Hellbound Glory is an outlaw country band fronted by Leroy Virgil. He’s a talented songwriter and charismatic performer, and we finally got the chance to collaborate on a music video last month while Leroy was on break from touring. The song ‘Bastard Child’ is from Hellbound’s latest album, Damaged Goods. They’re currently in the studio recording a new album, so be on the lookout for more from these rising stars of country music.
This is the tenth and final post detailing my 2010 photo series ‘Roughing It.’ The images are based on characters and scenes from Mark Twain’s eponymous volume about his travels and adventures in Nevada and other Western states.
“Slade was a matchless marksman with a navy revolver. The legends say that one morning at Rocky Ridge, when he was feeling comfortable, he saw a man approaching who had offended him some days before–observe the fine memory he had for matters like that–and, “Gentlemen,” said Slade, drawing, “it is a good twenty-yard shot–Iʼll clip the third button on his coat!” Which he did. The bystanders all admired it. And they all attended the funeral, too.”
Credits: Johnny Vandenberg as Slade.
This is the first in a series of posts detailing my 2010 photo series ‘Roughing It.’ The images are based on characters and scenes from Mark Twain’s eponymous volume about his travels and adventures in Nevada and other Western states.
“Slade was captured, once, by a party of men who intended to lynch him. They disarmed him, and shut him up in a strong log-house, and placed a guard over him. He prevailed on his captors to send for his wife, so that he might have a last interview with her. She was a brave, loving, spirited woman. She jumped on a horse and rode for life and death. When she arrived they let her in without searching her, and before the door could be closed she whipped out a couple of revolvers, and she and her lord marched forth defying the party. And then, under a brisk fire, they mounted double and galloped away unharmed!”
Model & Makeup Artist: Kari Vandenberg
In the course of working on the Tutto Ferro project, I photographed Sezmu Restaurant. It’s a newer establishment and I haven’t yet had the chance to sample their food. I will say that if their food is as good as the architecture of the restaurant, it will be amazing (and by all accounts that I’ve heard, it is). I was mainly concentrating on the bar and metal details, as these were the items that Tutto Ferro had produced. However, I did get a chance to photograph the exterior as well.The owners are very nice people and were quite helpful with arranging the shoot. Sezmu is on Mt. Rose street in Reno, just east of Arlington.
Last month, I photographed Tutto Ferro for Reno Passport magazine. They do high-end custom metal fabrication and have been involved in many of the more iconic building projects in Reno. It was a fun assignment and gave me the rare opportunity to combine architectural photography and environmental portraits into the same series.
Paolo, the owner of Tutto Ferro, carved out a few minutes from his busy schedule for our photo session. His warehouse/work space is filled with interesting projects (his racing Vespa will hopefully be the subject of another photo shoot), but I finally settled on the above background. I’m guessing that it is destined to be a clock, but it was the perfect background to establish Paolo as the company’s visionary and leader.
This is the image that was used for the Passport’s cover. In keeping with Paolo’s ultra-modern minimalist aesthetic, all the roll-up doors in his shop are painted bright yellow.
I’ll follow this up with another post about Sezmu Restaurant, one of Tutto Ferro’s projects. But for now, I’ll close with this image of Paolo’s sculpture by the River Walk in downtown Reno. It’s near the corner of Sierra and First if you’d like to check it out in person.
I recently photographed Reno tattoo artist Elijah Cole (of Ace’s Tattoo) for a Tuaca advertisement. In larger markets, Tuaca produces a Body Art Ball – a body paint and dance extravaganza. In smaller markets, like Reno, they’re running ads that profile a local tattoo or body paint artist. I think that’s a pretty cool way to work with the local art community, so I was excited about the project.
Elijah is a truly talented artist. The depth and detail of his work is incredible. I realized while looking at some of his pieces that most tattoo artists learn to draw a nice hard line and stop there. Not Elijah. He can produce some of the most subtle shading I have ever seen in a tattoo, adding a depth and subtlety to his work that is rare to see.
The model, of course, is Jenessa. I’ve photographed her for album covers and clothing companies before. She is always fun to work with, and since Elijah is working on an extensive tattoo project for her it was a natural fit.
For obvious reasons, I can’t post the image used in the ad until it’s published. However, the above shot is an outtake that I really liked, and here’s another shot of Jenessa.
Last month I photographed the principals of ‘Champagne & Bacon,’ a Reno/Tahoe event production company. It was a fun shoot…nice folks, interesting location (the back of a downtown bar). The photos were for the cover story of this month’s Reno Passport magazine. Keep an eye out for it around town! Below is the cover shot.
