A nostalgia funny car suffers an engine fire after crossing the finish line during the California Hot Rod Reunion at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

In the die-hard world of drag racing, a community of lifelong fans and devoted technicians alike fills the racetrack grounds with an unmistakable drive and passion. The group is present to do everything in their power to witness and attain two simple goals: Go fast, and be the fastest. Team members for each car are noble gear warriors, wielding chrome lances (usually taking the form of socket wrenches) between their fingers blackened with grease, fighting to tame their beasts on wheels.

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Guy’s Standing O Award profile on the Apollo Design web site. Click the image above to visit Apollo’s site and read more about Guy and the award.

I’m excited to be returning to Las Vegas this weekend for the annual LDI convention, and I’m even more excited to be representing Apollo’s Standing O Campaign this year at their booth (#1412). I’ll be available to chit-chat about lighting design, visual storytelling, or for those that remember my last trip to LDI, how to enclose a Little Giant ladder in cardboard and tape on the floor of a FedEx shipping center. See you in Vegas!

Dancer and choreographer Asia Dickens poses for a portrait at Marquette Beach in Gary, Indiana. The ability to make your subject laugh is often helpful in capturing honest, relaxed moments.

It’s been a while since I shared one of those career-suicide morsels of truth with you all, and with summer slowly melting into fall, I figured now was as good a time as any to boost the confidence of you new-comers to the photography world. So, here goes: Posing people for portraits was, and sometimes is, a very awkward thing for me to deal with on a shoot.

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Gothic revival limestone elements are flanked by trees in a courtyard outside the sanctuary of City Methodist Church in downtown Gary, Ind., Sunday, August 8, 2010.

In a recent visit to the ruins of Gary’s abandoned City Methodist Church, I was reminded yet again why this has quickly become one of my favorite places to explore through a lens. There is always something new to discover, even with less than a month since my previous visit. The structure continually melts away and morphs into more abstract forms, much like a sand castle gradually being eroded by the incoming tide. The man-made elements continue to fight a fleeting battle against mother’s nature’s unstoppable organic soldiers. Platoons of trees flank the north end of the sanctuary while troops of green ivy advance against the red bricks high overhead. The scars of war are ever increasing, and sadly, one day, the church will lose the fight. For groups of urban explorers from around the world, Gary’s City Methodist has proved to be one of the finest battle studies in existence.

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