Had a great shoot with the fashion forward PGA star Ian Poulter for the cover of Sports Illustrated Golf+. Sports Illustrated challenged me to come up with a cover concept for this one, and as I thought about Ian and his love of fashion it struck me that his golf game and his life is framed by the passion he has for clothes and design. Why not photograph him in an actual frame to represent this idea? The magazine and Ian loved it. We shopped for antique frames with a lot of character to play off his polished look. I brought in Yolonda Winters for hair and make-up and Christine Sonnenberg for wardrobe. Yolonda and Christine are part of our production team we usually use when shooting motion commercial work. My friend Gary ‘Razor’ Bogdon was assigned to shoot the documentary day in the life story on Ian as well as behind the scenes video. He also shot the beautiful opener for the story. Thanks to my great crew, Milena DeVincenzo, Ricky Fontenez, Miguel Valdes. Written by Alan Shipnuck, Picture Editor Miriam Marseu.

Directed some new spots for long time client Orlando Harley Davidson. These were unscripted, from the heart, testimonials by team members who work there. John Atkinson, DP, edited by Adam Showen. They are airing in Florida now. We head up to New Hampshire in June to shoot some more.

Shot a little fashion piece and directed a short video on Luke Donald for Golf Magazine this month. Jessica Marksbury came down from New York for the interview. Also a 30 second peek at behind the scenes (thanks Ryan Wendler and Adam Showen). Photographed in West Palm Beach, FL.

This was one of those assignments that while I was shooting it, I still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Feature story for Golf Digest on Bill Bond who lost his eye when he was attacked by inmates at a prison where he was a guard. He almost lost his life in the attack. During his rehab he discovered golf and fell in love with it. He loved it so much that he had a doctor make a prosthetic eye that looks like a golf ball. He also had an artist paint a scene of a man teeing off where the iris would go. Most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen. Super nice guy with a super low handicap to boot. Read the story here.

Honored to be selected for the Golf Digest Portraits of the Year edition. Portrait of LPGA golfer Christina Kim. See ‘em all here.

Directed this ‘cool’ video for Disney recently. We filmed while artists from Philadelphia and Canada were commissioned by Disney to sculpt various Disney moments out of ice along with a 20 foot high replica of Cinderella’s castle. They took these sculptures to Times Square in NYC and let them melt as part of their Limited Time promotion for Disney Parks. We then re-created those moments with real people in the parks. Thanks to Greg Montz, David Guertin, and Paul Chase of Disney for giving me this great opportunity. Also great crew members in Orlando, Philadelphia, and New York.

Shot the cover for the December issue of Golf Magazine of golf phenom Roy McIlroy up in Atlanta, then was off to Miami to shoot Adam Scott for the same month. Roy and Adam were both great to work with, and I even got to play some guitar with Adam on his new Taylor acoustic.

John Cason at Fry l Hammond l Barr designed some striking outdoor billboards using my photography for the announcement of the opening of the new Nemours Children’s Hospital. They are currently up and down the I-4 corridor. I’ve been working with John and the team at FHB since 2005 on the branding for Nemours.

Had the pleasure of working with the talented team up at THREE, Atlanta recently. Directed two :30 broadcast spots for client Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute / Baptist Health. Also shot a print campaign for them around the tv production.
Agency: Three, Atlanta
CD: Brad Ramsey, Jeff Cole
AD: Jeremy Estroff
CW: Mike Brady
Producer: Janet Mason
Editor: Jeff Jay, Jam Edit, Atlanta
Color: Jam Edit
Post House: Riot, Atlanta
Music: Alan Zahn, Analogue Muse NY
Director: Ben Van Hook
DP: John Atkinson
Producer: Norma Sardy
Production Company: Ben Van Hook Pictures

Pulled out the 4×5 camera, some black and white Polaroid film from the stash and built a studio in Keegan Bradley’s garage to photograph him for the August issue of Golf Magazine. He became one of only three pro golfers in history to win a major debut when he won the 2011 PGA Championship.
He’s young, only 26 and a huge Boston Red Sox fan and well as a huge fan of Howard Stern. Very funny and warm, just a guy you’d love to go fishing with. He lives on the inter coastal waterway in south Florida, and says a boat will be one of his next purchases.