Today I am happy to announce that my Online Store, which has been in the making for some years now, is finally ONLINE!

Within the store you’ll be able to buy prints in all different sizes from photos from over the years, downloadable content car sets and even a copy of my very own book  ”How to Digitally Photograph Cars“!

Select either the graphic below or store from the navigation above! THANK YOU!

Brought to you by Camera Armor and Speedmotiv.com!

I have a handful of Camera Armor Lens Hoods to giveaway. If you don’t already know what they are, take a look at the pictures below. Basically, they are rubber hoods that stretch and attach on your lens, essentially protecting it from bumps, drops, random objects that might come flying at it for whatever reason. I use Camera Armor on all my camera gear, it has protected me against a lot of mishaps!

I’ll be giving away 1 lens hood a week every Friday, for 6 weeks. I have 6 total, two black, two camo and two smoke.

Giveaways will happen two ways, you can post a comment on this post, and by link back. The more link backs you make, the better your chances are. The link backs have to show on my comments however. So, post a comment, that’s one entry, post a blog or comment on another site that links back here, that’s another entry.  Not much work for something that’s free and protects your camera!

Winners will be drawn at random!  Goodluck to everyone!

* Please note that this is only for the lens hood, not the camera body armor.

Week 1 Winner - Nate Zimmer! Congrats!

If you’ve entered, you can still win! 5 more weeks to go, don’t forget those link backs and blog posts!

I’ve decided to upgrade most of my gear, so I’ve posted it for sale on Facebook, Craigslist and soon to be Ebay, unless you act now and wish to purchase them directly through me. Prices do not include shipping.

SOLD Nikon D200 with Vertical Battery Grip, Two Batteries, Charger, Remote Control and Original Box with manual/wires.

SOLD Nikon / Nikkor 70-200mm AF-S VR f/ 2.8 ED Telephoto Lens

SOLD Sigma 50mm f/ 2.8 Marco EX DG Lens for Nikon Body Cameras

SOLD Nikon SB-50DX Flash

SOLD Tokina 12-24mm f/ 4 Super Wide Angle Lens for Nikon Body Cameras

PRICE DROP! Nikon 18-35mm f/ 3.5-5 Wide Angle ED Lens
Condition: Excellent
$350
Email Me

I’ve always wondered how a shrewd Businessman could get away for so long being a d*** in this industry without eventually having everything come crashing down on him. Well, I’m not shrewd Businessman, but I’ve been played by one like a fiddle so to speak. Awhile back, long before said Businessman came into the picture, I started shooting for a local tuning and customization shop that built highly recognizable high end cars for clients and for show. For years we worked seamless together, booking covers and shooting amazing feature pieces for magazines.

One day, that all came crashing to a stop when enter said Businessman. A verbal agreement that we made for pictures of a car soon turned into one of the biggest mistakes I could possibly make. See, this verbal agreement I made was that I would give high resolution pictures for internal promotion of the company. Before I knew it, I was literally taking a s*** on the toilet when I ran across one of said images in an advertisement in a 170K/month circulation magazine. A company I’ve never contacted before, a few calls and emails later, I found out the image was handed down by the “Businessman”.

Given the economy and photography being a main source of my income to provide for my family, I thought it was a cheap blow, one that was denied at first actually. After a few lengthy emails, a few phone converations, the Businessman said he would make it up to me by trying to get me shoots of other cars for more higher end commercial work, because lets be honest. A full page ad in a 170k circulation magazine in more than one issue  is a lot of money I lost. That never did happen.

I agree’d, knowing that true business relationships work via compromise and sacrifice, rather than crying about it and dropping everything.  I’ve been cautious with the Businessman moving forward, but it seems like I’m only getting stuck in different situations, one after the other. I’ve always been cautious of sending out high resolution images, to any one, other than the person that paid for them, for exactly these types of reasons, which  brings me to the whole point of this rant/blog.

As of today, I’m no longer the preferred photographer of this company and of this Businessman because I refused to give them high resolution pictures of all their cars for their ‘website’. Instead, my plan was to give them hand selected/edited shots of their cars with both our logos, but thats a lot of time and work for something they want for nothing. It’s sucks because I’ve been put in a situation, for me, wasn’t in my favor either way. They pretty much put me into a situation, give us what we want, or we drop you. I stand by good business ethics, and I respect those that do the same, but when you try and push me into a corner and force me to do something  because you think you can get away with it, then all respect is lost.

Best of luck to guys that I really enjoyed working with at the shop, you guys always made each shoot a blast and it sucks that unfortunate events played out the way they did and we can no longer work together because I hold higher standards than most.

To the Businessman, I guess the best words I can come up with are, Well Played.

To Myself, never do business without contracts ever again.

A few years ago I contacted a local company I found in the B&H catalog that sold protective camera sleeves. I told them I was interested in purchasing some of their products, but rather buy it directly through them, rather than pay the extra money to get it from NYC. Turns out, since the company was local, that they wanted me to come down and check out the operation. A short visit, a few free products and some nice camera armor later, I was asked to be the first featured photographer for the brand. I happily accepted.

Fast Forward a few years, the company changed a bit, things happen, site was reformatted like 3 different times, they stopped featuring photographers, and then out of no where… I was hit up again asking if I’d like to be featured again for the launch of their new website. Of course! Well I finally checked in and sure enough there it is!

http://www.cameraarmor.com/pages/JoshMackeyFP.aspx

Thanks again to the guys at Camera Armor for featuring me!