Fine Art Photography

New York City Photoshoot

Recently, I received an invitation from a good friend of mine at Casual Films to come to New York City and shoot the town. Given the timing of the invitation, I decided to take my son and make it a father-son trip.

This was my son’s first time to visit New York City and it was exciting to experience the excitement with him. Aside from being a photography trip, this was also a chance for the two of us to hang out and bond. Earlier this year, the two of us had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. and we greatly enjoyed that trip as well. In the future, I would like to go other places with my son, as he is a great travel companion.

We stayed out very late at night and we were blessed to have mild weather while we were in New York City. Normally, it is cold enough to expect snow, but during our trip, it stayed in the 40’s which was absolutely perfect.

Before we left, I purchased tickets to the Empire State Building and paid extra for the Express tickets. We found out later that this probably saved us 5-6 hours of standing in line at the Empire State Building. If you are travelling to New York City, you have to visit the Empire State Building and I would strongly suggest that you buy the express tickets in order to save precious time. You can buy them here.

When travelling to a destination where I am going to shoot, I do research in advance and make a list of locations that I want to go to. I plan to go more in depth about how to plan for a photography trip, but to be brief, I prefer to have a list of enough places that I cannot make all of them. This way, if I arrive and there is construction or some reason that I cannot shoot, I have other places that I can immediately go to instead of having to stop and do research.

My son enjoyed the research prior to our trip and I put him in charge of navigation. It was very fulfilling to say, “Son, plot me a course to Grand Central Station” and then see him tell me exactly how we would go using the subway system. It was a great opportunity to see him take charge in a big city like New York City.

We are both looking forward to the next time that we are able to go someplace and shoot.

Triptych Prints Now Available at Fluffyshotme Photography

By David Morefield

An Exciting announcement about Triptych Prints

Recently, I have received inquiries about offering Triptych prints. I have read your requests and I am responding by providing some triptychs for sale in my gallery.

If there is a print that I have in my gallery that is not currently available in my Triptych Prints gallery, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will see if I can accommodate your request.

At this time, I do not have a way of grouping Triptych Prints in such a way that you purchase the set in one click, so please be aware that you will need to purchase all three prints in the same size and media in order to complete the Triptych.

I can offer Horizontal and Vertical Triptych Prints, but my plan moving forward to continue to make triptychs available upon request of my clients.

My Trip to Washington DC

By David Morefield

Some of you may know that my son Caleb was pretty sick when he was in the eighth grade and because of that, he missed his class trip to Washington DC. I have a good friend that told me that she would make sure that Caleb got to see Washington DC when he was healthy and after telling Caleb, he was no longer disappointed about missing his trip. I had no idea that she was not only going to make sure that Caleb got to see Washington DC, but she was going make him feel like a Rockstar!

It started with a flight on a private jet to Manassas, Virginia and then we went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy near Dulles Airport. From there, we proceeded to our hotel and began our weekend of adventure. Caleb and I enjoyed museums by day and then at night, we walked through the city of Washington DC and took in all of the sights. Of course, being the diligent photographer, I took my bag of tricks with me so that I could bring back some great pictures of our Nation’s Capital.

Many of you know that I have very strong patriotic feelings about the United States of America; after all, I have traveled the world and there is no other place on this planet that I would rather live. Along with my love for my country, I have a high level of respect for those who have served our country, both living and deceased. When I visit a place like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, I look at all of those names and recognize that each and everyone of those men or women had parents, friends and a future. Yet, they are immortalized on a wall because they went to a foreign country to take up arms when their Country asked them to go.

Caleb and both stood in reverent silence as we both took in the magnitude of the monument. The following morning, we visited the Marine Corps War Memorial, aka The Iwo Jima Monument. We embraced the sun as it rose and I was able to get some great shot of the memorial with the city of Washington DC in the background. Once the sun was up, we took a walk to Arlington National Cemetery and I visited a couple of my friends who are interred there. Caleb and watched the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and visited JFK’s burial plot. Caleb and I then headed to some museums along the Washington Mall and saw the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives Museum.

As we toured Washington DC, Caleb and I tried to take it all in in the three days that we were there.

In all, I think we got around nine hours of sleep in three days. Caleb and I had a great time in Washington DC and I even got some great pictures while I was there. This will be a trip that we will remember for a lifetime.

Panama City Beach Florida

By David Morefield

This past week, my family and I went to Panama City Beach, Florida. I have great memories of Panama City Beach as a kid, so I not only get to relive those memories, but make new ones whenever I go back.

The first morning that we were in Florida, my family and I went to Wright Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach, Florida where my cousin Jeremy Gates is the pastor. After church, we went to lunch and caught up on the past twenty years. I had not seen my cousin since I was in High School, so it was great to get to spend some time with him and meet his wife and daughter.

Tuesday afternoon, we rented a pontoon boat from Adventures at Sea and took it to Shell Island. If you have never gone to Shell Island, then I would highly recommend checking it out while you are in Panama City Beach. Shell Island is located across the bay from Tyndell Air Force Base and is not inhabited. Basically, you find a place to anchor your boat and then walk through the island to the other side where you can have a beach all to yourself. While snorkeling in the bay, we found starfish and countless sand dollars; which was a whole lot of fun. I even had a puffer fish follow me around for a while.

Wednesday morning, I woke up early and drove down the Russell-Fields Pier otherwise know as the City Pier. It was a cloudy morning and there were some ominous clouds in the sky, but thunderstorms come and go quickly in Panama City beach, so I figured I would get to the pier and see how the weather was. As I got out of my truck lightning struck the water about 500 meters past the pier, so I quickly aborted the photo shoot that morning. I ended up going to Thomas Donuts to pickup up breakfast and returned to the beach house as a hero.

The weather was more favorable the next morning, so I went back out to the pier around 5am. I love to shoot early in the morning and the light was perfect. The clouds in the sky reflect the colors of the sunrise and I just love the colors that can be captured at that time of morning.

The Russell-Fields Pier is a 1,500 foot long pier that provides not only some great fishing, but some fantastic views of the Panama City Beach coastline. I ended up staying out at the pier for a couple hours watching all of the activity. In retrospect, I was glad that I did not go to the pier earlier in the week. I observed Black Tip Sharks swimming within 30 feet of the shoreline and it’s probably best that I was blissfully ignorant of this earlier in the week while at the beach. I think sharks are cool as long as they are behind glass, but swimming in open water with them is not my idea of fun.

At the end of the week, we all felt recharged and had a great time. The beach house that we stayed in was great for a family week at the beach and was actually cheaper than staying in a hotel. If you are headed to Panama City Beach, Florida and you are looking for a recommendation of where to stay, look no further. The beach house that we stayed in not only had a great kitchen, but it even had an icemaker in the wet bar. This meant that I did not have to run out for ice everyday before walking out the backdoor to the beach, which was awesome. Here is the link to the Beachfront Oasis.

Navy SEAL Foundation fundraiser Danny Dietz Memorial Team Roping

By David Morefield

For the past three years, I have had the honor of being able to contribute to the Danny Dietz Memorial Team Roping benefitting the Navy SEAL Foundation. The Navy SEAL Foundation’s mission is to provide immediate and ongoing support to the Naval Special Warfare Community and their families. The amount of sacrifice that these families make for our Country is truly humbling. Danny Dietz was a Navy SEAL that was killed on 28 June 2005 during Operation Red Wings.

On this Memorial Day, I want to take a moment and tell you about a special man that I have had the privilege to get to know – his name is Lt. Jason Redman.

Lt. Redman has served his Country as a leader in the Navy SEALs and although he has retired from the Navy, continues to lead by example with his undying tenacity. Most people know that a Navy SEAL has to be able to “Embrace the Suck” and continue the mission no matter what happens; the mindset of these warriors is what truly sets them apart.

Lt. Redman was on a mission in Iraq in 2007 when he was shot multiple times with machine gun fire. One of the rounds entered at the jawline and came out of his nose, blowing off much of his right cheek and leaving his eyeball unsupported; he also lost much of his left arm. When telling me the story, Lt. Redman said, “Yeah, a hit like that can kind of take the wind out of your sails.” Despite his injuries, Lt. Redman said a little prayer and then got up to go home to his family.

While in the hospital recovering from his wounds, Lt. Redman gained the attention of the world by posting a sign on his door stating that he loved his Country and anyone feeling sorry for him should not enter the room. The sign became a symbol of the warrior spirit and has inspired many other wounded warriors. President George W. Bush invited Lt. Redman to the Oval Office in order to autograph the sign that he had posted on his door.

Getting to know Lt. Redman, I can tell you that he is much more than a Navy SEAL; he is a loving father, husband and a man of great faith.

While fighting his battles with his injuries, Lt. Redman started an organization that provides clothing to wounded veterans called Wounded Wear. Wounded Wear’s mission to is “Helps warriors rediscover the hero within.” Lt. Redman explained that after having half of his face blown off, he then had to deal with the “World of Stares” when he went into the public. Recognizing that many other wounded veterans were having a hard time dealing with this kind of attention, Lt. Redman was motivated to help other veterans. Some of the other needs that Lt. Redman saw were that clothes did not always fit the prosthetics that other veterans were wearing and that they needed specialized clothing to accommodate their needs if they didn’t want to wear sweatpants the rest of their lives.

I would encourage everyone to order a copy of Lt. Redman’s book “The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader” in order to hear this epic story. Lt. Redman takes an honest and unfiltered look into his own life and continues to lead.

New York City Photoshoot

Triptych Prints Now Available at Fluffyshotme Photography

An Exciting announcement about Triptych Prints

My Trip to Washington DC

Navy SEAL Foundation fundraiser Danny Dietz Memorial Team Roping

Click Below to Order “The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader”

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