Tintypes at St. Vincents–Day 1

Two of the young ladies and their handiwork

Two of the young ladies and their handiwork

It is so great to have friends like Carmela Aliffi who is the art teacher at St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah, GA. She does such a great job with those kids and inspires them daily to create and learn and to love art. She has been a great support to me personally and artistically and has invited on more than one occasion to come and share my photography with her students. Last time was a couple of years ago and we did paper negatives with my 8x10 camera.

Just this year, I started doing tintype, or, as it is sometimes called, wet-plate collodion photography. It is great to take 150 years of photographic technology and through it out the window. I have been pretty much limited to working at or close to my studio on Waters Avenue. But St. Vincent’s has a great little darkroom and I was able to load up my camera, chemistry and set up there. Easy peazy!

Framing up the shot

Framing up the shot

I have no idea what this gesture means!

I have no idea what this gesture means!


The students, I think they were all juniors and seniors, seemed to really get into the process. I know I had fun. The thing about working in these old processes is that it is exciting just to get an image and today we got some nice ones and had a fun educational time doing it.


I am going back on Wednesday and on Thursday so hopefully all the students will get a chance to shoot and maybe if we are lucky get to coat a plate. Happy tintyping!

Lighting and directing

It was me and four other photographers and we  spent last Saturday, April 28, 2018 with Zack Arias, a great photographer and educator in his studio in east Atlanta. We went through a bunch of different lighting setups, delved into some color and directing of the subjects. It was a lot of information, but Zack is the explainer in chief, so I feel like most of it sunk in.

After the workshop we all adjourned to Zack's house and feasted on a dinner that he prepared himself, steak, ribs, mac and cheese and good talk. It was a good day.

Here are a few shots gathered along the way.

Sheldon Church Video


I went out this morning with my DJI Mavic Pro–I haven't mentioned yet that I love my drone. So I decided to go across the big bridge with no name to South Carolina. The Carolina Lowcountry is one of my favorite places. It is a dream for any photographer and for this real estate photographer who lives in Savannah, it is  a place try to never take for granted. The ruins of Sheldon Church is one of my favorite places to visit and this was the first time I took my drone.

So I am going to let this short video do most of the talking. I hope you enjoy it.

Video from Sheldon Church and the Carolina Lowcountry.

Savannah Invitational

It's just like the good old days. When the holiday season rolls around football is heading into post season and basketball is heating up. This is the second year of the Savannah Invitational Basketball Tournament. It is officially a pre-season event that hosts teams from across the country. 

For the past few months I have been taking assignments from the Savannah Morning News. They are all over the map, meetings, school functions, St. Patty's Day, The Rock and Roll Marathon. I have a couple of shoots this week the first of which as this game pitting the Savannah State University Lady Tigers against the Friars from Providence College. I shot the first half and it was not looking good for the ladies in blue. Oh well.

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Sunday night at the jazz festival

It was a great Sunday afternoon and evening to kick off the 36th annual Savannah Jazz Festival at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort. The big band sounds of the Parris Island Marine Band really set the mood and seemed to inspire the players in the Armstrong University Band. The evening ended with a jam session hosted by Teddy Adams and a crew of area players. The event will continue this week with a full schedule of music and featuring a tribute to Savannah's own Ben Tucker and the premiere Tuesday of a documentary based on his illustrious life and career and tragic death in 2013. checkout the lineup at the festival's website

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