TODD SPOTH - HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHER / COMMERCIAL / ADVERTISING / SPORTS / ANNUAL REPORT / MAGAZINE / DOCUMENTARY / MULTIMEDIA - HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA - 832.265.3486 - INFO@TODDSPOTH.COM » Hurricane Ike

BEST OF 2009

Todd Spoth — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:48:03 +0000

As we wrap up the first week of the new year I can’t help but reflect on the past year. There were struggles as there are with anything, but I’d be remised if I didn’t sit back and be thankful for the good things. I met a lot of great people, made a few new clients, learned a ton of great things and made a few decent images along the way.

2009 was the year I was blown away by being accepted as a participant into the Eddie Adams Workshop.
2009 was the year my first major documentary project premiere to a sold out audience of over 250 people.
2009 was the year that documentary project won not 1, but 4 awards including a Gold Remi.
2009 was the year that I owned the copyright for 100% of the images I captured.
2009 was the year that I got to visit 5/7 continents in the span of 4 months.
2009 was a good year.

Here’s to 2010 being even better. The short piece above showcases about 65 of my personal favorites from 2009. They may not have run, they may not have been the best pictures, but they are my special to me in one way or another, so sit back and enjoy.

IN PRINT: The Scales for Highways Magazine

Todd Spoth — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:37:32 +0000

PUBLICATION OR LOCATION: Highways Magazine
PUBLICATION DATE: January 2010
LINK: http://www.goodsamclub.com
NOTES: I was assigned to photograph Susan and Monty Scales back in October. The assignment was to get some images of them next to their RV which was in San Leon, a town near the coast of Southeast Texas. When I first arrived I was a bit disappointed given the rather drab environment. The day was rather hot and working without an assistant made things pretty challenging. After a few frames with their RV (per direction from the Magazine) I followed the Scales to the site of their home that was currently in construction. My eyes widened when we drove up as the bold yellow paint of the facade really popped against the beautiful blue sky. I knew I couldn’t pass this opportunity up so I worked a few scenarios here and even had the couple sit inside the house and lit them with a strobe from the inside. During the few frames of the couple in front of the house, Monty leaned over and kissed Susan without any direction at all. The photo of their kiss is definitely my favorite of the take. The cover of the issue is above and a few of the selects are below. I will try and add more images of the actual layout as I receive them.

*updated on January 21, 2010: added photo of actual layout

CHRON FAVS 2

Todd Spoth — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:54:51 +0000

This is my second installment of my 2 part favorites post highlighting my favorite images taken during Houston Chronicle assignments. This post contains images from roughly mid-May 2009 through this past weekend taken from my Houston Chronicle assignments only. I am a regular contributor to my hometown newspaper and get to shoot all kinds of things. A few months ago I posted my January through mid-May favorites and I thought now was a good time to post some selects since then. Some may have made it into the paper, some may have not. They were all taken from images sent to the paper from my various assignments.

*Note: I have consolidated my favorite images from all of 2009 into one nice and neat Photoshelter gallery. View the slideshow of 57 images below!

BOOMTOWN

Todd Spoth — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:41:40 +0000

Today was a rather eventful day. I woke up early and knocked out a quick assignment for the Chronicle in Memorial Park then rushed back home to change and meet the Welling Films crew at Shawn’s. Our documentary, “The Messenger: 360 Days of Bolivar” was chosen as an official selection in the 2009 Boomtown Film & Music Festival and we honored to screen the movie today in the festival’s home base of Beaumont, Texas. We made the hour or so trek out from Houston and as soon as we arrived we participated in a director’s panel. After the panel, we quickly headed off to the wonderful Jefferson Theatre which is where the festival’s films were screened. Our AMC digs for the premiere were awesome, but this theater had some amazing character. It was built in 1927 and recently restored. We didn’t spend a lot of time in Beaumont, but with the little time we did have, I walked around a bit and captured some images on the studio’s Nikon D700. I shoot Canon, however, sometimes I pick up the studio’s Nikons for a change. The D700 has one thing my cameras don’t and that is the ability to shoot and multiple exposures in-camera. I absolutely love the feature so I had a little fun with it. I tried to meld the multiple exposure idea with the feel of Beaumont and the activities surrounding the festival. During the awards ceremony, we were presented with an award for Best Docu-Drama. Success!

CHRON FAVS 1

Todd Spoth — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:20:23 +0000

As a regular freelancer for The Houston Chronicle, a major metro daily, nearly half a million people see my pictures from day to day, but the next day many of the photos are either used as kindling, pooped on by pets or recycled. Of course they are archived by me, but are rarely shown. It is now May, and 2009 has flown by thus far. I have covered everything from courtroom drama to baby rodeos. Below are 22 of my favorite images that I have taken on assignment from The Chron in 2009. These were taken from my SENT folder which means they were selected only from the images that I have sent to the paper. There are a handful of images I can think of that are not in this “favorites” post because they were not sent to the paper for whatever reason. I oftentimes shoot photos during an assignment that don’t bare any relevance to the story, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good. For the sake of time and effort I simply chose from my SENT folder. Some of the images made it into print or online, others did not.

*Note: I have consolidated my favorite images from all of 2009 into one nice and neat Photoshelter gallery. View the slideshow of 57 images below!

AFTERMATH

Todd Spoth — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:51:22 +0000

I am slowly but surely getting my images and projects from the past few weeks edited and posted. Tonight I edited a few images from an essay I shot in my hometown of Galveston, Texas of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. I only had a few hours on the island since they were still under curfew, but I managed to get a few nice/quiet images of the destruction and aftermath. I originally wanted to get images of people cleaning up, but there were very few people out at all. The city was mostly abandoned and the more I shot I began to realize that the images as a collective were supposed to show that. This image is Omega Bay, an area of water seen just inland from Galveston Island. Several boats were overturned by the devastating winds and waves. The plants of Hitchcock and Texas City are seen in the background. It was originally built in the late 1800′s and was completely destroyed by Ike. This one and the rest of the images (18) are under multiples on my website.

BITTERSWEET

Todd Spoth — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:22:30 +0000

The past few days have been decent I suppose. I’ve done a number of high school sporting events lately and a ton of other stuff as well. Last night I was up for the better (and worst) part of the night monitoring the situation with Hurricane Ike and Houston from here in Baltimore. How amazing is this Internet we have? I was able to simultaneously stream all 4 major Houston news outlets’ coverage in real time throughout the night. Things got really hairy down there and there was a lot of devastation and damage done, but my home in Clear Lake was spared and did not even lose power. On the flip-side, I was born on Galveston Island so it was pretty tough seeing all of the destruction out there. A lot of childhood memories destroyed. I hope everything gets worked out for them soon. My journalistic side really wanted to be out there in the middle of everything making images, but things don’t always work out that way. Instead, today, I photographed a neighborhood ice cream party and some soccer. I went into the first assignment picturing tons of kids with ice cream, but I was disappointed to find only a few people there. After spending some time with the families and people at the event I began to understand that I shouldn’t let the feeling of disappointment creep until before I step foot into the assignment. The people in this community and most that I have met out here are all so great. They offered me drinks, food, TV, ice cream, and just about everything else under the sun and their excuse was, “we are mothers, we make sure you’re taken care of.” Good stuff. The above image is from a muddy soccer game I photographed yesterday evening. I think I’ve been consistent in the past few days, making images that are solid and good, everyday work, but I really have yet to get anything super stellar that I really feel solid about. I need to get out and exercise my personal vision more. Maybe the Colorpack will hold the answer? Who knows.