The shoot involved our renting a large drive-in studio, then lighting their rescue trucks and photographing them from a low angle to add a dynamic feel.  The plan was to shoot the trucks and the subjects separately, then combine them both along with a dramatic stormy sky, in Photoshop.

Given the theme is superheroes at work, we shot everyone with an extremely wide angle lens for that cartoon feeling. It added to the look of brawn and bigger than life action figures. Given these are real guys, not accustomed to hamming it up for the camera, they did a great job.

AAA of Washington are a terrific group of talented folks, working in house at AAA’s offices, but doing the caliber of work produced by top agencies. Lighting large vehicles is no easy feat. Many thanks to my assistants, Joe Peila and Brian Jones along with the folks at AAA. They’re all AAA quality in my comic book!

I’ve had the privilege to be asked to photograph and videotape Washington State’s gubernatorial candidate – Jay Inslee. Jay is currently a Congressman with the WA 1st District and has decided for run for governor. He’s known for his progressive ideas, his dedication to people and in particular, the environment. He sponsored a bill and wrote a book called “Apollo’s Fire”, (http://www.amazon.com/Apollos-Fire-Igniting-Americas-Economy/dp/1597261750) which attempts to bring real solutions to our nation’s energy and environmental challenges.

Here’s some images from a rally held in Seattle on November 9th, 2011, featuring Al Gore.

Jay & Al share a laugh

Looking already like the Governor

I shot these with the wonderful hybrid “Micro 4/3′s” the Panasonic Lumix GF1. Its an amazing little camera with fast and sharp Leica interchangeable optics. In this case, I used the 45mm f/2:8, but that is the equivalent to a 90mm in a standard DSLR 35mm camera. This is so much fun to shoot with, I don’t mind bringing it along and it’s the perfect solution for the many occasions when I don’t want to schlep the “big” 35mm DSLR, but the iPhone isn’t enough quality.

The light wasn’t that bright, so I shot at 800 ISO, wide open at about 200th of a second. They’re a little grainy, but not bad considering.

But enough shop talk… I’ll let the pictures do that.

I’m a Seattle based professional photographer and have been shooting for about 30 years now. Like many of my generation, my parents handed me a Brownie as a boy, and I was hooked… it was love at first sight. Perhaps it’s because my Mom was a fine artist-painter, and my Dad was a watch repairman – art plus gadgets makes photographer.

The great thing is I’m enjoying the medium more than ever. Why you ask? Besides the fact that it’s so second nature now, there’s the digital phenomenon. It offers so much creative freedom and abandon – the sky’s the limit. I’m not one to pine for the “good ole’ days” of standing in a darkroom breathing fixer. I’ll take my Epson any day.

So please join me in sharing newsworthy items, stories about photo shoots, the people that are both in front of, and behind the camera. It’s a lot of fun and I’m happy to share it with you!