Recent Shoot-Urban Bike Park

I love shooting for Rapid Growth Media every single week. The stories are all positive and shooting for them allows me to meet all kinds of innovative people around Grand Rapids that I'd never otherwise get to photograph.

These photos are of Nate Phelps. This dude made a great BMX/Mountain bike park out of a blighted, abandoned park on the city's tough southwest side (he also had a lot of volunteers, dust, dirt and determination). It's this type of grass roots effort that makes Grand Rapids arguably the coolest place to live in the Midwest.

That's right, I said Grand Rapids, Michigan :)

Click here to read about the Rapid Growth feature story about Nate.

And please check out the rest of my photo portfolio. I'd love to work with you: www.briankellyphoto.net

Have a great weekend,

Brian

Fun at Haworth

I was out at Haworth yesterday in Holland to shoot a portrait for a feature coming up this week in Rapid Growth.

I had a some time to kill and was inspired to throw on a tilt/shift lens and play around re-interpreting some of the lines, colors and patterns.

I was absolutely blown away by the design and architecture of Haworth's headquarters.

Gothic Rapid Growth?

As some of you already know, I've been Rapid Growth Media's managing photographer since its inception 4 years ago. I love shooting for this thoroughly positive weekly web magazine that focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation, lifestyle and "green" initiatives around West Michigan.

This week's issue has some particularly interesting photographs. I invite you to take a look at the kayak feature as well as the a nice profile about an eco-couple.

These two stories exemplify why this publication is so much fun to shoot for...one moment I'm photographing someone out on an icy river...and the next I'm inspired to ask a couple to emulate Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting...but with a twist.

Meet Nixon

A sneak preview of a story coming out next week in Rapid Growth Media.

This is Nixon. He's a rapper/producer and a major figure in GR's burgeoning hip-hop community.

environmental portraits on the fly

One thing I love about shooting for Rapid Growth Media is the challenge of walking into any given situation and having to create an interesting portrait.

All the shoots are location based...I never know what the people or the places will look like before I arrive...there's no art director except for myself.

This is Daniel Morrison of Collective Idea...a bright company located in Holland, MI. He was photographed in the City Flats Hotel.

Other times I'm not so lucky with such a cool interior :)

am I a portrait photographer?

Confession time. I used to be terrified of taking portraits...I'm not exaggerating...I was completely horrified.

This is why I turned to architectural photography early on in my career. Buildings didn't move...or think they were fat...or had a nose the size of Lyle Lovett.

But good clients have a way of extending your boundaries...and over the years the buildings turned into people...and now I shoot way more portraits than I do buildings...

...and I love it.

This photo is of Jason Sosa...he's 28...he just moved to Grand Rapids...keep an eye on him. He writes software applications for large touch screen technology that will blow your mind.

You can read about him in Rapid Growth on Thursday.

A Recent Shoot #1

I'm striving to post favorites from photo shoots a little more frequently. 

This is the first in a series of posts called "A Recent Shoot."

These images are of People Design owners Kevin Budelmann and Yang Kim. They were great to shoot. Their firm does some really creative stuff. They were up for anything I asked. We only shot for about 15 minutes or so. I felt like I had exactly what I wanted when I left...which isn't always the case!

This was shot for a feature in Rapid Growth Media. You can find the article here.

recent favorites

A recent favorite from Rapid Growth...the owner of Capelli Salon in Eastown.

Rockettes at the Calder!

I just might have the most interesting job ever. The last few days are an example why.

Last week I shot some incredible penthouses for Rapid Growth Media published in this article.

On Tuesday I shot some INSANE window cleaners from the helipad of the JW Marriott for Rapid Growth Media...check out the article here.

On Wednesday I spent the morning shooting for the Radio City Rockettes. I just put a couple more shots up on my regular web site here.

Not a bad gig if you can get it...I'm very lucky to have such amazing clients.

Oh, and next week I'm shooting a story on skydiving in West Michigan for Rapid Growth...jeronimooooooooo!!

Aerial Photo Essay on Rapid Growth

Hi...I put together a photo essay of aerial images of Grand Rapids at Rapid Growth Media.  If you want to check it out...here's the link.