Talented director and friend, Matt Batchelor, was hired by Richmond ad agency Big River to create a short film for a hotel group. He reached out to me because they also needed some stills. After a great pre-pro call and a thorough look through the brand book for Sotherly, I got really excited. They needed someone who could creatively capture their property along with some unique details of southern life in and around Atlanta. Can you say tailor-made assignment? When working with a new creative director, the pressure gets pretty revved up, especially when there’s a lot on the line. But after seeing my rough edit from Day 1, he graciously agreed to let me revisit some of my old stomping grounds all by myself. That’s called trust. And in my book it’s better than any advertising award. A sincere thank you Geoff, Rina and Cara at Big River, and to all the people who have put their trust in my eye for so many years.

One of our town’s hidden gems is a retail property called Lumina Station. Full of welcoming shade trees, cute shops and excellent eateries, this is truly a local’s spot. During a new property-owner transition, Lumina’s marketing agency, TGK, wanted to feature some of the characters who call Lumina Station home. Initially, the idea was to set up in an empty suite and have the various business owners come to us, but I believed we’d get better results capturing each person in their element. Not the easier option, but definitely worth it. Here are a few of the selects showing the personality and pride of these individuals. Big thanks to the agency for wrangling the schedules.

Pharmaceutical Product Development (a.k.a. PPD) sponsors an annual Ironman Triathlon and I love shooting this race. It’s hard to not get caught up in all of the passion and emotion exuding from these amazing athletes. Although I’m only using a small amount of energy compared to the participants, inside I’m quietly cheering them on with all my might. Here are a handful of my favorite images from the swim portion of the 2014 PPD Beach to Battleship Triathlon.

I enjoy making ordinary places and things look extraordinary. Take photographing a bank, for example. Big yawn, right? It doesn’t have to be. The art of the craft is seeing with different eyes and meeting the client’s needs. Huntington Bank in Columbus, Ohio, wanted to show their employees as relatable and having fun in finance. These people are pretty happy at work, and it shows. Big thanks to the folks at Huntington for letting me do my job while they did theirs.

America has always been known for hard-working people. “Workers in their element” was my assignment for Clayton Homes. Of course the employees of their manufacturing plant in northern Alabama knew we were there, but they were so focused on getting the job done they didn’t stop to pose. Which was a good thing. I enjoy finding the natural moments in the midst of all the activity. And the client was very cool with helping me get close to the action, safely of course. Here are eight images of some dedicated Americans who like to “get ‘er done” every day.

When I shoot for companies that create beauty, it makes my job even better. Of course, it’s still a lot of work! I’ve been documenting the art of Kitchen & Bath Design Studio for several years now. My mindset when lighting these gorgeous rooms is quite simple – don’t make them look like they’ve been lit. And every time I walk into one of their carefully crafted spaces, I can’t help but smile because their work inspires mine. Here are four new environments that made their clients smile, too. The icing on the cake? We landed on the cover of the latest Wilmington magazine.

When they fly you across the country to capture a thriving new business, you best come back with the goods. San Francisco’s data and tech company Manage was very interesting. It was a curious blend of California laid-back lifestyle, hyper-intense meetings, and a bring-your-dog-to-work mentality. So I popped in the ear-buds and spent the day as one of their own. Being trusted to “shoot what you see” is one of the highest honors I can think of. And something I never take lightly. The fly-on-the-wall style works again. Let’s capture the visual voice of your company!

2015. Just take that in for a minute. Pretty crazy, huh? It’s definitely going to take some getting used to this number. And speaking of numbers, let’s review a few. I graduated from the Portfolio Center in 1989. The 1st national ad featuring my work was published in 1992. So using that as a milestone, I’ve been shooting professionally for 23 years. My family and I left the ATL 10 years ago in 2005. And in the last 13 months, I’ve been contracted to shoot in 9 different cities in 8 states. So to celebrate, I’ve have added 47 new images, 5 new videos and 1 very cool new SPLASH PAGE to CDP online. Do you have a lucky number? Looks like my new one is 2015.

The second cool thing about this film is that is was created by some very good friends. I met Evan Vetter when he was serving as media director at Port City Community Church. He left there to pursue his dream of making films, and Times Like Dying is his latest directing effort. Another friend, Lighthouse Films owner Brad Walker, was enlisted to serve as Director of Photography. So now you have this dynamic duo, who are arguably doing some of their best work to date, blending their gifts on set to create this film. And with a superb story crafted by the talented Anthony Reynolds, it’s no wonder that Times Like Dying is getting a tremendous amount of buzz before it is even released! Here are more of my favorite images from the production of Times Like Dying.