Green Bay Wisconsin Commercial and Editorial Photographer

Green Bay Wisconsin Sports Photographer – Packers Come From Behind Win To Beat The Bears 24-23 To Open The 2018 Season

Monday, September 10, 2018

Big 24-23 win for the Green Bay Packers over the Chicago Bear in the season opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to start the Packers 100th season. Things didn’t look good in the first half for the Packers when the Bears dominated the game, kept the Packers from scoring and Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. Rodgers was able to come back to start the second half and the Packers went on to win the game in an exciting fashion.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the game. I’m positioned in the north end zone as part of a team of photographers and most of the action went to the south end zone including all the Packers scoring. Hopefully more of the action comes my way next weekend when the Packers take on the Vikings at Lambeau.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb and Aaron Rodgers hug before the game.

Packers fan Jeff Kahlow celebrates the start of the teams 100th season.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison prays before the game.

Green Bay Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari protects quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tries to elude Chicago Bears defensive tackle Bilal Nichols.

Green Bay Packers defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix can’t keep Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky from scoring a touchdown.

Chicago Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks strips the ball from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is tended to by Packers medical staff after suffering a knee injury.

Green Bay Packers’ Mike McCarthy reaches out to quarterback Aaron Rodgers after Rodgers suffered a knee injury.

Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Mike Daniels chases after Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as Chicago Bears offensive tackle Charles Leno blocks.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers jogs out on to the field to start the second half after leaving the game in the first half with a knee injury.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb reaches out for additional yardage as Chicago Bears cornerback Bryce Callahan defends.

Chicago Bears cornerback Bryce Callahan tackles Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison runs for additional yards after making a catch.

Packers fans cheers after Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison scores a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison scores his touchdown with wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates after throwing a game winning touchdown.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates after throwing a game winning touchdown.

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers talk after the Packers defeated the Bears.

Green Bay Packers defensive back Tramon Williams and cornerback Jaire Alexander celebrate the Packers win with fans.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb walks off the field as fans cheer after the Packers defeated the Bears.

Wisconsin Corporate Photographer • Delivering The Expected And The Unexpected • Making Clients Happy

Friday, August 17, 2018

I pride myself in giving my clients not only the pictures they want, but also some unexpected photos that I think can be valuable to them. A recent environmental portrait shoot we did for Immel Construction in Green Bay is a great example of that. Our goal was to shoot a series of environmental portraits of various employees. We used various pieces of branded equipment in their yard as a diffused background to give the look of the photos being taken on a job site. Everything came together – from a slight overcast morning to some very cooperative employees. In my opinion we nailed the shoot, and would have had a happy client. We found ourselves with a little down time, however, between subjects. My assistant and I could have sat idle, but I wanted to be productive and had some ideas for creating branding images that might be valuable to my client. Luckily my assistant on that shoot, Matt Ludtke, can pass as a construction worker and is always willing to jump into a shot. Here are a few of those photos. While creating these images, I came up with a few more ideas that I thought would be useful to Immel in addition to the portraits. One of the portrait subjects was willing to be our subject in a few situational photos and generously gave us a couple of extra minutes.

So, here are some of those photos that the client probably didn’t expect to come out of the shoot. In working with Immel over the past few years, they have come to know me and hopefully know that I like to provide a little something extra.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Wisconsin Commercial Photographer • Firefighter Portrait Project

Friday, July 20, 2018

A few weeks ago I was asked to shoot a series of photos of a volunteer firefighter in a small Wisconsin town, New Holstein, and his two sons who also volunteer with the department. I had total creative control over the shoot and a nice newer Pierce firetruck at my disposal, so I started brainstorming some ideas. I knew we needed to get the shot of the three of them together, but I also wanted to do some nice portraits and situational photos that could be used later as stock photography. I also wanted to do some shots at dusk to get that nice deep blue in the sky. Having smoke machines added to the feel of them being at a fire scene when the sky got darker. When the guys pulled up to the location, they decided to give the truck one last little wash to get it looking it’s best; I grabbed a couple of unexpected shots of them doing that, which I really like.

I want to say thanks to Scott Schmidt and his sons, Tyler and Curt for being so cooperative during the shoot and jumping through those extra hoops to make the images even better. Also thanks to my assistants Matt Ludtke and Todd Truttman for kicking some butt on the lighting and smoke machine wrangling.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Wisconsin Agriculture Photographer “Take Your Tractor To School Day” at Denmark High School

Friday, May 25, 2018

For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a agriculture photography project at a dairy farm near Denmark, Wisconsin. My goal is to build up my agriculture photography work for my web site and my agriculture stock photography library. Old Settlers Dairy, run by brothers David and Don Schlies, has been nice enough to let me hangout and shoot photos when I have time. I’ve only been out a few times, but I’ve already made some nice photos and learned a few things about farming.

Last night I was out shooting some planting when I saw David’s son Jeremy washing an old tractor with his friend, Casey. They are both juniors at Denmark High School and Casey also works at the farm. After a brief chat, I found out that they were washing that tractor and two more to get ready for “Take Your Tractor To School Day” at the high school. They cleaned up a total of 3 tractors: one for Jeremy, one for Casey, and one tractor for Jeremy’s mom, Julie, who teaches in Denmark. I couldn’t pass up that photo opportunity. Here are some of my favorite photos from the event, beginning with the shot of the two of them washing the tractor.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Jeremy Schlies and Casey Tisler wash a tractor at Old Settlers Dairy for the next days “Take Your Tractor To School Day” at Denmark High School.

Jeremy does a little last minute touchup before heading out.

Julie Schlies is all smiles as she heads out on her tractor.

Tractors caravan down a rural road near Denmark as they head to a meeting spot to gather with the other students and faculty.

Students watch other tractors pull in to the meeting spot before heading to the high school.

Students and their tractors gather at the McDonalds in Denmark, Wisconsin before caravanning to the high school.

Tractors caravan down main street in Denmark, Wisconsin as they head to the school on “Take Your Tractor To School Day”.

Students drove tractors of all sizes.

Students gather for a photo before heading in to class.

Wisconsin Lifestyle Photographer • Family Tradition Maple Harvest

Monday, April 30, 2018

Here are some of my favorite photos from a Wisconsin lifestyle photography project I just completed. The story is focused on a friend of mine by the name of Brad Allen and the making of maple syrup. Brad is the sixth generation of the Allen family to make maple syrup and the fourth generation to tap the maple trees on this plot of land north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Brad, with the help of his wife Jude, is teaching the process to his twin sons, Sean and Seth, in hopes that they will take over the family tradition some day. Just like in previous generations, there is a spirit of community here, with friends and family stopping by to help when they can. You can tell Brad values the tradition and loves being out in the woods making the syrup. He applies a very old school process to making syrup and pays respect to the generations before him by tapping a few trees each year using the hand tools of the prior generations. Brad’s dad passed away a few years ago, but one of his dad’s “crew”, Gene who is in is eighties, still helps. I ventured out to the sugar bush to document the process from beginning to end – from tapping the maple trees to evaporating the sap to syrup. To process the sap, Brad uses the same 220 gallon wood fired evaporator that his father used; in here, the sap boils until it becomes syrup. The average ratio of sap to syrup is 40 gallon of sap to make 1 gallon of finished syrup. This year they tapped 86 trees, collected around 600 gallons of sap and made 13 gallons of syrup. On the final weekend of the season for the Allen family, Brad’s siblings from around the country came to be part of the tradition; even his mom stopped out. You could tell it was emotional for her to come out to the property with all the memories associated with the land and family tradition.

I greatly enjoyed shooting this project and being with Brad, his family and his friends, documenting their family tradition. It’s a great way to get outside and enjoy the outdoors after a long Wisconsin winter. My wife Judy and I tap a handful of trees on our own property and continue a tradition she learned growing up on her family farm.

Thanks for looking!

Mike