The 400 page Blurb book, produced by Todd Spoth and Libby Johnston.

My family has been planning my grandmother’s 80th birthday celebration for about a year now. My family on my mom’s side is a close-knit group of individuals, however logistics is sometimes an issue as we are scattered across the globe from Tokyo to LA to Cleveland to Brazil. We agreed early on to all meet up in Cleveland to surprise my grandmother with a visit.

After I got my travel plans in order, I had to decide what to get my 80 year old grandmother. I had been involved in my scanning project for a few months then and almost immediately decided on producing a photo book as a gift to her.

I’m sure my family is not dissimilar to many in that there are hundreds and hundreds of amazing film images scattered across aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, that sadly, sit, unorganized and deteriorating in closets and trunks and attics and basements. Given my (somewhat forced) knowledge on digital archiving and preservation, I took it upon myself to start scanning in some of these legacy images, digitally. It was and has been a time-consuming and tedious process, however it is, in the end, worth every minute as now these digital files are easily accessible and archivable.

After scanning in hundreds if not thousands of weathered prints and negatives, I realized I had only scratched the surface. The images I had scanned thus far were from my own personal stash of images from my childhood and from a few handfuls of unorganized photos that my mother, who currently is living in Brazil, had sent over to me. The scanning in of the images using our Canon CanoScan 8800F flatbed scanner was definitely the most time-consuming and tedious part, from there we could concentrate on the book.

Libby and I worked through different concepts and ideas for the book, before ultimately deciding on doing a 7″x7″ book by Blurb using Blurb’s own Booksmart software. We had done several photo book’s with Blurb in the past and had a pretty good experience with them overall. We were coming down to our deadline in getting the book ordered so given the fact that we were familiar with the software and company as a whole, we chose Blurb.

We toyed with the idea of creating 3 or 4 mini-books or creating a really big book with intricate layouts, but in the end decided on a smaller 7″x7″ book that would be filled with full size images from our family’s past. The book was to be hardcover with an ImageWrap cover, meaning there was no dust-jacket and the cover would be printed with our own design. We decided not to mess with the different layout styles and simplify the book by having just 1 image per page, full bleed. There are a few exceptions, such as a few double-trucks, and a few carefully assembled layouts, but for the most part, each page is it’s own photo. This not only made our lives easier in the layout process, it would be a lot easier to experience, especially by someone who is 80 years old.

Our last rule we imposed on ourselves for the production was that all of the images that would appear in the book would be film images. I have tens of thousands of digital images from more recent family events, however for this project I wanted to focus on the past and concentrate on the amazing archive of film images I had recently acquired. Not only was I scanning in 35mm prints from my childhood, but I had discovered a lot of priceless gems such as a set of prints of my late grandfather during his time in the Air Force as well as images of my grandmother in her 20′s, living in Japan.

The old prints of my grandfather during the war are among my favorite images.

Typically during my own portfolio editing process, I toil with cutting down the number of images into a tightly-edited package of only the best, but for this project I had to change my thought-process. We initially tried to edit some of the images down, but ultimately decided that this was not a portfolio and that my grandmother and family would be thrilled to see as many photos as possible. After checking out the page count limitations on the Blurb website we decided to produce as many pages in the time we had to finish the book. Libby worked tirelessly to layout as many quality pages as she could while I worked to come up with a design for the cover. We really wanted to max out the number of pages out at 440 (the Blurb maximum) but due to time constraints we topped out at 400.

Prior to deciding to go for quantity with the page count, I scoured the Internet looking for photos of other large Blurb books, but came up empty. There were a few here and there, but for the most part, there weren’t any real images, which is my inspiration for this blog post and the images that follow.

I tried for days designing different cover ideas for the book. One of my designs included a black cover with “La Familia” in an Old English typeface dipping across the front. After a visit to the local Japanese market I had the idea of doing a parody cover of the packaging of some Japanese rice crackers. I explained to Libby my idea and with both of us in agreement she went to work. She created the entire front and back cover from scratch, mimicking every detail of the original packaging and adding in subtle details as they pertained to the book.

The inspiration for the cover, (right) and the final product, (left)

Since Libby spent so much time and did such an awesome with not only the layout but the cover design as well, I decided to take an older film photo of her and design a credit page for the back of the book.

The custom credit page I designed with a childhood photo of Libby.

When we received the book we were excited to flip through all of the pages and see them for the first time. I was pleased overall, but there were a few things I noted for our next Blurb book endeavor. First, the ImageWrap cover  needs a pretty significant amount of bleed room to actually wrap around the covers of the book. Blurb warned us about this, and it looks fine, but we would have liked a bit more breathing room for some of the cover elements. Since the book is only 7″x7″ and 400 pages, more of the images get lost in the gutter as opposed to a 12″x12″ book with only 10 pages. This really wasn’t too much of an issue once the book was delivered and started to get worn in, but it was a concern. Other than that, the project was a complete success and my family, especially my grandmother had a great time looking through all of the images and reliving all of the memories.

In addition to helping with the layout and cover design, Libby also constructed a tiered-trio of custom made boxes to present the book in along with a few other small gifts. All of the family members were also given a DVD with a similar custom cover layout that had digital copies of all of the images I had scanned in. My goal with the DVD’s and book is to inspire the rest of my family to organize and scan in their weathering prints so that we can properly maintain and archive our family’s history.

If you have any thoughts about the project or have created your own huge Blurb book, I would love to hear your comments and experiences. Please let me know what you think!

400 PAGE BLURB BOOK (JUNE 2010) – Images by Todd Spoth

A young boy relaxes under the mist tree in Discovery Green Park in Houston, Texas.

One of my regular editorial clients is my hometown newspaper, The Houston Chronicle. Since the majority of my workload lately consists of work that differs from my work as a newspaper photojournalist, getting an assignment from the Chron often seems like a much needed break. The variety of things a newspaper photojournalist photographs is vast, from sports to portraits, and you never know what you’re going to get. From drag racing to triathlons, I have photographed a ton of different events in the first 6 months of this year, 2010. I have also had the pleasure of meeting and making portraits of several interesting characters from MLS soccer stars to skilled surgeons.

The gallery below highlights some of my favorite images shot on assignment for The Houston Chronicle during the first 6 months (January – June) of 2010. The group of images may not necessarily represent the “best” photos in a journalistic sense (depends on who you ask) merely my favorite photos for whatever reason. Although I tried my best to showcase images and assignments that were not previously featured on the blog, some of the images may be familiar. Some of the images made it into either the print edition or the web edition of the publication and some images were simply outtakes that I deemed interesting for whatever reason. Please note that some images may appear differently than those originally sent to the publication for print, as I went back into the archives and did a few different edits, but for the most part the images were plucked from my “sent” folder.

Please let me know what you think, and of course, please use the “TWEET” button at the end of this post to share with friends!

PS: Click here to check out the new blog from the photo staff over at The Houston Chronicle entitled “Depth of Field”.

BEST OF THE CHRON 2010 (JAN-JUNE) – Images by Todd Spoth

Local Houston pitching phenom, Jameson Taillon, at Scotland Yard in The Woodlands, Texas.

This past weekend I was assigned to photograph a local high school pitching star from up north in The Woodlands, Texas, Jameson Taillon. As I usually do before a portrait session, I research the subject to try and understand why they are being photographed and to learn a little bit about them. Jameson who recently graduated from The Woodlands high school was recently selected 2nd overall in Major League Baseball’s 2010 first-year player draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Not only was he considered the top pitching prospect of the draft, Jameson was offered a scholarship to Rice University and a spot on the prestigious Rice Owls baseball team. Given the fact that I love sports (especially baseball) the research on Jameson was more exciting than tiresome. After coming to the realization that this kid was a little more than just decent high school baller, I tried to come up with some ideas on how to approach the shoot.

Saturday morning I arrived at Scotland Yard, the home field for The Woodlands High School baseball team, early, to scout locations. Although there were a few lingering clouds, rain was not an issue, but the 110 heat index was definitely going to play a role. I had my gear set up and ready to go well before Jameson showed up.

“How did you get in here,” Jameson said with a grin.

Little did he know that in the absence of any facilities personnel on a Saturday morning, I roamed around long enough to find an unlocked gate and let myself in.

Local Houston pitching phenom, Jameson Taillon, photographed by Todd Spoth.

Given Jameson’s recent success, it’s no wonder that several of my colleagues in the photo world have photographed him recently, with most of the shoots taking place at this same location. Although it may have been repetitious for him, he was in good spirits and a great sport. Unfortunately for me, since my shoot was taking place after the high school season was over, Jameson was unable to be in full uniform for the images. He had a cap, a glove and a logo t-shirt. The trademark socks, pants, jersey and cleats that set the iconic baseball uniform apart from the rest of the sports world were no where to be found.

Some of my planned shot ideas involved shooting Jameson full length and in a variety of different locales around the ballpark. Since his uniform was incomplete I adjusted my game plan and decided to work in tight and concentrate on Jameson’s look.

Pitchers in baseball are known to “stare down” their opponents. There was a certain look in his eyes that showed me he had what it took to intimate batters, but there was also a touch of innocence about him. Here is a kid that was just another high school teenager a few months ago and now is on the verge of a possible multi-million dollar offer from a Major League ball club. Once I took a few tight frames of Jameson, concentrating on his eyes, I knew that my last-minute game plan adjustment was for the better.

After we started shooting, Jameson was very accommodating. Since I was dealing in tight, it meant that he wasn’t able to be as mobile as maybe he would have liked, but we pushed through several different angles and lighting setups and were done well before he had to leave.

I played baseball for about 8 or so years, before I moved to Paris, France in my younger days, so I am definitely proud to see another local Houstonian about to break out in the big leagues. Our area is known for producing exceptional sports talent and Jameson will hopefully go on to become an awesome Major League hurler, whether he decides to jump right in or attend Rice for a few years.

A gallery of some of my favorites from the shoot is below. If you dig the photos, please use the “tweet” button below to help spread the word.

JAMESON TAILLON (10-06-19) – Images by Todd Spoth

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs during the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest in Houston, Texas.

Last weekend I photographed the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest at Eleanor Tinsley Park here in downtown Houston, Texas. Last year was the festival’s inaugural year and I remember feeling really excited and proud of my city for finally hosting a legit music festival as I watched Broken Social Scene, Of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky and others take the stage in the park just blocks from my place. I have been involved in the live music scene for years, whether playing or photographing and for most of that time our neighbors to the west in Austin have held the torch for the best live music scene, and even though that is still the case, the Free Press Houston Summerfest is a testament to just how much Houston can give Austin a run for its money.

This year’s festival was even bigger and better with a larger main stage, more sponsors, and bigger headliners. The festival (both this year’s and last) creatively blends a wide-range of musical genres from hip-hop and metal to indie and jazz. The main draws this year were Girl Talk, Slim Thug and Bun-B, and The Flaming Lips. For the punk/hardcore audience, Cro-Mags and Municipal Waste graced the side stage. In total there were over 70 bands, national and local.

Temperatures were sweltering on day 1, Saturday. I was able to walk to the venue with a small backpack to carry the camera essentials. There was a lot more activities and vendors compared to last year, but after a trip or two around the grounds I settled at the main stage to photograph RaRaRiot. For most of the first day I remained near the main stage photographing the handful of bands that would take the stage throughout the afternoon.

A crowd dances on stage during Girl Talk.

Popular mash-up artist Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk headlined day 1. I had never seen him perform live, but was introduced to him and his jams back when I worked in Baltimore in 2008. I always knew his live shows were a party, but I was not ready for the craziness that ensued. Balloons, toilet paper, dirty dancing, and everything else seemed to be happening on and off stage during the lengthy set. Towards the finale of the set, Gregg leaped up onto the on-stage desk that held his only instruments; a laptop, a mouse and a mouse-pad, (complete with puppy dogs) held his hands in the air and in almost perfect synchronization, an elaborate fireworks display went off in the background. It was a perfect ending to the first of two long days of live music.

It wasn’t until I had already started walking through the gates of the festival when I looked up and saw some threatening clouds. As I leisurely made my way down the natural embankment to the main stage, raindrops started to fall on my head. Within a few minutes of my arrival, several other photographers, a few crew members and I were huddled underneath a tent backstage, watching as a torrential downpour threw a meteorological wrench into the plans of hundreds of fellow music lovers. Last year severe thunderstorms made a muddy mess of the festival grounds, but were thoughtful enough to cease just prior to the opening of the gates. This year mother nature had waited until the fans were settled into their hillside spots and onto their colorful blankets before she showed her teeth.

Festival-goers slide down a muddy hillside, during a rainy day 2.

I have to admit it. From under the (relative) safety of my tent, I had to give it to my fellow Houstonians. There was no mass exodus as the rains continued to come down. Of course there were several groups of spectators that called it a day or at least decided to wait it out elsewhere, but the majority of fans took it in stride. They held their spots on the muddy hillside and continued to enjoy the music. Some even decided dive in head first (literally) into a new event that had spawned as a result of the rains, sliding down the muddy hillside into a puddle of muddy rainwater that had gathered below. After watching a few minutes of this intriguing event from underneath my tent, I too decided to throw caution to the wind and not join them, but photograph them. In the process I think a few of my lenses and cameras paid the price, but some interesting images were made.

After a while the rain cleared and the show went on as planned. The rest of the day’s acts went off without a hitch, but like day 1, I was not prepared for the headliner.

The Flaming Lips were set to finish off the weekend of music. I had never seen them live, and although I knew a bit about their live performances, I admit I did not quite expect the sheer craziness that ensued. In a similar fashion to Girl Talk’s set the night before, there were streamers, balloons, confetti, costumed dancers, elaborate lighting, elaborate set design and of course frontman, Wayne Coyne’s signature bubble.

We were only given access to photograph the first song of the set, but after that song I moved back and enjoyed the rest of the set from the rear. As I watched the final songs of this year’s Summerfest I realized how many more people were in attendance compared to last year. I only hope that this festival sticks around, continues to grow (in the best way possible) and draws even larger crowds in years to come.

Check out the slideshow of images below and if you like what you see, please retweet!

SUMMERFEST (JUNE 2010) – Images by Todd Spoth

A comparison of 2 images that feature the similar scene of Vince Young celebrating a big play.

This past weekend I had the chance to photograph Vince Young’s annual celebrity basketball game here in Houston at Butler Sports Complex, a familiar spot for the native Houstonian.

Vince Young is well known in Houston as he drew a lot of attention as a high school prospect in the area, eventually playing college ball at the University of Texas. After a very successful career as a Longhorn, there was notable controversy during the 2006 NFL draft, when his hometown team, the Houston Texans passed him over for defensive end, Mario Williams. Young was picked 3rd overall by the Tennessee Titans where he plays today.

I have photographed several NFL games over the years, several during Vince’s career with the Titans, however one moment stands out above the rest.

It was December 10th, 2006 and Vince, a rookie at the time, was at the helm of the Titans squad against the Texans at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Texans kicker, Kris Brown, tied the game with a 46-yard field goal to force overtime. The Titans won the toss. I was positioned near the end zone with Vince facing me on the other end of the field. It was still early in the overtime period when Vince and the Titans were facing a 3rd-and-14. The Texans had hope. The crowd was on their feet, trying to will their team to the 4th-and-out that would never come. Seconds later I saw Vince running towards me, the ball safely tucked under one arm, his other outstretched in celebration. The 39-yard touchdown run instantly transferred the energy from the fans to the Titans bench and without a moment’s notice I was backed into a corner with a jubilant Vince Young and a stampede of excited Titans barreling towards me.

Vince Young celebrates with teammates following a game-winning touchdown run in 2006.

For those who are unfamiliar with photographing an NFL game, the protocol usually requires at least 2 cameras, 3 if it’s a possibility. The primary camera is outfitted with a long zoom lens with a focal length anywhere between the 300-600mm range. The second camera usually has on a 70-200mm lens which is nice for photographing plays as they come a little bit closer to your position. The third camera body is usually mounted with a wide angle lens. This third camera sits around the neck and is at the ready for fast action. The majority of NFL action images are captured while the play takes place a decent distance away, but the given the unpredictable nature of the game, the third camera is there for times when the play and subsequent action is charging towards your face.

As Vince celebrated his game-winning touchdown (which kept the Titans in the playoff hunt) I put my wide-angle outfitted camera up to my eye and snapped off images as the team rushed over to revel in the moment. In a matter of seconds more photographers, players and other persons joined the scrum, but those initial moments of jubilation were for the most part gone forever.

That game was about 3 and a half years ago and I have photographed Vince with the Titans since then, but that moment is one I will never forget.

Vince Young during a Monday Night Football game against the Texans in 2009

Fast forward to this past weekend.

Even though there were several big names in the mix, the event was for the most part low-key, which meant access was excellent. The game was held at an older local high school basketball arena, which was great for ambiance, but made it very difficult to photograph due to very dim lighting conditions. Among the players were; J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets, Mr. 720 (famous for his outrageous dunks), Former Longhorn and current offensive guard for the Houston Texas Kasey Studdard, Texans receiver Andre Johnson, former NBA star Nick Van Exel, rapper and entertainment mogul Master P and his son Lil Romeo. The motley crew of different players was fun to watch. Mr. 720 and J.R. Smith were definite front-runners talent-wise, but everyone brought something to the table. It was like watching a very casual all-star game, with very few stoppages in play, lots of fast-break dunks, and a plethora of no-look passes (some successful others not so much).

During the final minutes of the game, the score was close and the mood intensified. Both the crowd and the players seemed to perk up and for the first time pay attention to the time left and the score. There was a few minutes of give and take, but just like that game over 3 years prior, Vince found himself with the ball and and in a position to win the game for his team and win he did. Vince scored the winning points with a classic overhead slam dunk and what happened next was my deja vu moment.

Within seconds of the game-winning dunk I again found myself shoved against the wall next to a jubilant Vince with his teammates running towards us. Again, I lifted my camera and wide-angle lens to my eye and began shooting. The following image is one from the post-game fray. You can see Denver Nuggets guard, J.R. Smith in the background celebrating with the rest of the team.

Vince Young celebrates after a game-winning slam dunk during his celebrity basketball game in Houston, Texas in 2010.

After the game Master P approached me and let me know that he had to let Vince win on his birthday. So, I guess Vince’s 27th birthday didn’t turn out too bad after all. As I edited the images from this past weekend’s events, I noticed one image from the scrum. I pulled the above image out and compared it with the image of Vince from that overtime game years back. The resemblance was interesting to say the least.

**note** I am currently tweaking different things on the blog so let me know what you think about the new features. One new feature is the green button which is directly under this post that allows twitter users to retweet this post, so if you are a twitter user, please do!

Kingwood High School swimmer Matt Barber, photographed by Todd Spoth

A couple of weeks ago I got an assignment to photograph an up and coming high school swimming star from Kingwood, Texas. The image was going to accompany an article for the All Greater Houston section of the Houston Chronicle which is a special section highlighting outstanding high school athletes from the Houston area. After briefly looking around the internet and my magazine archive for a little inspiration, I packed up my car and drove out to Kingwood High School. On shoots like these I tend to pack way more than I end up using, but you never know what to expect and I have plenty of stories where I have said to myself, “well, we could have done this, but we forgot this.”

I gave myself plenty of time and was able to introduce myself to the swim coach as well as requisition a small conference room to set up. The Kingwood High School colors are blue which worked well with my blue backdrop. I took my time and got everything set. Since the campus was pretty much deserted, save the swim team that was in pool at the time, I was forced (as usual) to test my lighting set up on an inanimate object. Usually for larger jobs I will bring an assistant with me, but last minute, smaller, editorial jobs like this one, I am a 1 man band.

I scanned the room for something that could work as a stand-in model. A small, handheld camcorder on a tripod. It would have to work.

when you don't have an assistant to stand-in, you find the next best thing.

Although the camcorder was a lot smaller (and shorter) than my subject would be, it allowed me to at least get my lights and camera set somewhere in the ballpark.

By the time Matt finished up practice, I was set up and ready to go. He had a limited amount of time so we fired off the shots. I had him jump back in the pool and run back into my makeshift studio so I could capture a few frames with the water droplets on his body. We did some of him in the pool, but I really liked the set of images we did with the simple backdrop

After I got home, edited and sent my image to the newspaper, I took a look at my favorite images from the take. I liked them, but they were all very similar. I decided to challenge myself and take each and tone each a different way for different looks. Some of the edits are obviously a little much for the editorial world, but I like them. After all I am in a creative field, so dammit Im going to be creative! I like the image on the top of this post, because I think the goggles add a bit of mystery to the look, with the catchlights almost looking a bit otherworldly.

Matt was an awesome guy and very patient and willing subject. I hope he becomes the next Michael Phelps, goes to the Olympics, and earns gold. With any luck I will be right there with him photographing it.

MATT BARBER (10-04-19) – Images by Todd Spoth

Late last Saturday evening I got a last minute call to cover the 2010 Lonestar Iron Man triathlon that was taking place in Galveston, Texas.

I was already familiar with the event as I had a few friends that competed in the first portion which took place that Saturday. Sunday morning was the real deal race that featured the professional triathletes. Even though it wasn’t required that I be down in Galveston for the beginning of the race (7am, sharp) I decided to set my alarm for 5am and make the 45 minute or so trek down to the island for the race’s kick-off. Operating on about 3 hours of total sleep, I woke up before the sun and was surprised to be parked, geared up and in position well before the first wave of athletes took to the water.

You can never be too early to events of this scale and this distance away. Football, baseball, soccer and other events where the field of play is pre-determined are a lot easier to cover than large-scale events where the location is unknown to the photographer until they arrive. Although I know Galveston Island and Moody Gardens like the back of my hand, I had no idea where the course was laid out, so for posterity, I gave myself plenty of time to account for traffic, road closures, and scouting. There is nothing worse than speeding to an event, rushing to the starting gate and having the race start before you have had any time to gear up, scout the best shooting positions, draw up a plan of attack (critical for long and sprawling events such as a triathlon) and most importantly, breathe.

Thankfully, this was not my first time to cover a triathlon. Back in the fall of 2008 I covered another triathlon in Columbia, Maryland, so I knew a bit about what to expect, but due to the nature of the events, unpredictability is a factor.

One of the main reasons for making the sacrifice of sleep and being there at the start is the light. Very few events kick off at 7am, when the sun is just coming up and the light is beautiful, so taking advantage of the circumstances was a must in this situation. I could have slept in and made “good enough” images at the tail end of the event at around 10:30am or so, but I would have missed the wonderful light of the early morning.

I set myself up to shoot a few different views of the athletes during the initial swimming portion which are illustrated by the images in the slide show below. After the swimming event, I knew I would have a good chunk of time while the athletes completed the cycling portion. The 56 mile cycling course weaved down to Seawall Blvd and down the West End. Having not only a good handle on the pacing of the event, but a good handle on the area (I was born on Galveston Island) I quickly hopped in my car and drove down Seawall Blvd. I made a few images of the riders with the clean backdrop of the Seawall and headed back to the main event. During my down time I made a few interesting images of things like the portable bathroom units, including a few medium format film images that I blogged about in a previous blog post called “Seeing Squares”. Since the final running portion of the event was fairly self contained within the Moody Gardens facility, the backgrounds were kind of drab, but I managed a few interesting frames.

In all I had a great time covering the event. I was a bit sleep deprived by the time I finally made it off the island (about noon) but my day didn’t end there as I had another assignment to complete before calling it and heading home to recover. Some of the images that I dig which are in the slide show below.

Please remember that the slide show images are not a tightly edited essay, but rather a loose grouping of edited favorites from the event.

IRON MAN TRIATHLON (10-04-25) – Images by Todd Spoth

Last weekend (actually Saturday!) I got the call to shoot some racing action out in Baytown, Texas at Houston Raceway Park. The NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals drag racing event was in town and it was a great weekend to have it. The weather was awesome with a nice April breeze and without the sweltering heat. I have had the pleasure of photographing Nascar, Indy, Le Mans, as well as drag racing in the past and although each is fun and exciting to shoot in its own ways I am more of a fan of the Le Mans style of racing, which may or may not have anything to do with living in France for a number of years and having attended races over in Europe. Wait…does street racing count?

I do remember my dad taking me to a few events at Houston Raceway Park as a kid and I have shot and attended races, car shows and 1/4 mile shootouts there on several occasions so I am familiar with the area and venue. Even though the Spring Nationals are a pretty large event for the NHRA, the pit areas at HRP are still accessible and open to allow interaction between the fans and the crew. (without having to spend a ton of money on a special pit access pass like some events *cough*NASCAR*cough*) There is definitely a niche fan base for drag racing, but I am always surprised at the different kinds of people that show up to catch the racing action. I stayed away from the the other photographers who were zoned in on the rather drab action images that the track access allowed, and concentrated on what happened behind the scenes.

I do remember watching the short-lived A&E show Driving Force so when I found out John Force and his daughter Ashley Force Hood were both competing, I followed the father/daughter team for a bit. It was interesting to see both John and Ashley take care of business, each in their own separate little worlds, so close together. I noticed a very interesting dynamic between the two. Each had an equally large fan base that loomed near their adjoined-but-separate pit areas and each made it a point to reward the gathered crowds with smiles and autographs after each run.

As for the images, there were lots of interesting colors and although I especially liked the color in a select few of the images, I thought the black and white treatment worked on them as a whole. Of course, as always, for the sake of archiving, the images appear as a broader edit and not a tightly composed essay.

* DISCLAIMER * The second shot of the crowd that looks like it may have been shot with a tilt-shift, actually isn’t shot with a tlit-shift at all. I was concentrating on making images of the crowd when a car passed by once, I noticed the trail of gasoline fumes followed the car like a looming cloud, so I tried to make the next few frames illustrate that effect.

** UPDATE ** This series of images recently won 3rd place in the Series/Multiple category in National Press Photographers Association’s monthly news clip contest for the month of April 2010. Check out the NPPA monthly news clip contest results website for the details.

NHRA DRAG RACING (10-04-10) – Images by Todd Spoth

In early March I got an assignment to photograph famed Houston plastic surgeon, Dr. Joseph Agris. Agris is known for his charitable work all over the globe which is funded partially by his private practice here in Houston. We initially shot a few images of Dr. Agris at his Texas Med Center offices, but agreed that a trip to his home would be a better place for a portrait and boy were we right.

After arriving at the good doctor’s Bellaire home, I walked around a bit to try and find him. I saw an old Ford truck and someone who looked like a maintenance man shoveling manure out of the bed into planters. After getting a little closer I realized that the baggy jeans, ratty shirt and backwards cap belonged to Dr. Agris himself. The doctor gave us a whirlwind tour of his many animals which included mini horses, donkeys, swan, deer, and alpaca. I was in awe of the backyard and the fact that Dr. Agris does most of the work himself.

We moved into the house and were just as inspired. Just when you thought you could pick your jaw off the floor something else surprised you and dropped it once again.

“There are only 2 sets of those in the world….Vincente Fox owns the other set.” replied Agris as I closely marveled a towering pair of elegantly hand-carved ivory tusks.

Each room in the house was themed. During his travels Dr. Agris makes it a point to bring back hand-picked items of character from each place he visits. His dining room which took over a year to complete was painstakingly modeled after a famous ballroom at the Moscow ballet. From hand-painted gold leaf trim to custom archways and other relics, the home was awesome.

After the tour, with not much time left, we decided to shoot a few portraits in the Texas-themed room. Given Dr. Agris’ propensity to wear a cowboy hat, the room seemed appropriate. I was surprised when the Houston Chronicle ran the image of Dr. Agris and his alpaca, Felix, as the main art instead of the portrait you see above, but in the end, it grew on me. Other images of my visit with Dr. Agris are below as well as the clips of how they appeared in the newspaper.

Earlier this month I spent a few hours with the University of Houston – Downtown‘s powerlifting team in their small gym space on their commuter campus downtown. The rather large team was cramped into a small public space in the school’s recreation center which made my assignment a little tough. What the team lacked in facilities they made up for in talent. The team, led by Dr. John Hudson PhD, a record-holding powerlifter in his own right. The team is a small, tight-knit family with several members competing for current world records and collegiate championships.

Even though I had limited time with the team, their workout was a blast to shoot and everyone was very enthusiastic about the team and about powerlifting in general. The camaraderie amongst the teammates was contagious. Check out the Houston Chronicle story on the University of Houston – Downtown powerlifting team on the Chronicle’s website and check out the rest of the images and layout below.