Hello again, friends!

James and Adam here, with the latest photos and news from FlyingRooster. We’ve noticed lately that it seems to be getting more difficult to have this newsletter sent out on time each month, so in order to help fix this problem, FlyingRooster would like to welcome out newest member: Greensboro's very own Laura DeMaria. Laura has been a friend of ours since middle school and has been a strong supporter of the work we do. We are excited to have her on board as our copywriter--her expertise is already apparent in this newsletter!

Last month, we experienced a few fun photo shoots, one of which featured Holy Ghost Tent Revival, an alternative band based in Greensboro. For the shoot, furniture was transported from the HGTR house to a field in Hagan Stone Park. Not surprisingly, the band’s house is exactly what you would expect from a rocking group like HGTR: filled with a mixture of vintage-cool furniture, instruments, art and of course, a fridge well-stocked with beer. The photo shoot started off on a great note (pun intended) when a passerby recognized the band, and came over to tell them how much he enjoyed their music. After that, Holy Ghost was all smiles. The photo shoot lasted about two hours to use all of the light from the sunset.



February’s photo of the month came from this session. As the sun went down, Patrick lifted up his guitar in a moment of happy spontaneity. Check out the rest of the shoot on our flickr page.

With all the snow North Carolina has received this year, the Rooster Boys have had plenty of opportunity to catch some beautiful shots of nature at its finest, and most sparkly. Adam particularly loves winter (the best time to drink spiced rum by the fire), and you can see his snowy explorations in Chapel Hill flickr page.

James has been keeping busy in Boone, contributing photos to the February issue of High Country Press Magazine. The coffee story (p. 70) is a profile on coffee shops and distributors in the High Country area. He spent time learning about how beans are roasted for different flavors and aromas (dispelling the myth that darker means better, as you can actually cook flavor and aroma out), as well as how to participate in coffee cupping. After scouting out the local brews, James suggests ordering beans from Bald Guy Brew.

The Special Olympics story (p. 44) covers the two-day events during the North Carolina Special Olympics Winter Games, held at Appalachian Ski Mtn. The games have been held since 1978. Several hundred athletes from NC, as well as a few from SC, come to town to compete this year.

Do you like the pics you see, and want a copy of your own? FlyingRooster’s February Photo of the Month is available for purchase via our Smugmug page, along with those from past months. And keep up with us in our photographic travels through our Flickr Map, where you can track where we’ve been and see photos from our trips.

With spring fast approaching, there will be no shortage of photos and stories in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Until next time,

Team FlyingRooster
www.flyingrooster.net

Elk Knob Hike

The temperature, finally rose above freezing for the first time this month over the Holiday weekend so we figured we would take advantage and thaw out a little in the sun. We set out to hike Snake Mountain but the land owner has recently posted No Trespassing signs. Pretty disappointing but I'm sure there is a good reason for it... We went over to nearby Elk Knob State Park instead and climbed the 1.3 mile, 1000 ft elevation gain to the snow covered peak. The summit offered an amazing view from both sides of the peak, looking towards Boone and towards West Jefferson. The climb back down was fun, as we skied down more-so than walked. Good hiking with good friends is always nice...


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Hienz Foosball

In between the Christmas festivities and New Years joy, I found myself working on a rather large side project. I decided to give the foosball table from my childhood a facelift. All the foosball men where painted to match the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers superbowl starting line. There are even a few videos in the flickr set, With beerpong and foosball, this table is now the center of the party!

Bad Sweater Party

Well finally, the holiday rush has come to an end, and we have plenty of photographs to show from the last month. First on the list, the bad sweater party round 2. This was a great little project to try out on a few unsuspecting friends. A tripod was set up in a room with 3 lights (2 AB800s and 1 SB600) on a black backdrop. The camera was then triggered via wireless remote. The results were much better than expected. I would like to be able to market this to potential wedding clients, with a few extra tweaks of course.

Jeep Trails

We finally got our second snow of the year this past weekend. Stan and I checked out some nearby trails that we had been eyeballing for quite some time. They were well worth the wait, especially in the freshly falling snow. We'll be heading back there soon I presume.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Jeff and Brandy's Engagement Shoot

Last weekend Adam and I had the pleasure of shooting engagement photos with a couple in Chapel Hill, Jeff and Brandy. We responded to an ad on Craigslist as we often do and they selected us for the shoot. While on the shoot we were amazed to find out that they had received over 100 responses to their ad!!! That info made us very thankful to have been selected! We are very happy with the results, a few of which you can see below. Jeff and Brandy were a very friendly, kind and gentle couple, making the afternoon of shooting truly enjoyable. We wish Jeff and Brandy the very best of luck!

Why did the turkey cross the road?!?

Probably because the FlyingRooster was chasing it around with a hungry look! I was headed out to Blowing Rock to take photos of a church for High Country magazine when I crossed under the Blue Ridge Parkway and happened upon about a dozen grazing turkeys. Pretty neat birds, I had no idea they could fly high enough to roost in the treetops...

Washington DC Outtakes

A few months ago when I traveled to DC to take photos of President Obama honoring the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions I took a bike and spent some time before and after the press conference photoing monuments. I assumed this was an appropriate Veteran's Day post. Thanks to all of the members and families of our Armed Forces for keeping us safe! (Pretty happy with the results of these, especially the night time ones as I was using my bicycle with my camera bag on top of the seat as a tripod)... Enjoy!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

App State stays out of Mocs' reach 35-20

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

After starting the game with two huge interceptions (D.J. Smith and Jacque Roman) on the Mocs' first two possessions and a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, the momentum shifted. In the second quarter Armanti Edwards was picked off twice and Devon Moore had an unfortunate fumble to record three Mountaineer turnovers. Edwards had a streak of 141 pass attempts without a single interception before the first pickoff Saturday. The defense stood strong in the second quarter, allowing the Mocs only one score before heading to the locker for half time.

In the opening kick of the second half the Mocs kicked an onside kick and recovered it, much to the surprise of all. The only thing more shocking was when they successfully repeated the move on their their next kickoff. The Mocs hustled a twenty unanswered point streak before the Mountaineer offense could regain focus.

In the fourth quarter Devon Moore ran for two of his three touchdowns in the game. Mark Legree sealed the Mountaineer win by pulling in an interception with less than ten minutes to play(the defense's third of the game). The offense moved the ball to the end-zone for the final points of the Mountaineers 35-20 win.

Saturday the Mountaineers travel to Elon University to play what will ensure for the winning team a SoCon Championship crown. The match-up will end one of the two undefeated teams' dream of a loss-less 2009 conference record. GO APP STATE!!!

Soaking the Studio

Started on a story about a church recently and one of the photos I want to incorporate has a water pouring element. I decided it would make my life much easier on the day of the actual shoot if I went ahead and did a little practice work lighting this portion of the shot. After trying the shot several times and getting the lighting the way I envisioned it, I decided the only issue was the water wasn't dramatic enough. I hopped up on a chair and poured the water from about 5 feet above the glass; it certainly did the trick (when it actually landed in the glass).

For the Photogs:
1 AB-800 camera left behind glass w/ red gel
1 SB-600 camera right behind glass w/ white umbrella