Tag Archives: Kevin May

A video postcard from Utah

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

It’s Easter week, so there’s a lot of people that are taking the week off for vacations with their families. Hopefully if you’re traveling this week you’ll have a safe trip and a little bit of fun as well! I can remember as a kid we would travel down to Biloxi, Mississippi and Ft. Walton Beach, Florida for the Easter break from school. It was always nice because the weather was a heck of a lot nicer along the Gulf coast then it was back in Rockford, Illinois at this time of the year.

On to our video postcard from Utah. While Jan and I were out West back in February, we spent a number of days shooting nature photography in the Moab, Utah area. We spent time shooting photos at a number of areas including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse State Park. Along with shooting lots of still photography, we also ended up shooting some video as well! There’s a lot more that goes into shooting video versus stills and when you’re out in nature hiking, this brings some new challenges as well! In the past, for shooting still photography, we’ve got backpacks for the cameras and tripods, so not too much to haul around. Well for shooting video, there’s a lot more stuff gear wise that you’ve got to take with, so hiking is a bit more of a workout! All and all, it was a great experience and I’m glad that we did it! We’ll be doing more of this on future trips and are looking forward to what we can create!

Well here you go, here’s our video postcard from Utah and be sure to watch it in High Definition as well!

If you’re on Easter vacation this week, make it a good one! Thanks as always for checking out our work as well!!!

Kev and Jan

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Nighttime is the right time!

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Monday morning Des Moines greetings to one and all!

We are headed back from a quick trip to Colorado for some advanced video training. It was a real banzai run these past few days. We got in the Explorer late Thursday afternoon arriving in Colorado on Friday afternoon. Saturday was spent getting more advanced techniques with the video camera and also some computer software lessons! Sunday morning we started back home and made it as far as Des Moines, Iowa and we’ll be back to P-Town ready to rock once again this afternoon! All and all, it was a great trip out West even if it was so incredibly brief, but lots of great information that will really help on future video projects!!!

This past week we got rocking and rolling for 2015 with the first architecture shoot of the year. In Peoria with the snow and the lack of vegetation in the winter months, it makes no sense to be out there shooting photos of buildings when you can see things that you don’t want to see. When it comes to daytime photography of architecture in Central Illinois, we are still a good month or so away before things start to green up enough to make good photos. In the case of a night time shot in Peoria, we have hit the time of year when we can get started. Our friends at Unity Point Hospital in Peoria were needing some nighttime shots of both hospitals (Methodist and Proctor) and we had some perfect weather last Monday to be out shooting at night! Everything came together and we had a great sunset that topped off the shot!

Here’s our photo of Unity Point Proctor Hospital at night!

Well it’s time to get to work, so we hope that you both have a very wonderful week!!!

Kev and Jan

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kmcup22mar15

Shark Tank and Echo Valley Meats

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

Well there was big fun in Peoria this past Friday night! Dave Alwan from Echo Valley Meats was on the ABC television show Shark Tank for the second time in the past couple of years. The first time that Dave presented his idea to the Sharks they rejected it, but the response for Echo Valley Meats was huge. The phones and internet started ringing with orders and this caught the attention of the producers of the show. They asked Dave to come back and pitch his idea one more time. Dave had all of his ducks in a row this time and had three of the sharks making him an offer and he chose the offer from Mark Cuban (NBA Dallas Mavericks owner) and now they are partners and that’s great!

On Friday night when the show was going to air on tv, Echo Valley Meats had a big viewing party with over 100 guests. When the show came on, they projected the video on the wall for everyone to see. Dave came in and made his pitch to the sharks and when he announced on the show that he was teaming up with Mark Cuban, the whole room erupted with cheers and applause!!! Smiles and congratulations were in order and the party was on! The other thing that I thought was really cool is they had set up a computer and a big screen that was showing all the analytics on the Echo Valley Meats web site and the traffic that it was getting during and after the show! The amazing thing is that with-in 13 hours of the show airing on Friday night, the EVM web site had an additional one million hits to the site! It really shows you the power of a hit TV show like Shark Tank!

Here’s a few of the images from a great evening with Echo Valley Meats and their big news!!!

We hope that you have a great week as always and thanks for checking out our work!

Kev and Jan

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kmcevm16mar15

Postcards from Canada

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!!

Wow, we actually had the temperature in Peoria getting over 32 degrees this weekend and that sure was nice!!! It seems like it’s been about a month of below average temperatures for us and to have that at the end of the winter season makes things a little tougher!!! The good thing is that they are calling for the temps to be in the 50’s this week and that’s going to seem like a heatwave!!!!

When I was in Canada a week ago on my shoot, I was fortunate to have an off day on Saturday before flying back home last Sunday. I was also very fortunate that even though the temperatures were cold, there was plenty of abundant sunshine and that always makes me happy! Having lots of sunshine also makes for great photos too!!! 🙂

I was in Fredericton, New Brunswick and wanted to drive over to the coast to St. John, New Brunswick and check that out and shoot some photos. It was about a 70 mile drive to St. John and it was super easy to get there. I did snap a few photos in St. John, but didn’t see too much at this time of the year with all of the snow. I was about to head back to Fredericton and I saw a sign for a lighthouse up the road about 20 miles in St. Martins and thought that might be good. When I got there, the lighthouse was pretty much buried in snow and it wasn’t going to make for a lot of good photography, but I did find a number of other things to shoot in the area, so my drive was rewarded!!!!

Here’s a few of my snaps from an off day driving around and doing a little sightseeing in Fredericton, St. John and St. Martins!

Well here’s to a much warmer week in Central Illinois and I hope that your week is a good one!!! Thanks as always for checking out the work!!!! 🙂

Kev and Jan

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kmccanada1mar15

Getting caught up

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!

Wow, it was a crazy week last week with a bit of travel and flight delays! That’s always fun to be thinking of plan B, C, D, E, and even F when things aren’t going the way that they are scheduled! Fortunately for us, everything came together and we were able to get our shoots done and that was a very good thing!

I spent this past entire weekend trying to get caught up on a ton of work that was piling up on my desk. Everything from bookwork, to billing to Photoshop. It can be amazing how much stuff like that is left undone while you’re on the road and then when you back back home and it’s still there and waiting for you! Anyone that travels for business knows what I’m talking about! I look at this as a good thing because it means that I’m busy and working and that’s always a very good thing! This week isn’t as crazy and I’ll still be working on a bunch of computer projects in my spare time between shoots!!!

One of the gigs that I was doing last week was shooting at a couple of mines in Kentucky (Coal) and Colorado (Gold). One of the most enjoyable things for me on a gig like this or any other gig is the people that you meet and get to talk too. It’s always a diverse group of people and some of them can be real characters and that’s what can make it fun. You get to hear their stories and they tell you what they do and I really enjoy that part of any shoot!!!!

Here’s one of my snaps from last week in Cripple Creek, Colorado with one of the machine operators from the mine!

I have a feeling that by next Monday’s promo, a lot of you might be having some time off with Christmas being just ten days away. I hope that you enjoy the time off and the week will be a good one!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and have a great week!!!!

Kev

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kmccc15dec14

Bellefontaine

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Monday morning greetings from Owensboro, Kentucky!

We’ll I’ve got one more crazy week of shoots and then it looks like things will be slowing down for the Christmas holiday season as it always does! I’ll push through this week and then from there it will be time to catch up with all the things that I’ve needed to get done and haven’t had time for these past five months! There’s a lot of little things that take a lot of time like burning discs of the jobs that I’ve been doing of late. It’s probably something that will take a number of days since I’ll be burning off about three terabytes of images 25 gigabytes at a time!!!! There’s a number of other things that I need to get done before we start with 2015 in about three weeks!!! Fun, fun, fun!!!! 🙂

On a recent trip down to St. Louis, we were able to get over to the Bellefontaine Cemetery to shoot a little personal photography. It’s not like visiting cemeteries is something that I do often, but when you come across a historic one like Bellefontaine, it’s worth a visit! As a photographer, some of the things that excite me are seeing the architecture and also the design elements at a place like this. There’s lots of old school influences and history going on and some of the things that you’ll see that aren’t done that way anymore. I’m a detail person, so when I see little details in how something was done or presented, it makes for a lot of great photos!

Here’s a few of my snaps from an afternoon spent at the Bellefontaine Cemetery!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and I hope that you have a great week to come!!!! 🙂

Kev

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kmcbc7dec14

It’s time to get back to work!

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Monday morning greetings from Omaha, Nebraska!

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over and it’s time to get back to work! I’m heading back from a nice week off of work and being able to spend time with my folks! It was also nice to be able to spend time in some warmer weather from what’s been back home in Peoria at this time of the year!!!!

Here’s one of my shots from one of my favorite places in New Mexico, White Sands National Monument. White Sands is just west of Alamardgo, NM and it’s shifting sands are heaven to me! At this time of the year with the shorter days, the sun is going down in the 5:00pm range and that makes for some great photos. In the summer time, you can get these same photos, but you’ll have to be out at the park till 9:00pm or 10:00pm and we all know that’s way past my bedtime!!!! 🙂

Well it’s 24 days before Christmas, so I guess that it’s time to get busy and make that final push to the end of the year!!!! I hope that you’re going to have a great week and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!!!

Thanks again!!!!

Kev

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kmcws1dec14

Thanksgiving

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Monday morning New Mexico greetings to one and all!!!

It’s Thanksgiving week for my friends here in the USA and traditionally that can be a very slow work week for some of us! There aren’t too many big projects being started and for the most part we all just get through the first couple of days of the week and depending on what you’re doing and where you might be going, you’ll leave a day or two (or more) early! For the last number of years I come down here to Las Cruces, New Mexico to spend the Thanksgiving week with my folks and it’s always a very wonderful time. The weather is always nice and this year with the temperature in the 60’s all week and loads of sun, it should be really great! It’s always a nice break for me as well to get out and shoot some nature photography and that’s always something that I enjoy doing! I’ll get in a number of hikes this week and hopefully lots of great photos will happen too!

Thanksgiving can be a time of reflection and getting together with family and friends. I know that I’m very blessed and thankful for all the people that I have in my life and how they enrich it and make it the best that it can be!

Here’s one of my shots from today of the Organ Mountains in Las Cruces, NM. Not to shabby of a view I’d say!!!!

If you’re traveling this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, make it a safe one and enjoy the company of those that you are sharing it will!!!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and have a safe and wonderful week!!!!

Kev

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kmcom23nov14

Hard work

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!

Things are still crazy busy this past week and even this weekend with shoots on Saturday and Sunday as well! I guess when it does rain, it pours! That’s ok and I’ll take it!!!! I’ve got one more week of shoots before taking off next week for Thanksgiving and a visit to see my folks in New Mexico!

I was out shooting last week for Patten Cat, the Northern Illinois Caterpillar dealership. We were on a whirlwind adventure shooting photos at the four branch facilities in Illinois and Indiana and then at the main facility in Elmhurst, Il. I’m always fascinated with the manufacturing process at the factories and then to be out seeing the machinery serviced and repaired is also great! Lots and lots of hard work, but I also see a lot of pride and satisfaction in what these men and women do to keep their customers equipment running and working.

Here’s a few of my snaps with my friend from Patten Cat!

We are getting close to Thanksgiving, so let’s all keep our noses to the grindstone for a few more days!!! Have a great week and thanks for checking out my work as always!!!!!

Kev

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kmcpat17nov14

A Night for Richard

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Monday evening greetings to one and all!

You’re probably thinking that you would normally get the Monday morning promo on Monday morning, but as I’ve been saying, things have been crazy busy so you’re getting it on Monday night!!!

Last night I was up way past my bed time shooting photos at the “A Night for Richard” event at the Peoria Civic Center. For those that don’t know about the project, there has been a local Peoria group that has been working on getting a statue of Richard Pryor for the city of Peoria. It’s an expensive process to make a statue and a fair amount of the money had already been raised locally. Comedian George Lopez had heard about the project and decided to put together a comedy show to try and raise the rest of the money for the statue. With the help and coordination of the Peoria Civic Center (who generously donated the arena for the evening), everything was in place for the concert last night. George Lopez asked fellow comics Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, Eddie Griffin, Charlie Murphy and Mike Epps to join him for the event and they all agreed to help out!

My night started out with me shooting a VIP “Meet and Greet” before the concert with some of the guys and their fans. Of course I had to get a photo with the guys too after I was done with all of the guests. The concert ended up being over four hours long with George Lopez as the MC and the rest of the guys preforming for the almost 6,000 fans in attendance. After the show, they had asked me to come backstage and shoot a few group shots of everyone and the last shot that you’ll see is all the guys with Jennifer Lee Pryor (Richard’s widow). I can tell you that all of the guys couldn’t have been nicer and so easy to work with. To have everyone donating their time and talents for this wonderful cause was incredible and shows the love that these comics have for Richard!

Here’s a few of my snaps from the evening from ‘A Night for Richard”

Have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!!

Kev

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kmcanfr3nov14