Ray Austin - Dragonfly Digital

Last month I was contacted by Rachel Horton of the Business Journal about doing an article on Dragonfly and Highlands Photography.  The Business Journal is a monthly magazine published in the Tri-Cities with over 26,000 subscribers.  They also publish GeneratioNext, a quarterly magazine focused on younger readers, which has published some of my photos in the past. (see previous post)

Rachel informs me that they want to start a new monthly feature called “Energy” in which they spotlight younger business owners who are emerging in the regions business heirarchy.  I was very humbled to be included, and not only that, to be the very first in the series.  The article and questions are geared to not only showcase the company, but to find out a little more about the personal side.  The style is much younger (almost bloglike) and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

Click on the link to view the .pdf article from the February 2008 edition of the Business Journal.

Energy - Ray Austin

Last Saturday, Tim and I were able to get media passes for the Virginia High School State Championship game in Salem, VA.  We especially wanted to shoot this game because a hometown school, the Clintwood Greenwave were playing in it.  With their first trip to the state championship in over 3 decades, we knew the Clintwood faithful would be out in full force, and that the opportunity to shoot a state championship game might not come again for a while.  Tim and my wife are both alumni of CHS…and that, added to the fact that you rarely get to shoot high school football in the daytime, made me even more determined to get on the field and get some football pics.

So after a week of going back and forth with the football coach, the tournament director and the principal, we still didn’t have press credentials on hand.  Luckily, I was able to pull a string or two here in Kingsport and secure us 2 passes.

It was a good game, with Buffalo Gap ahead by a point at the half.  Clintwood had several missed opportunites and if a few of them had gone their way, I am sure that we could call them 2007 Div 1 State Champs.  However, when the dust settled the final score was Buffalo Gap 28 - Clintwood 19.  We had great field access, and with the noon light I was able to shoot with the Bigma, which allowed me to get up close and personal from one end of the field to the other.

Click on the thumbnails below to see a few shots from the game:

   

   

   

   

To view the full set, including Tim’s shots, visit www.highlandsphoto.com and go to Client Access then the Clintwood State Football album.

Photographers love it when their work gets noticed.  I create tons of photos each year and its really nice when someone recognizes a good photo and compliments you on it.  I’m very humbled and excited whenever I’m asked for permission to use a photo I’ve taken in a publication.  Until recently, the majority of what I’ve had published were event shots in small newspapers (most of the time with the wrong photo credit or an accidental ommission thereof).  A few of my sports shots have been used in a calendar recently.  I also had a few Knetic event pics published in an issue of generatioNext last year.  My point being, mostly very small and very unimpressive publishings thus far.

However, a few months ago, Rachel Horton at The Business Journal asked about using an autumn photo I had taken in the latest issue of generatioNext, to which I happily sent some samples.  After a few weeks of layout, she reported back that they had used it as a full page shot.  Even though the true beauty of the shot gets a little lost in the background of the overlaid text, I’m still very proud to have it included.  Rachel got the photo credit right (see my rant above) so I thank her for her help and look forward to working with the magazine in the future.  Here’s a before and after (click to enlarge):

A week or so after the news from Rachel, my friend Nick Adams at Wellmont told me that they were going to use a commercial shot I had taken for them on the cover of Wellmont’s 2007 Financial Report.  The report has an annual circulation of about 40,000, and the cover is usually awarded to Tim Cox, a very well respected photographer from Wise, VA who does a lot of work for Wellmont.  So needless to say, I’m very happy to be included in the project.  Nick emailed me a copy yesterday and it looks great.  Again, a before and after (click to enlarge):

Progress for The Edinburgh development (on Rock Springs Road in Kingsport) has been moving along well and today marked another milestone towards completion.  The community came out in less than stellar weather to see the groundbreaking ceremony for the new city school, John Adams Elementary.  The developers, along with several Kingsport aldermen, school board officials and city leaders, broke ceremonial ground near the entrance to The Edinburgh while the media and a nice sized crowd watched. 

Slated to be complete for the start of the 2009-2010 school year, John Adams Elementary will sit amongst the nearly 300 new homes being built in The Edinburgh.

Click here to view The Edinburgh website and here to see info on the new elementary school.

Here are a few photos from the ceremony… click the thumbnails to enlarge:

   

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to once again shoot the Kingsport stop of the Santa Train.  Normally, my wife is in charge of logistics at the Kingsport stop, allowing me great access to the event.  This year was a special treat because she was invited to ride the Santa Train.  So a big thanks to Stacey for excellent access at the Kingsport stop! 

This year’s special guest on the Santa Train was Elkhorn City, KY native and country music legend Patty Loveless.  She was very nice and didn’t give the first dirty look towards the guy who held the camera in her face all afternoon.  Each time I looked through the viewfinder I was greeted with a big smile, as were the hundreds of parents and kids who gathered to see her and try and catch some of the toys and candy Patty and others were tossing from the truck.

Here are some shots from the 2007 Santa Train.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger view:

   

   

As many of you know, the Food City store on Eastman Road in Kingsport was closed this spring and a new Crown Point Food City has been built to anchor the new shopping center.  I had the honor of being asked to photograph the new store and provide a print that would be presented by the Chamber of Commerce as a gift of appreciation to Food City.  After an hour in the parking lot on a 24 degree Sunday morning (at 5:30 am) I had the angle that I wanted to use.  My original idea was to present a lineart drawing of the store, but a lot of detail and drama of the sparkling new store was lost with that.  So I overlayed the lineart drawing on top of the original photo and after some tweaking, had a print that looks hand drawn and hand colored.

The Chamber had it framed and matted, and during the Grand Opening ceremony, it was presented to Steve Smith, president of Food City.  Miles Burdine, Kingsport Chamber CEO, even gave Dragonfly Digital a nice plug during the presentation.  The print now hangs on the wall inside the new store and I’m very proud to have been included in the project.  Here are some other shots from the ceremony, including the print presentation (click to enlarge):

 

       

Nicole and Stacy were fascinated by the store; the shelves were all full and everything was faced perfectly.  Even the chip aisle had all the bags fluffed!

TN/VA Scholars, a program of the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, is a local branch of the statewide Tennessee Scholars program.  The site was designed to showcase the program and provide information to students, parents and school administrators.  It’s written in .php and required graphic creation, product photography, and photo manipulation.

Dragonfly Digital is a full service photography and design firm located in Kingsport, TN.  I started this company as a partner company to Highlands Photography, which I co-own with Tim Powers.  While Highlands Photography specializes in people and events, Dragonfly Digital will concentrate on commercial and industrial photography, web design and implementation, corporate branding, and a host of other business to business services.  This blog is intended to showcase individual projects and give readers a more detailed look at my work.  For more information visit my website www.dragonflydigital.org.