The Camocaster
A couple months ago I posted about an artist displaying his talents in an interesting art medium: quilted electric guitars. Well this time, he brought this idea in yet another direction: vintage military. Using real surplus material from the Vietnam war, this guitar was sewn and hand quilted using amazing attention to detail.
A couple months ago I posted about an artist displaying his talents in an interesting art medium: quilted electric guitars. Well this time, he brought this idea in yet another direction: vintage military. Using real surplus material from the Vietnam war, this guitar was sewn and hand quilted using amazing attention to detail.
I couldn't, in good conscience, photograph a camouflage guitar without bringing it outside into the Colorado landscape! With the client on board, we boldly went where no guitar has gone before...
Mother nature had a variety of backdrops for us to work with.....
Some things are worth the extra steps, and this old hut is one of them. Part of the road that this cabin lay at the end of was closed to motor vehicles, so we made the decision to haul our gear out to the final destination. With 40lbs. of gear each strapped to our backs, we began what ended up being a 6 mile roundtrip hike.... through sand. Good thing we had our wheaties that morning!
Here are a few behind the scenes cellphone shots from our adventure, including our camp and some location scouts we did the day before.
Rangefinder Magazine win: Best Friends photo contest
For this week's post, I wanted to highlight a recent photography contest win that I'm very proud of. If you know me, then you know how much I LOVE animals. Growing up in a NY farming town probably helped with some of that.... There were always cows, chickens, goats, and other animals that I would drive by and see regularly. Growing up in the middle of the woods probably also influenced my curiosity for the animal kingdom, as I was living symbiotically with the deer, birds of prey, salamanders, frogs, snakes, wolves, and even bears that shared our property. After adopting cats at a young age, I also soon learned the incredible companionship that these adorable creatures could provide in my life.
For this week's post, I wanted to highlight a recent photography contest win that I'm very proud of. If you know me, then you know how much I LOVE animals. Growing up in a NY farming town probably helped with some of that.... There were always cows, chickens, goats, and other animals that I would drive by and see regularly. Growing up in the middle of the woods probably also influenced my curiosity for the animal kingdom, as I was living symbiotically with the deer, birds of prey, salamanders, frogs, snakes, wolves, and even bears that shared our property. After adopting cats at a young age, I also soon learned the incredible companionship that these adorable creatures could provide in my life.
While I was living in NH (about 6 years ago), I loved working with animals so much, that I decided it needed to be a part of my photography business. It can be very challenging working with different species, and so I jumped right in to learning the ways I could safely work with different creatures to create stunning portraits, while also learning how to respect the animals and their natural behaviors and limitations.
Well, it feels good when hard work pays off.... 2 years ago I submitted some images to Rangerfinder Magazine's Best Friend contest that I took for The Animal Rescue League of NH for their marketing, and it placed as a runner up! But wait, there's more....
Published in the April 2015 issue of Rangefinder Magazine. Click to view 2015 Gallery.
A few months back I submitted a series of snake images that I recently took working with the non-profit Nature's Educators here in Colorado. To my excitement, I took 1st place in the Best Friends contest this year! Persistence pays off :)
Published in the March 2017 issue of Rangefinder Magazine. Click to view 2017 gallery.
As a photographer, it's always heartwarming to see your images get published somewhere and be honored for your ideas and talents. It reminds me to follow my passions, always be working towards personal goals, and pursuing my dreams with perseverance. I wholeheartedly believe good things will come when you follow that formula.
If you'd like to see the rest of the images from my Nature's educators project, you can view them here. If you'd like to check out my strictly pet portraits, you can view them on my other business's website, Colorful Life Studios.
Bouldering Adventures in Pike National Forest
This week, a good friend was passing through the front range on his way to the east coast, and so we had to take him out for some mild spring climbing! For it's convenience to the city, we brought him to the scenic and easy-to-access Pike National Forest. The Colorado Trail meanders through this region, with mountain bikers and hikers hitting it's dirt regularly. Spending time out here it is easy to feel totally at peace and engaged with nature, especially when you only have a day trip to get away.
This week, a good friend was passing through the front range on his way to the east coast, and so we had to take him out for some mild spring climbing! For it's convenience to the city, we brought him to the scenic and easy-to-access Pike National Forest. The Colorado Trail meanders through this region, with mountain bikers and hikers hitting it's dirt regularly. Spending time out here it is easy to feel totally at peace and engaged with nature, especially when you only have a day trip to get away.
The fun part about climbing in an undeveloped area, is you get to explore around and find rock that inspires and excites you directly! The rock in this region is not for our tender-padded friends. A rose-quartz heavy granite with a pronounced crystal structure..... be careful not to slip!
The next route they eye-balled started by climbing out of this narrow, ~20" wide crevice, and topping out with a sweet view.
Dab not (V3) FA: Connor Boyd
Great job guys!
This little guy wasn't too difficult to top out, but with aesthetics like that, they couldn't resist climbing it.
Ashes to Ashes (V0) FA: Jakob Montoya
You never know what you're going to find in the forest sometimes.....
Next climb: a good old fashioned crack.
The day had been cloudy mostly because of some of the fires that have been going on in the Boulder area. We didn't mind the cloud cover, but when that sun did pop out, it was brilliant how it just grazed across the treetops and lit everything up!
Fist of Legend (V1+) FA: Jakob Montoya
After a good afternoon of bouldering, it was time to relieve the hands of their torture and enjoy the colorful sunset from our perch in the boulders. As unfortunate as it is to have forest fires burning nearby, that smoke sure did make for a colorful sky!
Gear used on this excursion:
Canon 5DMIII
Canon 85mm 1.2, Canon 16-35mm 2.8, Canon 180mm Macro
Dynalite Uni 400 and Jackrabbit battery pack
Pocketwizard Transmitters
40 degree honeycomb grid
Dynalite umbrella
Not your average guitar: Meet Quiltcaster
For this post, I wanted to highlight a product that I photographed years ago. Back in NH, I had a client come to me with an interesting mix of passions: playing music... and sewing! Jim was in a band, played guitar, and had always wanted to personalize his instruments. When his dad passed, he took the opportunity to memorialize his life by using some of his father's favorite clothes and mixing it with other bits of fabric to create this custom fabric trimmed guitar.
For this post, I wanted to highlight a product that I photographed years ago. Back in NH, I had a client come to me with an interesting mix of passions: playing music... and sewing! James was in a band, played guitar, and had always wanted to personalize his instruments. When his dad passed, he took the opportunity to memorialize his life by using some of his father's clothes and mixing it with other bits of fabric to create this custom fabric trimmed guitar.
I love all the little details that he took the time to design, including keeping the guitar completely functional.... and there's a built-in pick pocket!
It was a lot of fun playing around with different setups to bring out the color and accentuate the quilty-ness of this guitar.
You can understand my excitement when James came back a year later with a second version that he had sewn. This time adding a little more glitz to the design and creating something totally different from the first.
Again, the details were definitely there to appreciate.
Now I don't think things could get much better, because it's 4 years later, and James recently relocated to Denver and has a 3rd guitar that he's completed. This one.... a Camo-caster! Made with vintage Vietnam surplus camo, stayed tuned in the coming weeks to see what his 3rd masterpiece looks like!
BLM land adventures
I haven't gotten out as much this winter into the mountains, but with all this beautiful weather that we've been having in the Front Range lately, I had to seize some time to romp around in the woods.
I haven't gotten out as much this winter into the mountains, but with all this beautiful weather that we've been having in the Front Range lately, I had to seize some time to romp around in the woods a wee bit.
One of my favorite places to go when I want to make peace in the mountains, is BLM land. As long as you have a decent 4x4 vehicle (for all the dirt roads) and a spirit for disconnected adventures, BLM land is a great place to experience the beauty of Colorado (or whatever state you're in!) without the influence of the outside world. You often don't have cell service in these areas, and can expect to see only a handful of people or cars over a multi-day period. I love getting away like this, as I can truly just get lost in the landscape. Nature inspires my creativity in so many ways.... and I'm not just talking about pretty landscapes. The textures drive me crazy..... they are SO pretty! And so diversified. The cycles that you see evident when you wander around a little micro-environment, it makes you understand how all of life is an ebb and flow, and everything is striving for balance.
One of the natural cycles that I've always been fascinated with is what happens when an area has been affected by forest fires. This can be a replenishing cycle, but also has a big impact on the landscape, and creates a new beauty that has a very different feel than a lush, healthy hillside.
We couldn't help but hop on a boulder that we came across. Play time!
And the sunset wasn't bad either.
I'm really glad we got out when we did.... considering everything is frozen and white now. 70's in February, I will miss you! Until next time, stay warm everybody.
Personal Project, Installment 1
One thing I've been doing more of since I relocated my photo business (back in 2014) to Colorado, is shooting more personal work. I love working on personal projects, as they allow me the freedom to test out ideas I've been floating around and make some work I'm really excited about. Sometimes the results I get are thrilling, and other times they come up short. But you can't win unless you play, right? So even though it can be scary venturing into the territory of controlling a project 100% start to finish, you definitely learn along the way, and grow as a photographer..... so it's totally worth jumping in!
One thing I've been doing more of since I relocated my photo business (back in 2014) to Colorado, is shooting more personal work. I love working on personal projects, as they allow me the freedom to test out ideas I've been floating around and make some work I'm really excited about. Sometimes the results I get are thrilling, and other times they come up short. But you can't win unless you play, right? So even though it can be scary venturing into the territory of controlling a project 100% start to finish, you definitely learn along the way, and grow as a photographer..... so it's totally worth jumping in!
So what inspired this personal project? I love animals.... like of ALL kinds. I used to play with the snakes, frogs, and salamanders that I would find in our pool growing up, or in the natural pools that would gather at the base of our cliff. I actually have a photo of me reliving this childhood experience from a college project on community and home ---> Ahhh.... I miss those times.
As I've grown, my curiosity and wonder for the animals we share this planet with is still strong, and so I was super excited to get to work with a group of creatures that most of us don't get to meet in our day to day lives. With the help of Devin and one of their animal handlers, Eric, Nature's Educators let us capture the images below utilizing some of the animals they care for. If you don't know about these guys, they offer great programs where they bring their animals to you for customized wildlife educational programs. Their mission is to teach anyone and everyone about the importance of birds of prey and get excited about wildlife.
So with this project I wanted to paint some of the creatures in a new light. Use my product photography experience to look at these guys with a fresh perspective and, hopefully, also get people excited about wildlife.
If you'd like to see more of these images, you can view the personal project gallery. We just did another visit to the wildlife center today, and are in the process of planning and prop shopping for installment 2 of the series. On the the potential call list for round 2: a burmese python, a rosy boa, some blue tongued skinks, a giant leopard tortoise, an alligator, an adorable barred owl, a teensy screech owl, some whites tree frogs, giant millipedes, a plated lizard, a tiny scorpion, and a gila monster!..... to start :)
A new tradition: Welcome to my blog
I will be celebrating my birthday in a few days, and around this time of year I always feel an early spring motivation breeze through me, and I begin to get excited about the fresh new year ahead. I decided it's time for me to start a blog, officially. I've attempted a blog in the distant past, but I have a slight problem maintaining them because... well... I love being creative behind the camera more than anything. But here we are! It has been decided... a blog has been created, and so it shall be done!
I will be celebrating my birthday in a few days, and around this time of year I always feel an early spring motivation breeze through me, and I begin to get excited about the fresh new year ahead. I decided it's time for me to start a blog, officially. I've attempted a blog in the distant past, but I have a slight problem maintaining them because... well... I love being creative behind the camera more than anything. But here we are! It has been decided... a blog has been created, and so it shall be done!
You can expect to hear a new story from me every other week, and in between you can follow me on Instagram (@TeganKStudios) or check out some BTS (behind the scenes) on twitter (@TeganKStudios). Oh, I forgot to introduce myself... I'm Tegan, owner and photographer of Tegan K. Studios! I'm a native upstate New Yorker, but now blissfully call Colorado my home. I'm hoping to give you guys some inspiration by sharing my photography projects and assignments with you, and share a little insight into how I approach photography.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or let me know more of what you want to see! This blog is your oyster. And I'll try not to make too many dumb jokes :)
Next post, I'll give you some insight into the beginning of my most recent personal project, which you can check out here. Until next time... Oh, and if you are local to Denver, try to enjoy some of the upcoming beautiful weather! 60 degrees in January, yes please.