Overboard 9

Heidi is a girl after my own heart.  She has a heart as big as I've ever seen and she is one of the sweetest girls I have ever seen.  Heidi also has 11 dachsunds.  That means she has 2 more dogs than I do...that's a lot!!!  Heidi also loves her crafts, especially her scrapbooking.  In fact, she's turned one of her bedrooms into a scrapbooking room - complete with racks purchased from a store that's gone out of business.  Heidi's house is a beautiful log cabin, and in order to light her, I bounced a flash off her closet doors.  She was definitely a joy to work with and a wonderful addition to the Overboard series.

Overboard 8

I met Terri when we worked together for a period of time.  When we first met, Terri was not as fit as you see here.  She certainly wasn't a big girl, but she was not as sculpted as she is now.  Terri became interested in the self-defense of krav maga in the last few years, and the result of all her hard work can be seen in this photo.  She was a prime candidate for the Overboard series since she has certainly taken her training to an extreme.

Overboard 7

We have all heard people use the words, "as cuddly as a teddy bear."  But, what about a teddy bear that's wrapped in plastic.  Lorraine can probably tell us something about that because she purchases teddy bears all the time...teddy bears from various stores and places.  When she gets her new stuffed friends home, she quickly wraps them in plastic and stores them away in a spare room.  And....that's where they stay.  All her bears are white and most of them are Christmas bears.  In shooting Lorraine's portrait for the "Overboard" series, I created a wall of teddy bears on her living room sofa and floor.  We then placed Lorraine in the upper right corner of the frame and the result is the shot you see here.

Overboard 6

As they say, the only difference between a man and a boy is the price of his toys.  Barry, however, might argue that his collection does not constitute toys, as the many tools in his workshop can certainly come in handy for fixing things around the house.   During the time in which I was shooting Barry and his tools, he was concentrating on passing his testing to get into the police academy.  With that in mind, I chose to have Barry hold two of his favorite "toys" in such a fashion that suggests he's shooting at the viewer.  There is also an underlying message, which is meant to convey that Barry does not want to share his "toys." I would venture to say that most men feel that way about their tool collections - they don't want to lend anything out for fear that it will never be returned.

Overboard 5

Dom loves to make and enjoy homemade wine.  He has turned his basement into a winery, where he houses all the essentials to produce his beverage of choice.  This is by no means a business for Dom, but instead a favorite past-time or hobby that he enjoys with friends and family.  In working with Dom for the Overboard series, I staged several scenarios over the course of 3 days of shooting.  The final image incorporated into the project really illustrates more of a natural setup.  He had just received the boxed grapes seen in the shot and was truly going through the crushing process.  As is seen in this image, I chose to not have Dom look into the camera so as to illustrate his complete engagement with his passion.

Overboard 4

As I've said, I've met some wonderful and interesting people while searching for subjects to photograph in my Overboard series.  Another such person is Red.  Red was brought to my attention by one of my high school teachers Donna Joseph.  Donna was involved with the high school track team at Shadyside High School for many years.  She was a potential subject for my series, and I did take some photos with her.  In working with her for the series, Donna mentioned Red.  She told me that Red had been a track coach for many years in the Columbus, OH area.  Red had, in fact, purchased the house next door to where he lived in order to house all of the track memorabilia he had acquired over the years.  I was able to track Red down, and he very cordially agreed to allow me to photograph him in his element.  The resulting photo was staged in that house next door to where he lives - all of these items belong to him, and there was an obvious  connection to the color red throughout.  There are actually a couple of other rooms that cannot be seen in this shot.  These rooms are also filled with track items.  Red shares his collection with the current high school track teams, as he hosts gatherings at this property every year.  As you might imagine, the entire house is a great conversation piece and place to gather and learn about track history for these kids.