Oh My Dog!

Ahhhh another shoot with dogs. I love the beasts, but damn do they provide an interesting shooting environment. Luckily this time it was with two show dogs opposed to a gaggle of rowdy labs.

This is Jackie, owner of Oh My Dog! Boutique located in Scottsdale. She was a great model, and surprisingly, so were the dogs when directed. Yeah. You can direct show dogs in photo shoots.

I am somewhat happy with the results of the shoot (not the washed out colors that for whatever reason the uploaded version of this photo flaunts). Check it out in April's 944 Magazine.

The Rock and Roll Dance Patrol

This is Josh.


And Gregor.


And Mark.


And Austin.

They are the Rock and Roll Dance Patrol. They will be playing at The Rogue on March 28th. Shot for 944.

SSGT Brent Bretz

A few weeks ago I spent a few days with SSGT Brent Bretz, an Army sniper that came back resembling little of the man who went over there years before. In his specific case, a highly trained and highly skilled sharpshooter was ordered to drive an unarmored truck during daylight hours to make up for some one elses slacking, and as a result he was hit by a remote activated IED resulting in severe damage to his lower extremities and numerous other traumas. He was in a coma for months, and although Bretz has recovered greatly over the past years, he still fights every day.

Bretz was hard to track down and even harder to let me into his life for any duration of time. The first shoot only resulted in the photo above, which happens to be my favorite of the series.

At the end of our third day together, I still hadn't snapped a personal portrait of Bretz. I lured him into the morning light cascading from the rear arcadia door of his house and snapped a few quick close-ups at f/2.8 and iso 50, my favorite of which, is below.

These bolts and braces held together his body.

As we abruptly wrapped up shooting due to Brent's approaching departure, he asked, "Hey, do you want to see me put on my legs?" Yes. Yes I do.



By the end of our shoot, I was thrilled with the photos he let me take, and the progression in which he became more comfortable with me. I learned how important it is to put in the time before a shoot, assuming I have more than 30 minutes to do the shoot, which is not often.

Trauma Center Shoots

I received a Phoenix Magazine assignment a few weeks ago to follow trauma surgeon Dr. Mark Matthews for a feature in this year's Top Docs issue. I got consent from the Maricopa County Medical Center and set a date to come in.

Resident BAMF and Art Director at Phoenix Magazine, Brian Goddard, said he wanted blood, guts, and maybe some Grey's Anatomy style doctor love. I was also given strict instructions not to shoot any faces or identifiable features.

I showed up at midnight on a Saturday morning and stayed until 4 AM. Nothing happened. No one got hurt. I spent my time socializing with the good Dr. Matthews drinking coffee and looking at gunshot wounds on his computer. We arranged to meet the following Thursday at 8 and we prayed for multiple stab wounds and car crashes.

I came to the hospital after taking the night off of valet work in order to make this shoot happen. Again, for the 4 hours I was there, the ER was empty. The nurses speculated that I had a silver cloud above my head, keeping all from harm.

I went back again last Friday at 8:00 PM after I overheard a nurse stating a theory that every Friday night at 9:20, a trauma came rolling in to the hospital. Sure enough, shortly before the prophetic time, the trauma alarm (very similar to the bat signal) sounded and a fleet of doctors mobilized. Dr. Matthews received a page on his pager that he calls "The Bat Phone" and we rushed outside to meet the patient.


After being brought it via helicopter, they brought the man into the ER and laid him on the table. An off duty, army PFC was a passenger in a car accident where his vehicle crossed over the center line while going 85 mph and collided head-on with another vehicle going 55 mph. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene.


After cutting his clothes off, the staff performed a flurry of tests and measurements. The earliest apparent wounds were some broken ribs and ruptured spleen. Considering the velocity of the vehicles involved, he was miraculously unharmed.



After the patient's initial diagnosis, Dr. Matthews contacted the relatives and officers of the patient in the privacy of a vacant hallway.


Once the family arrived, Dr. Matthews exhibited his incredible bedside manner and showed the patient's nephew exactly what had happened to his uncle using motions and gestures on the child's own body.


Once the family was cleared to visit, they came in two at a time and cried by their lightly shattered brother, uncle, and son.


I took many more photos that I have yet to edit, and will likely still return at least one more time before my deadline in hopes of capturing the gore that was requested of me, as sad as that sounds. I usually don't handle hospitals or blood very well, but for some reason being behind the camera was comforting. Overall, I am pretty happy with the photos, but I still feel like I am lacking the headlining shot that I need.

Ok, go.

I decided late last night that I need to start a blog for my photography. Assuming I can stick with it and follow through for more than a few sporadic posts, I think it will be a great tool to remember what I shot, how I shot it, and how my style will have improved (or degenerated) over time.

Aside from the reasons stated above, this blog will serve as something I can use to show my mom what I've been doing, so that she may tell me, "Sam, great job."

That is why I shoot, right?