Local Houston noise/rap artist, B L A C K I E, dives into an unsuspecting crowd on day 2 of the festival.

It seems like it’s been forever since last year’s Free Press Houston Summerfest and corresponding post. (Click here to visit last year’s blog post and relive Summerfest 2010) This year sort of snuck up on me. Regardless of my personal thoughts on the actual acts themselves, I’m proud to say that each year since its inception 3 years ago, the fest has gotten bigger and better in the grand scheme. I really appreciate the fact that the festival organizers really put an emphasis on local music. I not only hope that the festival continues to improve and make us Houstonians proud, but keeps the same “local music first” ideals that are apparent now. And with any luck, next year, I will be playing AND shooting. (Omar: Sign Square and Compass up for 2012!)

This year I was on assignment for The Houston Chronicle and their entertainment-driven special publication, 29-95. In past years, I was shooting for different clients that were not on a deadline, which meant that I could concentrate my efforts on shooting the entire show each day and then bother with editing and captioning the next week. For the print edition of the newspaper I had to capture images, download them to a remote laptop that we had set up in 29-95′s vendor booth, edit and transmit the selects to the paper. Ironically, even with the Chronicle building a few blocks away, the poor Internet connection made the transmission process a real headache. I transmitted images to the newspaper’s photo desk for the print edition several times throughout the day since I would not be getting home until after the print deadline.

For 29-95, I sent a healthy amount of selects over each night for use in a web gallery that was live throughout the day. In essence, it was like shooting for two separate clients concurrently. Luckily I had the help of two amazing assistants and a team of editors that made things go smoothly.

Day 1 started at about 10am. After getting outfitted with about 5 or so different wristbands, we set up our laptop station and walked the festival grounds to get an idea of the layout. The festival in general was a lot more spread out than in past years which was a pain since it took a lot longer to walk to between each stage, and since the majority of fans camped out at the main stage, so the exterior stages seemed much more isolated than in past years. You may be asking yourself why I am complaining about a short walk, but it was about 105 degrees F each day, so just being out in the sun, let alone moving is an exhausting task.

After getting the lay of the land, I started looking for details and hot weather features, before heading to the main stage to photograph the live acts. Bun B and Big Boi were the highlights of day 1 putting on amazing performances in the dead heat. I didn’t have any trouble getting access to the stage which was nice. The hip-hop acts were great, but Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings were my favorites for the day for sure. During the golden hour I ventured back into the crowd and made some frames of a bungee attraction in awesome light.

Since we still had a lot of editing to do, we decided to skip Saturday’s headliner, Ween, and head back to the office early to get a jump on things.

Sunday was 110% better for me. After regrouping, I headed into Sunday with cooler clothes, less gear, and a working knowledge of what exactly I wanted to shoot and how the whole festival was laid out.

We started around the same time, at some of the smaller stages enjoying/photographing friends’ The Niceguys and By The End of Tonight before hitting the grounds in search of features. I stumbled on several nice details and a few excellent moments before heading to the main stage where I found local noise/rap/etc artist B L A C K I E  assembling his own stage props alone. After a few frames and an offer to help, we headed into the crowd to find out they were setting up a paint slide. Last year, the paint slide was replaced by a mud slide after a heavy storm rolled through the festival.

This year it was a paint slide, last year it was a mud slide. What will 2012 bring?

Since it was (mostly) dry this year, a black, vinyl tarp was setup, splattered with paint and hosed down before a line of kids started sliding down. It was definitely fun to witness and photograph even though there are still paint splatters on several of my lenses and clothes. After several frames at the bottom of the slide I decided to trek up the hill to see what it looked like from the top. The first thing I saw was a group of friends in line for the slide, covered in paint, having a great time smearing paint on each other. During the few minutes I spent with the group I photographed a nice sequence. Click on the composite below to see the entire 12 shot sequence together.

The 12-shot sequence of the paint-covered kids. Which one would you have selected?

After a quick edit/transmission session, we headed over to the main stage for the evening acts. After a few moments, IT happened. What we all thought we had dodged…the rain. Summer downpours have cursed the festival the past two years in a row and just when we thought we were out of the woods, dark clouds circled and opened for several minutes of rain, and like past years, I ventured out to make rain features while most photographers scurried for cover. Unlike past years, the showers were brief and the terribly uncomfortable mugginess that is usually present after a summer shower in Houston was no where to be found. For a time it was actually pleasant.

Right after Chromeo finished up an awesome set, B L A C K I E was set to perform. I was already familiar with his crazy stage presence (especially after playing with him the Thursday prior to the festival) so I knew to be up front and ready to shoot the insanity. The first several rows of mostly Weezer fans didn’t know what hit them when he started into his first jam. The set, although short, was a full frontal assault and was not only fun to shoot, but a challenge as well. The lead off image above is one of my favorites from a sequence of him diving into the crowd and at the same time completely freaking out about a half dozen unsuspecting girls. It was lovely. (Check out some video of the performance including video of myself photographing the set, shot by Houston artist Blak Joens, below!)

Afterwards Cut Copy dove into an awesome set while I ventured out into an impromptu dance circle that I witnessed was started by 1 crazy fan that began dancing on his own. It quickly grew into a huge group of fans dancing like there was no tomorrow. At one point a shirtless guy on crutches hopped into the dance circle much to the excitement of the crowd.

Just as the sun was setting, the festival headliner, Weezer, took the stage and devled into a lengthy set full of old fan favorites from mostly the Pinkerton and Blue Album eras. As a fan of the band, it was awesome to get a chance to photograph them whilst hearing all my favorite jams from back in the day. After photographing the first half of the set from both in front of the stage and a little bit further back, we headed back to the office to edit the days selects.

Three of my images from day 2 of the festival appeared in the print edition, including one A1, above-the-fold.

The entire weekend was long and exhausting and even though I don’t know how I can possibly top last year’s images, I had a blast and came away with some frames I am definitely proud of. The print edition of the paper used 3 of my images on the Monday following the festival. Check out the layout above. As always, a full slideshow of my favorites is below. Check out the images and let me know what you think.

If you know anyone in any of the images, please link them!

SUMMERFEST (JUNE 2011) – Images by Todd Spoth

One of my favorite "outtakes" of 2010.

Well another year is behind us. It’s hard to believe. Time flies, I guess. If you were to ask me a year ago to predict where I would be right now, I would be way off the mark.

This year brought a ton of changes, surprises, and detours, but it was a great year nonetheless.

During my archive search for the year’s best images, I began to wonder (like any artist I’m sure) if I progressed from last year. Did I make better images than last year? Have I evolved in my style? My first instinct was “no”, given the fact that I traveled so much during 2009 versus this past year, but after pondering for a week or so, I realized that the images that I made in 2010 were by and large a better representation of where I am taking my work. The portraits are stronger and more focused, and I like that.

Included in the mix are images from my Canon point and shoot G9, my Lubitel twin-lens, and my trusty Polaroid Colorpack III land camera as well as a few editorial event images, editorial portraits, images from advertising campaigns, experimental images, a few personal images, and even (*gasp*) a wedding photo. It’s a motley crew of images, presented in chronological order that I dug from 2010.

I have provided two ways to browse my favorite images from this year. In keeping with tradition, the first method is a simple slideshow set to the lovely music of Australia’s Bag Raiders. It’s definitely a lot more upbeat and fun when compared to last year’s slow, instrumental track. The second method is the usual Photoshelter slideshow. So whether you want to just hit play and dance while checking out my favorites or silently click-through at your own leisure, the choice is there.

Heres to an even better 2011!

Check out last year’s “Best Of” post, check it out, and let me know which set of images you prefer. Todd Spoth Photography’s “Best of 2009″ blog post.

BEST OF 2010 – Images by Todd Spoth

The cover of the Photoshop User magazine Jan/Feb 2011 issue featuring an image by Todd Spoth.

About a month and a half ago I got an email from Mike Mackenzie, Associate Publisher of Photoshop User and Layers magazines, letting me know that they wanted me to be featured in Photoshop User magazine. I was thrilled to be featured in a magazine that I receive and read every month, especially after getting a personal tour of the NAPP/Kelby group headquarters just a few months ago. (see that post here)

I have been a NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) member for years now and have enjoyed the benefits greatly. The guys over @ NAPP work hard at creating the most thorough training content for creative professionals using Adobe software. If you need to know how to do something in Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Bridge, et al, they know how to get it done. Like many of the professional organizations I belong to, I probably only use a fraction of the member benefits, but my favorite is the free 3-day shipping on every order from B&H photo. If you’re anything like me, you are frequently placing orders for this or that with B&H (one of the largest and best photo/video/audio retailers in the country). Being a NAPP member not only gives you complimentary shipping on every order, but upgrades it to 3-day rather than UPS ground. This benefit alone has made my membership worthwhile. Check out the NAPP website at http://photoshopuser.com.

I have been an Adobe Lightroom user since its beta release in 2006. Back then I was trying out Apple’s counterpart, Aperture, as well as Lightroom and ultimately decided on Lightroom. It was just a lot easier to use. The most recent release, Lightroom 3, has made my life a whole lot easier. The things you can do with the software is amazing.

Mike interviewed me about my usage of Lightroom and some of my basic theories concerning my approach to photography. The resulting interview, bio, and image gallery can be seen in a multi-page feature in the January/February issue of Photoshop User magazine. The issue should arrive to NAPP members this week, and hitting the shelves around January 4th according to the NAPP team. I always see the magazine front and center at places like Barnes & Noble, Borders and other places magazines are sold, so pick one up if you can! To read the actual bio and interview text simply click on the image of the spread below or click here.

The cover to the special Lightroom section featuring images by Todd Spoth.

Photoshop User magazine has a special Lightroom section, which is where my feature can be found. A selection of my images are on the Lightroom section’s title page (seen above) and the actual feature is comprised of a two page spread which includes a short bio, the short interview, another batch of images, as well as an additional page featuring a few more images (seen below) The actual design of the spread is meant to look like the layout of Lightroom itself, complete with basic camera settings for each of the highlighted images.

The main, two-page spread featuring a bio, interview and photos by Todd Spoth.

An additional page featuring more photos by Todd Spoth.

In addition to being featured in the issue, I was surprised when just a few days ago, when I received my own physical copy in the mail, that they had chosen one of my images for the cover as well. The interesting part is that the cover image was actually not taken with one of my expensive SLR bodies, but my point-and-shoot Canon G9, which has since been sold. Oh the irony! Regardless of the tools that captured the moment, I think the image looks great.

I initially sent Mike and the guys over at NAPP about 30 or so images to choose from, so the final selection of images was ultimately left up to their team. Below is a short digest of the images they chose for the issue and links to their respective blog posts. There were several other, smaller, images the guys chose to fill out the thumbnail bar towards the bottom of each page, but the main images are all detailed below.

COVER

1. Portrait of Libby Johnston taken with the Canon G9. See “THE RED CURTAIN”.

LIGHTROOM TITLE PAGE

1. Portrait of Kingwood High School swimmer, Matt Barber. See “FUTURE OLYMPIAN?”.

2. Portrait of MLB pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon. See “JAMESON TAILLON”.

3. “Summer Solstice” image created to illustrate the hot Houston Summers. (no blog)

MAIN SPREAD

1. Portrait of my buddy Rob, who is a teacher. (no blog)

2. Matt Barber again. (see above)

3. “Favela Boys” from my 2008/2009 essay on Rio de Janeiro. See “BRAZIL”.

4. Portrait of “The Dog Whisperer”, Cesar Millan. See “THE DOG WHISPERER”.

ADDITIONAL PAGE

1. Portrait of Shawn Welling, filmmaker, dancer, choreographer and painter. See “MORE PORTRAITS”.

2. Portrait from the deserts of Qatar. See “DESTINATION: QATAR”.

3. Jameson Taillon again. (see above)

4. Portrait of friend and fellow photographer, Adrienne Byard. See “ADRIENNE & ELIZABETH”.

The images of the spread above were from PDF’s, I did manage to scan a few more of the pages of the issue, where my images are shown. Since the images below are direct scans as opposed to the PDF’s seen above, I used Photoshop to clean the scans up and make them look presentable for the blog! Go Photoshop! Ha.

Table of contents page featuring photos from Todd Spoth.

About page featuring photos from Todd Spoth.

Masthead page where I am listed as a contributing writer.

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

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.