stokesfoto

Elizabeth and Andrew

2011-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Look Book Photo Shoot for YQY

2010-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Amanda and Aaron

2010-08-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Amanda and Aaron! They made the trek up north (from AZ) to exchange vows in Redwing, MN at the unique Round Barn Farm.

Michelle and Ryan tie the knot!

2010-07-06T09:44:00.001-07:00

Congrats to Michelle and Ryan who tied the knot in Grand Rapids! We were on hand to capture the action. What a cool place! Lots of friends and family on hand to help celebrate. The great weather, amazing food, and lots more made for a memorable weekend!

Jessica and Ryan

2010-05-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Ryan's wedding in Vegas was a lot of fun! It was 40 degrees and rainy on Friday in MN but it was sunny and nearly 90 on Saturday in Las Vegas! :)

Weather...

2010-04-17T12:23:00.001-07:00

Some weather was rolling in the other day. Ran into the house and grabbed my camera and snapped this.

Envision Spring Fashion Show 2010

2010-04-12T22:46:00.001-07:00

The Envision Spring Fashion show took place Saturday at the Graves Hotel in down town Minneapolis. It was fun watching hair and makeup people work their magic while wardrobe stylists and their assistants check and recheck the pieces the models will wear.

Wild-looking hairpieces sit on head-shaped pedistals...

Boxes of shoes lined the wall in one of the rooms.

One model was trying a couple of different shoes on. I stooped down to snap a shot.

Models talk in groups or check messages on their phones as they wait their turn on "the chair".

A bartender waits for the rush

This year the show included live art. The artists were using a few different techniques including stencils, brushes, rulers, etc. One of the in-progress pieces included a variety of visual elements including bits and pieces of Abraham Lincoln and Krushchev. Wish I had more time to chat with these guys. Would have been interesting to hear what inspired this mix.

The hair show part of the evening is when premier stylists have a chance to show their stuff in a live competition.

The room continued to fill until finally the thumping music began and the models started walking.

Out of order...

2009-11-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

Vault Door

2009-09-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

In an age of electronic fund transfers, credit cards, and all manner of e-money it's fun to see structures that protect tangible assets. :)

College Sports

2009-08-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

I recently did some work for an area college. One part of the assignment was to shoot captains from some of the sports teams. Below are some examples.

Fashion Shoot

2009-07-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

I recently shot some promotional material for an upcoming fashion event in the Twin Cities. Below is a sample of what will likely be used.

2009-07-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

We recently had the pleasure of covering Mike and Jennifer's wedding! The nuptuals took place on Boom Island and the reception was on the Paradise Lady as she sailed up and down the Mississippi. A fantastic 4 piece jazz band kept us supplied with tunes throughout the evening

Mike and Jennifer were a blast to photograph! Here are just a few teasers from the day:

A few random grabs while waiting to shoot...

2009-06-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

I get to see all kinds of different stuff when shooting on location. While I was waiting for the model's hair to be finished, I wandered around and snapped a few random photos.

The first is a door-closer-thing. I'm sure there's a better name for it but I can't think of it at the moment. The next photo is of pieces of an old neon light stacked in a jar, and the last is some of the model's wardrobe sitting on the old wood floor.

Cat at T-ball

2009-06-18T18:13:00.001-07:00

A cat showed up to my son's T-ball game the other day. We'll call the protagonist "Tom". A couple of the parents had brought dogs (on leashes fortunately) along to the gathering. Oddly, Tom didn't seem worried in the least. At times walking very close to the excited canines. At one point one of the dogs' leash allowed it to rush within 3 feet of the cat before yanking its' owners arm nearly out of it's socket. It was a very interesting encounter to observe, given the potential for fur to fly. I had the feeling that the cat was either oblivious or was so accustomed to kicking dog-butt that a beagle was no reason to get excited...

Tom

Fido

2009-06-16T12:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I shot an assignment for a couple of designers who collaborated on a project that was part of an ASID Showcase Home located in Edina. They did a fabulous job and I had fun shooting it! Below are a couple of detail shots. Carol did a particularly nice job styling the shoot.

2009-06-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

I recently went out on Lake Waconia w' Travis, Mike, and Ben to get some fishing photos. All the guys have really nice boats and are serious Anglers. It was great getting out on the water and shooting some fishing stuff. These guys know their stuff and guide as well. Check them out HERE

St. Paul Saintz

2009-06-03T13:30:00.001-07:00

This is the second shoot I've done for the St. Paul Saintz. They recently won the top spot at a battle of the bands in the Twin Cities. I love my job because I get to mix w' all kinds of talented people! :) And don't let those scowls fool ya - they're pretty funny guys.

Handbag Shoot down town

2009-05-28T11:45:00.001-07:00

I recently did a photo shoot down town for a local handbag designer. It was funny because I looked over my shoulder at one point and there was this lady snapping a shot of me. Carry a long lens and you get attention I guess.

And James (model) having fun hauling handbags to the location...

Art

2009-03-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

I came across this guy's stuff today and thought it was pretty wild. The whole human/animal juxtaposition is interesting. I think the firey lady w' the umbrella is my favorite...

Website Update!

2008-12-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

Check it here! :)

I have only a small amount of content currently but will be adding much more soon!

The Newsroom

2008-05-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

Last week I was asked to make some images of Randy Shaver (a news anchor with Kare 11 who specializes in sports stories) to go along with a story one of our editors is working on. I was told we'd start shooting around 4:30 and that I'd just be shooting pj style stuff of Randy as the editor interviewed him.

Sooo...I rolled up to the Channel 11 building at about 4:10 and left my gear by the front desk while I parked my car. The parking lot isn't that far away but I'm lazy and try not to schlep gear further than I have to. It was probably quarter after 4 by the time I got back and signed in at the front desk. I was kindly informed by the receptionist that Randy was in an interview with a lady but tha he wouldnt' be much longer. Fine. I sat down and threw a lens on my new-to-me D2X. I was playing around with it, taking in the rather nice sitting room when it dawned on me that the lady said he was being interviewed - not that he was interviewing somebody. "That's kind of odd..." I figured I'd better check who was doing the interview just in case it was our lady... and sure enough it was. The receptionist hustled me back and showed me a small glass-walled conference room entirely lit with flourescent overhead lights. Yuk! But since I"ve been shooting assignments for Metropolitan Media Group I've become accustomed to making the best of things in less than ideal shooting scenarios. I had just finished switching lenses when Randy suggested we go shoot the rest of the interview in the broadcast studio. That sounded like a pretty good idea to me so I didn't argue. I followed him and we watched the last 45 seconds of a live broadcast segment. When they finished and were leaving - Randy asked one of the guys to leave the lights on while we shot. There were a number of news sets/desks and Randy and Kate sat down to finish the interview. I snapped away for about 10 minutes and then we were done. :)

Afterwards Kate told me she had arrived early (as any good editor should) and wound up just starting the interview early. That was a relief to me as I had had 4:30 down and was worried I'd missed something. (sigh of relief)

Kate did an amazing job conducting the interview (and is an awesome editor to boot). I can already tell it's going to be fun working with her and the rest of the Metropolitan Media Group in the future. :)

Here are a couple of the images from the shoot: (Photos were shot as part of an assignment for Metropolitan media group.)

Throw The Fight

2008-02-18T23:12:00.000-08:00

Throw The Fight held a CD release party was at the Fine Line this past Saturday. They shared the stage with several other local bands and played a great show to a packed out house. Check out their myspace for a sample of their stuff.

Of course, yours truly was on hand to catch the action. :)

Test shot

2008-01-29T22:25:00.000-08:00

I was looking back through some stuff I shot on Sunday when this shot sorta caught my eye. This shot is from when I was setting up and taking a couple of test shots during a shoot for a local recording/performing artist.

Iron horse

2008-01-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was going through some stuff I shot a while ago (anything over a year ago is a while ago) and came across some train stuff I just never got around to doing anything with. Here's one example...

Opening Blog

2008-01-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

Giving the blogging thing a go was something I've toyed with in the past but dismissed as being another thing I just don't have time for. (As it is I tend to stay up to the wee hours editing what I shoot.) At this point I have no idea how often I'll be posting or what I'll be posting. Time will tell!

Shooting when it's -10F outside is not the sort of thing I'd normally suggest, but I had something I wanted to try that would only work when it was really cold out. Unfortunately it was a bit too windy to allow what the model (Desire') and I had originally wanted to shoot. After driving around looking for a suitable spot and finding none, Desire' and I scratched our original plan and decided to shoot closer to the studio.

I decided against using gloves as it's difficult to manipulate photo gear with them on, so I was working barehanded. Needless to say, I had to make a couple of warm-up trips to the car before I was ready. For her part, Des did a great job acting like it wasn't cold out. (Not easy given the circumstances.)

Below is a sample:

It was a unique experience shooting out behind an old building after dark in -10F temps with huge freight trains thundering by periodically. Definitely one shoot I'll remember for awhile!