About a week ago I got an assignment to shoot in Louisville, KY for SportsNet Magazine out of Canada. I had never been to Louisville before and with a previous editorial assignment already under my belt with this magazine I was more than excited to take the job. I got back into Nashville from Louisiana Thursday evening and loaded up Friday morning and hit the road to Louisville with my buckaroo Seth riding shotgun. 

We got into Louisville in time for a quick lunch at the Troll Pub before the shoot and made it over to Louisville Slugger Field with a half hour to spare. Unfortunately our field contact was not at his desk and seemed to be M.I.A.. We had a late start because of this and the field allotted us a whopping 10min to setup AND shoot! By the grace of God I got 3 different looks to send back to the editor and everyone was happy. (Images to come on a later blog)

When I got back in the car and headed out to find the nearest coffee shop to compose my frazzled brain a wonderful moment happened. As we got right outside of the downtown area of Louisville wide empty streets appeared, mix in the beautiful overcast sky and vibrant green trees I had to pull over! 

I hopped out and started shooting in the middle of the street the tranquil scene ahead of me. As I was shooting Seth stepped into frame and said “Hey get this”. It looked as if he were gonna jump in the air and smile and I thought “Ah.. ok, been there done that but cool.” Then Seth caught me off guard  with a backflip! I didn’t see it coming and definitely wasn’t shooting at a high enough shutter speed to catch that motion.

So I began to beg for another one! Seth was a little rusty and was hesitant to attempt it again and thought we may need to find a hospital if he tries a second time. But I kept pushing for one!

Just then a gentleman walks up out of nowhere and asked “Are you gonna do a backflip?” I said “I hope so!” and the gentleman said he wanted to watch. Then he said “Hey wanna get this?” and walked over to a pole and described his next move. I quickly adjusted camera settings and then he went for it! 

A perfectly executed backflip off a pole.. I had no clue why everyone was doing backflips all of a sudden, but what I was seeing on my camera screen made me all kinds of happy! Such a surreal moment in time captured.. It looks like he is just falling out the sky!

The gentleman then told us his tragic story and asked for money for a bus.. After the image he gave me I was happy to pay up!

He began to walk away and I focused back on begging Seth for another flip until he finally caved in. We walked back in the middle of the street and with the right camera settings this time Seth went for it again and I snapped one shot.

It was such a great few minutes after a very stressful shoot.. It made me so happy that I pulled over to shoot that moment that I saw and made me regret the times in the past that I was too much in a hurry to stop and photograph something.

Lesson learned, sometimes it’s the spur of the moment images you capture in between assignment that really make you happy.

Just slow down once in awhile!  

I recently had the pleasure of shooting mega Saints fan Darth Saint in New Orleans for Sportsnet Magazine out of Canada. If you are a Saints fan this guy probably looks familiar to you because of all the air time he has gotten. 

Recently with all of the “accusations” that have been thrown at the New Orleans Saints I couldn’t help but find even more pride in these photos. After finally getting time this morning to read about the “scandal” and all of the unprecedented penalties that the NFL has hit the team with, I’m very frustrated! SO! I have an idea, let’s send Darth Saint to the NFL offices with a lightsaber and defend Sean Payton and the Saints organization. I would like to see Roger Goodell’s face when Darth Saints walks in his office.. 

Sad day for LSU fans.. A perfect season gone down the drain. As a resident of the great state of Louisiana I am mourning this loss as well, although I can’t seem to miss the learning opportunity.
For four quarters I watch Jordan Jefferson completely stink up the field, listened to LSU fans boo their own quarterback. The whole time I remained optimistic that Les Miles would put in LSU’s other quarterback Jared Lee.. It never happened. Possession after possession I was blown away at how stubborn Les Miles was being, it seemed everyone knew the current plan to win was not working except him.
As I’m laying here thinking about the game I can’t help but realize how similar a lot of photographers are to Les Miles tonight. We create the same work over and over again hoping it will somehow become original and great, but it stays the same.
I challenge you as a photographer to break out of the mold you are in that is leading you nowhere. Be original, be creative and stop holding yourself back!
If not you will end up like Les Miles and run out of time to make the change that could potentially lead you to victory.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein

Bye bye LSU perfect season..
Hello Saints playoff game! WHO DAT!

“Are you going to a disco party?” a man yells out from his car as Greg and I begin to shoot. We both laugh and in my head I think to myself “He has no clue..”. You see Greg Banks is not only a man of soulful music ability, but Greg has one of the greatest fashion styles of anyone I know! When he arrived on set you would have thought he’d just walked out of the past, but the great thing is that Greg always dresses this way. Whether Greg is on stage, on set, or on his way to get groceries, he is a man of style!

“My fashion is a mashup between the 20’s and the 70’s.”-Greg Banks

“My music style is Neo-Soul/Funk.”-Greg Banks

The name “Big East to Big Apple” came to us while we were shooting in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Greg was preparing to make a big move the following week to New York City and we wanted to build a story around this chapter in his career and life. So that only meant one thing.. I was headed to NYC!

Just two weeks after we shot in New Orleans, Greg and I were roaming the streets on Brooklyn and Manhattan capturing his new life. 

Not too long after we finished up all of the images I found out that American Way Magazine wanted to run a story on Greg and one of our images was going to be used. I have been in several magazines before, but what made this interesting was that American Way is the inflight magazine for American Airlines. How awesome would it be to have everyone on an American Airlines flight see my image, pretty nifty. 

The issue is now out so if you are flying American Airlines in the next month, be sure to flip through your inflight magazine to find Greg’s article. 

Read the article online here: Greg Banks American Way

Everything Greg Banks: www.gregbanksmusic.com