My gosh what a dry spell of writing. It’s time for some image catch up from January 2017-present. There have been some projects that I’ve been proud to be apart of over the last “semester” (given my primary gig…my life is typically sectioned into semesters) that deviate from my workload as a university photog and photography editor of About the River Valley.

In January, Arkansas Life published a feature piece that was the work of freelance writer/editor Johnny Sain Jr. and myself titled “Work of the Quiet Mountains.” This was a deeply personal project for Johnny and I was honored that he asked me to accompany him on his journeys into Newton County with my camera. I was happy with the results–the work itself was multi-disciplined in nature with a combination of landscape, portraiture and photojournalism. Click through to read the story and keep scrolling to see a few favorites that didn’t make the cut.  

 
In early February, I took on a new client: Michael Cooper Dentistry. Dr. Cooper has become famous state-wide for his dental work in the pageant world, specifically Miss Arkansas’ (and now Miss America’s Savvy Shields.) For his latest ad campaign, he wanted to feature the new/current Miss Arkansas, Savannah Skidmore.

The photo below went into society magazines, pageant programs and other various publications around the state mid-February:  
 
Lucky for me, Savannah digs having her photo taken and she was gracious enough to stick around for some extra shots with me.

 
Also in February, I was invited by a fellow university staffer, Larry Isch of the University of the Ozarks, to bring my advanced photography class to a workshop and photo talk with Sports Illustrated photog Damian Strohmeyer. After the talk, a few of us ventured up to Strawberry Bluffs to take in the views with our cameras. This was by far some of the most fun I’ve had with a class I’ve taught.

March was a smattering of events…a sponsored climbing competition at The Wall (the climbing gym that I manage social media/marketing for) and a personal cross country trip to the Great Smokey Mountains and North Carolina to recharge the creative batteries.  

Besides catching up and reminiscing on what this winter and spring have been all about, I wanted to share that my wife Allison and I will be fulfilling a dream that we both share: backpacking through Europe. This trip has been a year in the making, full of intense planning and budgeting. We’re so excited to experience a variety of new cultures, spend some much needed time with my English grandparents and I’m particularly excited to explore my mother’s deep Scottish and Irish bloodline/roots.

Without giving away too much, expect many photos to come in the upcoming weeks. I hope you enjoyed this catch up–look for more frequent ones to come.