands and the humidity in my hair.

miami and montana

On my last trip to Miami I was cruising down Biscayne Blvd and spotted some pretty cool old motel signs. I had my holga with me so I decided to shoot them. These old motel signs reminded me of an assignment where we drove over 3,000 miles.

On one of the nights we ended up in a small town in the middle of nowhere Montana. The only place available for the night was a $24.99 motel. I contemplated sleeping on the park bench across the street then opted for the room; although I should have done the latter.

The room was dingy, cold and musty. The walls were grey cinder block. The bathroom floor was missing all of it's tiles. The sink was mounted into a counter made of rotting plywood. The t.v. was via the 70's and hung out of the ceiling. I turned it on for a few seconds; the screen was orange and yellow with lines running horizontal. Before bed, instead of using the bathroom I opted for the alleyway behind the motel. I didn't dare sleep under the covers, instead I whipped out my down north face bag and slept like a baby.

he's still walking

A few months ago I shot BJ Hill walking across America for Southwest Spirit Magazine. He's nearly done, ending next month in his home state of Massachusetts. Did I mention his calves are huge?

eric kass at funnel and ED patch

I have to give props to my designer Eric Kass over at Funnel for his phenomenal job on the ED branding. The work he's done on the ED branding has won numerous awards this year.

Check out Eric's work at funnel.tv and don't forget about his sweet blog.

You don't have the highly coveted ED patch? No worries, copy the form below and drop us an email. And don't forget to say you want your very own "ED patch."

name:
agency/firm/company:
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aftercapture article

Interview for Aftercapture Magazine August/September issue.

shooting with Struck for Utah Tourism

A bit ridiculous I realize.... sweet nonetheless. It took the art department four hours to get that gear up there.

Cleaning the paint.

First assistant Jed doing his best forest gump impersonation.

Me working. Producer Steve making the calls. CD Mark chilling eating his apple.

Us wondering how that car got through the highway patrol.

Shooting four images with Struck for Utah Tourism.

PDN

I was interviewed last month for an article in July's self promotion issue.

new work

Rocket series coming soon-

sports

I love sports. I love being active. I started playing t-ball when I was four. I played baseball until I was 14 when I broke my arm; I never got my swing back. After baseball I took up pole vaulting. It was fun, I almost killed myself. When I got bored of that I started running long distance. In college I ran the 5000 on the track. Running helped me cope with my teen years. I've never wrestled though, thought it would be torture to run in plastic bags and starve myself to cut weight.

model rockets

My assistant Matt enjoying some down time on a recent shoot.

Yes that is a 16 foot model rocket on top of the jeep. It weighs 35 pounds empty and launches up to 25,000 feet. For an example check out this YouTube clip.

I loved model rockets when I was a kid. Loved them! Not the big ones of course but the small ones that take an hour to put together and even longer to paint if you care about the final design work. The Big Bertha was my favorite. In 7th grade my school had a model rocketry class that you could take as an elective. So for 50 minutes every day at 9:40 I would sit in my model rocket class and build. We learned about real rockets of course. We learned about the space program, we learned about aerodynamics and the atmosphere. But in the end all I cared about was launching my rockets; seeing them go high, sometimes exploding, sometimes flying sideways. We always had a ton of fun-

salt flats

Shooting at the Salt Flats. I love this place. It's so barren, so big and open.

iphone image in san diego

I was in San Diego for a shoot last week. Shot this with my iphone the first evening.

During high school I basically spent the summers at Huntington Beach even though I lived about 40 miles inland. I had a 1986 Toyota Tercel two door hatchback. The car was faded red and had a mismatched orange hood. It didn't have a radio or air conditioning. I bought it for $200, it got 40 mpg.

One July morning my friends and I were driving down the 55 when all of a sudden the engine revved to 8000 rpm -my clutch had gone out. We pulled over, pissed that we were going to miss a sweet beach day. I had it towed back to my house. The clutch was going to be $300 to fix, so I sold it to my neighbor. After that we started using my friends car and my main mode of transportation around town became a mtn. bike.

award

The ED site was awarded Communication Arts web pick of the day for 6.18.08. Once again I have to give props to the phenomenally talented Eric Kass over at Funnel.

summer as a kid

When I was a kid I spent a lot of summers in Northern Cal on my grandparents ranch. I learned to chase rabbits, build things with scrap wood, shoot a 22 rifle and fish for trout using a tree branch and worms. It was great fun...some of the best memories of my childhood. I'll be going back in a few weeks to shoot the spots and places where my memories are the strongest. Can't wait!

sponsorships

In elementary and junior high I wanted nothing more than to be a professional baseball player with lots of sponsors. I ate and breathed baseball. I started playing when I was 5. Second base was my specialty. Growing up in Southern Cal I was a huge Angel fan. I would sneak a small radio into bed at night so I could listen to all of the games. When I was 14 I worked out a deal with one of the guards at the back entrance to the stadium; the deal was autographs for entrance. During those days only about 5-10,000 people came to the games, so I spent my summers on the first row behind the Angels dugout. Whether they won or lost I wouldn't have a voice by the end of the night. I even jumped onto the field for a foul ball once. I thought I was going to prison for life. Security just smiled and said don't do that again.

I quit playing baseball when I was 15. I turned to running instead. By the time I was 17 I had turned into a decent runner with some potential. My nights were spent with dreams of being sponsored by the time I was 18 and making the Olympic Trials. Future injuries dashed those dreams.

I've just signed with Lowepro. They are a great company and I'm excited to be working with them.

pdn photo annual

It's always an honor to win awards and be recognized within the industry. A special thanks to my designer Eric Kass and developer Mark Helton. As always they were fun and easy to work with. Both are tremendously talented.

I won my first award when I was 17. I had recently picked up a camera for the first time and my high school teacher urged me to enter some photographs in a county photography competition. Much to my amazement I won. It was a toned image of a rusty handle on a wooden gate. Nothing special, nothing fancy. But it helped me develop a life long passion for the art.

david archuleta for people

Shot American Idol's David Archuleta for People Magazine. It was a fun shoot. David was great, a bit overwhelmed for sure though. American Idols crew was really easy to work with. Sam the producer was extremely helpful and accommodating. My favorite two-line conversation from the day:

In the Limo on the way to the game:

Sam- What do you think of the motorcade?
D- (looking around at the 12 police cars and motorcycles plowing a path on the freeway) Look at the people driving by, they're taking pictures of us. They probably think I'm the president or something...

traveling

My assistant Matt. He really wanted the RV. I love traveling with Matt. He's super chill, hasn't lost anything yet and keeps things rolling smooth.

walking across america

I found BJ Hill walking along a country road headed to his home state of Massachusetts via California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota into the south and back up to the north east. Yep he's walking across the country. Really cool guy. He's carrying a book with him asking people he meets to write a message to the future President of the United States.

He's had a good trip thus far. Except for the punk who stole his gear in the middle of the Nevada desert.

You can read about his travels and cause here.

dane

Dane. I found him enjoying a nice spring morning. I'm from Southern Cal, so when it starts warming up I find myself thinking about the beach.

I had a Nash skateboard when I was a kid. It was basically a longboard. Once I went camping with my family. We car camped. There was a big hill leading into our area. It was steep and long. I walked to the top and started my decent. About halfway down I hit a rock, I flew about 40 feet through the air. I picked pebbles out of my hands and knees for a few weeks.

steak

Martin for Men's Fitness Magazine. He was cool, a bit self conscious but had a story to tell. Said he was going out for a steak dinner after the shoot. I used to wait tables at a steakhouse in Alaska. It was fun. The Steak was good. I liked the porterhouse, medium rare. The service was fantastic, as long as I waited on you.

rig

We were headed back from a shoot in Southern Utah last week. I spotted this guy and his rigged setup. My assistant grabbed the camera and I pulled up along side. He loved the attention, sporting us the hang loose sign.

spring and cold

It's supposed to be spring here. It's not. It's cold. There's snow. Savannah enjoyed the first five minutes of the shoot, then decided she was done.

family

Family, San Antonio-

hallandale beach

Found this scene in Hallandale Beach, Florida. I felt like I was on a deserted movie set. After a few minutes of shooting, the owner came out to make sure I wasn't "messing with his ride." I asked to take a portrait of him on his sweet ride, he went back inside.

windy

Shooting for Smart Money Magazine. Yep, the wind wreaked havoc!

50 ft up

Shooting 50 ft up on a 3 ft wide catwalk with no rails. I'm afraid of heights- I often have falling dreams, not sure what that means though.

big walls

Big walls everywhere. Yes, that's me working hard-