Treasures at Old Car Heaven

Shariff Simmons

This past week I had the privilege to photograph an amazing man, an amazing talent. Few who meet Shariff aren't completely blown away by his charisma and intellect. I think that it is rare in life to meet someone who is so inspiring, so profound and so genuine.. and I consider myself fortunate to have been able to work with him on his new album, "American Music" (which will be released in January 09). 

For the photoshoot, we had access to several hundred vintage cars.. Sharrif and I chose a red 1931 LaSalle Convertible... it was amazing! For the image above, we put all of the guys that played on the album in the convertible and I got on a lift about 20 feet up to photograph.  Although I am nowhere near done with his album layout, here are a few working shots for the cover and insert... Hope you like!

For more on Shariff, check out:

http://www.myspace.com/shariffsimmons

New Aesthetic

So..... for a long time I've really been drawn to this particular aesthetic... and although I've spent considerable time trying to figure out how to achieve it, I haven't really had success..... until last night! In an effort to keep friends and family abreast of my endeavors in the photographic medium (which is generally the purpose of this blog).. I thought I would post my first experiment that I think will spawn my next body of work.  Let me know what you think!

Elijah Seritt

Our good friends Gary and Vasilke have a 19 month old son (Elijah) who is battling brain cancer right now. I spent the day photographing at a benefit held for Elijah at Gary's workplace, Bogart's Motorsports, here in Birmingham. My boyfriend, Oteil, was able to get a band together with members of Rollin in the Hay and we were able to raise money through a silent auction, a benefit motorcycle ride and donations. Because Gary has been out of work for a month and Elijah has been in and out of the hospital for over 4 weeks now with surgeries, blood transfusions and chemotherapy, you can imagine that their bills are sky high.. but I really feel like everybody pulled together today to help out this little family. I couldn't be more pleased to have been apart of it. Above are pictures of Gary and Elijah. Elijah loves to pick at Gary's fingernails. After his first surgery, Elijah woke up from his anesthesia and melted his dad's heart from doing just that.....

If anyone is interested in hearing Elijah's story or donating to the Elijah Seritt Assistance Fund, please check out the page on Bogart's website: (& kudos to the owner of Bogarts, Bryson, for matching all donations made!)

http://www.bogartsmotorsports.com/event_calendar.asp

Buckethead does Birmingham

Last night we went to Workplay Theater to check out Buckethead and "That 1 Guy" which proved to be a very interesting night to photograph... Though of course we had to duck out early to catch Obama's acceptance speech! But check out this multiple exposure shot of Buckethead!  

Southern State's EquuSSource Photoshoot: Jerry King's Cutting Horses

I spent the day at a beautiful farm near Fayetteville, NC where I met some amazing people and their incredible animals. I feel so fortunate to have been able to photograph out there and to learn so much about horses today. Days like this are what makes my job amazing! Thank you Jerry and Liz King!