John Carlson: Over The Road Truck Driver

Last summer, I spent 12 days traveling with John in his truck. We went from Madison, WI to New Jersey to Central California and back. John was gracious enough to participate in my ongoing personal project documenting over the road truck drivers. He travels with his cat Kota for 5-6 weeks stretches and returns home to Minneapolis for 5-6 days before heading out again. This slideshow is my first attempt at combining an audio interview with images. It lets you here his voice and his story in his own words. I think I will do more of these.

Our Lives Magazine - Dave Eick

Dave Eick is the owner of Five Nightclub, a long running LGBT bar in Madison, WI. Due to a changing community and culture, the bar was slated to close in 2014. After the announcement, a outpouring of community support brought it back from the brink. Our Lives Magazine asked me to photograph Dave for an article in their September/October 2015 issue about Dave and Five Nightclub.  To read article download a PDF of the Our Lives issue.

John - Over the Road Truck Driver

While on a weekend trip to Minneapolis, I connected with John. He was on home time from a 6 week run in his truck.   He's been driving for over 26 years and is usually out on the road for 5 to 6 week stretches with about 5 days home. For company on the road, he travels with his cat Kota. It was great to meet John and hang with him a bit in the Twin Cities. He's also open to a possible ride-along as subject in my ongoing project documenting life on the road of over the road truck drivers so stay tuned!

Dustin & Norman

I took Dustin & his energetic pup, Norman, out to a friend's rural farm near Blanchardville, WI for a holiday card photo session.    It was a bit of a dreary day with some snow still on the ground after a thaw, but it actually added to the atmosphere of a winter scene.   Norman took a bit of work and a lot of treats to get him to stop long enough for his close-up, and the perseverance it paid off!

Jerry - Over The Road Trucker

Jerry hails from Southern Missouri and lives just off the highway I was traveling on my way to visit my family for Thanksgiving.   He's an independent owner/operator who travels with his very loyal (and well-fed) companion Izzy, a miniature pinscher.

Chad - Over The Road Trucker

I met Chad at his company's terminal outside of East Saint Louis since I was passing through the area on my way to visit family in Missouri for Thanksgiving.  He had expressed an interest in being part of my 2015 calendar project, so I decided make the meeting happen.   I arrived as the sun was setting and knew I had a short window of time before I lost all available light.   I got my single speed-lite set up and went to work.   Traditionally, I convert the images from my ongoing trucker project to black and white, but I really like the saturated colors in these images.  I'm making an exception this time.

David - Over The Road Trucker

Finally met David in person after communicating for a couple of years.  He runs primarily regional out of Upstate New York, but this time he was coming to the Chicago area for a night so I drove down from Madison to meet up with him.   It was the first cold snap of the winter which was a little uncomfortable for making portraits, but the crisp clear morning made for some nice light.   David is a great guy.   Laughs a lot and he was quite comfortable in front of the camera.

Gene - Over The Road (Super) Trucker

While in St. Louis for daycare portraits, my trucker friend Gene stopped in over the weekend for a visit.    Before he left, he decided to jump up on the hood of his truck for a few portraits. 

Over the Road Truckers - Brian and Amos Bickel

Got a call from Amos and Brian, a trucking couple who have stopped in Madison for the night at the TA.  They drive for separate companies with the goal of team driving flatbed trailer in Brian's truck.  It's been a long road trying to make it happen, but they hope to be together in the truck by Fall.  They are even more anxious to team now that they got married last month in Minneapolis.

I met them for breakfast at the TA Truckstop north of Madison for visit and some photos before they hit the road in separate directions again.   I always enjoy it when they take the time to stop for a visit.

Portraits - American Family Insurance 2013 Annual Report

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute portrait photography for the American Family Insurance 2013 Annual Report.

I enjoy this type of assignment and the challenge of working in multiple locations. I have to work efficiently to visualize and set up the shot, then tear down and move on to the next. I like the variety of people I get to meet and the AmFam folks are great to work with.

For the 2013 Annual Report,  American Family decided to publish it in an interactive online format instead of print.  The sampling of images here are screen shots of my work incorporated in the report. View the full report on American Family Insurance's web site.

(Center "PROTECT" image)

Isthmus Cover - Eldonna Hazen

I photographed Rev. Eldonna Hazen for an Isthmus cover story. Rev Hazen is the first woman and openly gay minister at Madison's First Congregational Church. She is the beloved leader and advocate for acceptance of all people in her congregation.

Read the full story on the Isthmus Daily Page web site.

Portraits - Davin

Davin has an impressive collection of tattoos that made for some interesting portraits.

Gene - Over The Road Trucker

Gene is an Orlando based over the road truck driver for a small trucking company out of Marshfield, WI. Gene stopped in at the TA Truck Stop for a quick visit on his way to Kansas City from his company's home office in Marshfield, WI.

Amos - Over the Road Trucker

Amos stopped to have lunch with me at the TA Truck Stop while on his way to Minnesota from Indiana.   I've been chatting him about doing some work together for my trucker photo project.   Connecting with these guys is difficult given their transient and constantly changing schedule.   It's kind of like fishing, I keep casting out my line, wait, get a few nibbles and finally get a bite. I'm itchin' to get out on the road again.

Portraits - Cole

Had a portraits session with Cole as a favor to me to have some non-pressure time in my apartment portrait studio to refine my portrait lighting.   I also added some treatment to the final images by increasing the contrast and reducing the saturation.   I sort of dig it.

Portraits - Yannick

Yannick is a professional snowboarder from Belgium. Yannick hates being in front of the camera, and consequently his mother has no recent photo his. When a friend had heard this, he gifted him a portrait session so Yannick could send a portrait back to his mother for Christmas. Despite his reluctance, I managed  to capture some nice images portraits.