On April 25th, I woke up, packed up my camera gear, and headed down I-49 towards Alexiandria, LA. I was headed toward Loyd Hall Plantation where I was going to spend my day at a photography workshop learning from two very talented photographers! The workshop was put on by Marc Eric and Brandon O’Neal, and, man, did I ever have a great day!  Unfortunately, poor Nicole had to stay behind and work, but she was sweet enough to let me go by myself! (But she grilled me with questions the next several days asking what I learned!)

So, after a nice drive through Louisiana, I pulled up to Loyd Hall and walked right up to the front door…which I couldn’t open!  Feeling a bit silly that I couldn’t open the door, I started to walk around back when I was greeted by Mark Eric.  Immediately, I was put into a group with the job of grabbing shoe shots!  After that, we all gathered and the learning started!  The workshop was all about lighting, so each session of the day focused on different lighting conditions.  First up was window lighting!

(Pictured above is the lovely Amy, one of Brandon O’Neal’s brides! She was super sweet, and, of course, a stunning model!)

Over the next few set-ups, we worked with off camera flash and natural light.


This next image is a favorite from the day!

We spent most of the afternoon inside working with flash and natural light before heading back outside for another session with our second model of the day, Amanda!

Mark and Brandon both brough lots of fun lighting equipment, and one of my favorite things was the beauty dish! I caught this next image while Brandon was using the beauty dish and timed the shot perfectly!

Then as the sun was setting we played with combining natural light and flash to get some stunning images! This next series includes some of my favorite pictures ever!



And I’ll end this post with my last image from the workshop!

It was great to spend the day with a fun group of photographers just talking, sharing, and learning! Thanks again to Mark Eric and Brandon O’Neal for putting this workshop on and for letting me play with some of your super cool equipment! We’re looking forward to implementing off camera lighting into our own photography work! Nicole and I are super excited about the possible Oak Alley workshop, so make sure to save us two spots!

Blogstalkers, check back Thursday when we share images from this past Sunday’s family session!

For those of you who don’t know much about me, I am a fighter pilot trapped in a lawyer/photographer/super handsome body. Seriously, I LOVE me some planes! Perhaps this is due in part to those killer leather jackets that pilots get to wear, or maybe even my love for the movie The Rocketeer. But, mostly, growing up in Shreveport, LA, it’s because almost everyday I see a B-52 flying over head. And once a year the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds come to town to tease me.

This year’s airshow happened on the perfect weekend! I had just finished a long week of trial and, unfortunately, my beautiful wife, Nicole, had to work. So that left me all alone on a weekend when the airshow was going on. Sunday April 22nd turned into Kevin Berg day! (Stolen from the Bernie Mac show where he sang a song, “ba bum bum Bernie Mac Day.” Yeah, I sang “ba bum bum Kevin Berg day” all the way to the airshow and most of the day.) I got onto Barskdale Air Force Base about 9am on Sunday morning and didn’t leave until 4:30pm. I ate a hamburger, snacked on some nachos, and enjoyed some awesome airplanes. I even got to meet up with a good friend, J-Dub, for part of the day.

Since I knew I was going to be seeing some awesome airplanes, I couldn’t NOT bring my camera! I loaded up my trusty Canon and a few lenses, and I took LOTS of pictures…

First up, a few pictures of the iconic B-52. They haven’t made a B-52 in over 60 years, yet these are still some of the most effective planes in the Air Force!







I am pretty disappointed in myself with my pictures of the Stealth Bomber. I was just so amazed at seeing one in person I spent more time gawking than snapping pictures!


This is Old “Spooky.”  Man, is this plane cool or what?!?!


The offical show started with a stunt plane and a sky diver!




They had a B-52 demonstration where they simulated a bombing run…

and there was a killer explosion!!!

Up next were the Black Diamonds…


But the main attraction was gearing up!



And, after some fanfare, the Thunderbirds hit the air!





Ok…what movie is this picture and quote from…”beccause we were inverted.”


And I’ll end with my personal favorite!

As Kevin Berg day came to an end, I had some awesome pictures, a bit of a sunburn, and a lot of fun! I highly recommend making an effort to support air shows and other fun local activities! Thanks for stopping by!  Check back on Thursday for another fun post!