Behind the Shot

Everybody loves a good meal, and it seems like everybody is posting photos of their food, but when food photography is done right you can seemingly taste it. That’s where Freddy Clark comes in, and when he gets his hands on a nice cool adult beverage you will want a drink. Freddy is a New Jersey based beverage and food photographer, and his images will make you hungry and thirsty. I have bee...

Damian Strohmeyer is a Boston based photographer that’s just as comfortable photographing a Super Bowl, as he is shooting a portrait. His body of work spans from fast action sports, like The World Series, The World Cup, The Stanley Cup, The Olympics, and 27 Super Bowls, to commercial or editorial work. I have had a lot of world class photographers on this show, and Damian takes that to the n...

St. Louis wedding photographer Sal Cincotta, and his award winning studio, take photography to a level few will ever achieve. Traveling the world to document their client’s most cherished moments, Sal and his team push the envelope with every shoot. Don’t take my word for it… One Eyeland named Sal the #1 Wedding Photographer in the world! When I first saw that I wanted to write m...

One of the best parts of doing this podcast is the never ending inspiration I see from amazing photographic talents. Sometimes, the guests I get on the show are photographers I stumble upon while browsing the web, sometimes they are part of some bigger organization that introduces me to them, and on a rare occasion they are a suggestion from a someone that watches the show. That last one is the ca...

If you’re here then I will assume you are, at a minimum, a fan of good photography. Perhaps it interests you as a craft, or an art, or more likely you are a photographer that wants to improve their skill set. That means you and I have something in common. I love the art of photography, the skill it takes to not only freeze a moment in time, but to know what moment to freeze and how best to f...

I have been trying to count the number of guests I’ve had on this show that mentioned Scott Kelby, and each time I lose count. Seemingly everyone I know, and most of those I don’t know, have learned something from Scott. I know I have. When I first started in photography I watched Scott’s videos, read his blog posts, and absorbed as much as I could from him. His Guest Blog Wednesdays a...

The odds are that you’ve seen Simon Bruty’s work before, but on the odd chance you haven’t let me help you understand what you’ve missed. When discussing the best sports photography today, Simon is one of those photographers that has to be included on any list – and he usually is, but more on that in a minute. While photographing everything from World Cup Soccer, to S...

I grew up spending a lot of time in Newport, Rhode Island, home of the America’s Cup on twelve occasions between 1930 and 1983. I have great memories of visiting there, and seeing first hand the pride they had on having such a storied nautical heritage. Fast forward to today and these memories come rushing back. Award winning nautical photographer Onne van der Wal, who is based in Newport, R...

I normally start these posts with some lofty statement about my guest’s accomplishments, or some other overly deep setup. Not today. Today may be the easiest opening I have ever written… Vanessa Joy is a joy to work with. Every email I have received during the planning stages of this show has made me smile because of her email signature. She ends her emails…. “enJoy life&#8...

Editors Note: This show is not a paid advertisement. I have received no compensation from any third party company involved, and everything I say in the show is my own opinion.  I am so excited to welcome the founder of Lensrentals.com, Roger Cicala, and the co-owner Drew Cicala to Behind the Shot. The idea for an episode about rental gear was suggested a while back, and in all honesty I had confli...

It’s rare that I have a guest on Behind the Shot that has redefined their genre of photography, but Peter Hurley is one of those guests. Headshot photography has existed for a long time. I remember driving around L.A. years ago dropping off voice over demo tapes – actual tapes – at various agencies.  These voice over agents were also acting agents, so you’d see headshots of...

On occasion I have a guest on Behind the Shot I find hard to describe. With SanDisk Extreme Team members  Jonathan and Angela Scott that is not the case. In fact I have so much I want to say that I’m worried I will end up with a novel. I first learned of Jonathan and Angela through Rick Sammon , and in fact Rick has sent me a number of emails over the years telling me I need to get The Big C...

I find myself quoting Rick Sammon often, very often. Rick has these little sayings he uses, and he even has a name for them… Sammonisims. When I found out that he   had a new class about these sayings over at KelbyOne I knew I had to have him back on the show to talk about it. The class is called “Sammonisms – Speed-Learning Advice for Making Awesome Photographs”, and trust...

Charles Glatzer is one of the top wildlife photographers working today, and that says a lot. There are so many great wildlife photographers out there, but on a rare occasion you meet someone that rises above the rest, someone that is the inspiration for so many of those others. That is Charles, and that is why his work has been celebrated internationally with over 40 awards. As a Canon Explorer of...

A photographer whose publication credits include National Geographic Books, Time, Life Magazine, National Wildlife Federation, Audubon, Sierra Club, and Disney is someone I want to learn from, and in this case, that’s  Adam Jones . Adam is a photographer that has been internationally recognized for his nature, travel, and wildlife images.  Jones’s award-winning photography has been widely pu...

Karen Hutton is a photographer that is in demand, but on the chance you are not already familiar with her, let me introduce you… Karen is a Fine Art photographer that specializes in landscape, nature, and travel photography – or as she calls it: Photographer, Voice, Purveyor of Awesomeness The “voice” part is because along with being an amazing photographer, Karen is a soug...

In the time I have been doing photography there have been a few names I seem to have always been aware of, and one of those is Ron Clifford . When I receive an email from our mutual friend Rick Sammon introducing us, and suggesting Ron for an episode of Behind the Shot I immediately knew it would be a fit. Ron Clifford is a skilled, award-winning photographer, but above all else he is someone that...

For each episode of Behind the Shot I write a post with some information about my guest. I usually use a combination of the guest’s bio, along with pieces of info I gather through research, to try and give a bit of insight into that guest. This episode is much harder than usual. A friend of mine (thank you Scott) told me about a new book that was coming out. He then introduced me to someone...

When I book a guest for Behind the Shot I usually have an idea on how I will describe them, but sometimes that is a bit more difficult. Let’s take today’s guest, Atiba Jefferson, for example. Atiba is perhaps best known for his 25 years of skateboarding images. He has worked for all of the major skateboarding publications, and now works at Thrasher magazine. But describing Atiba as a s...

One of the most enjoyable aspects of doing the Behind the Shot podcast is the wonderful artists I get to meet. All are photographers that I truly admire, and that I am inspired by. Hand-in-hand with that is the way that I meet them. Elizabeth Gadd is one of those that was a chance discovery. I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on SmugMug Live!, with Alastair Jolly . I love that show, the...

I had not heard of Mitchel Wu until my friends at Platypod mentioned him to me, and that surprised me. I don’t want that to happen to you, so I am introducing you to some of the most playful work you’ll ever see. His work is stunningly good. When I see Mitchel’s photography it makes me want to be a child again. Every photo merges my childhood, and the memories of my son growing u...

I have known of Joel Grimes for as long as I have been involved with photography. Joel is one of those artists that can be described as a “master of their craft”, and that skill has earned him the rare designation as a Canon Explorer of Light. I am not saying that lightly, his photography and lighting skills are, simply put, second to none. If you get a chance to take one of his master...

I have met more photographers through Twitter than any other platform, and Jeff Harmon is one of those photographers. The wonderful part about Twitter to me is that I can reach out to people I might have never met before social media. It’s like being able to text someone whose number you might never have. In the case of Jeff, that social media conduit has led to me learning a lot about photo...

www.samhaddixphotography.com www.facebook.com/samhaddixphotography I will never forget the night I met Boston based pet photographer Kaylee Greer. It was at Photoshop World 2019 in Las Vegas, and the first night they had a Special Event called The Meet-Up. Basically it was a cocktail hour for attendees at The Still in The Mirage. I am sitting there talking to my buddy Dustin Jack , and his brother...

Sharing your work online has never been easier, but so many sites take your beautiful images and compress them beyond recognition (I’m looking at you Facebook and Instagram). When Don Komarechka and I were looking at places to host the Behind the Shot group for our critique show we wanted a place that would display images the best they could, and one site stood out… Flickr . I’ve...