Green Bay Wisconsin Commercial and Editorial Photographer

Photos From The Green Bay Packers vs Carolina Panthers NFL Football Game • October 19, 2014 • Green Bay Photographer

Sunday, October 19, 2014

I’ve had many days at Lambeau Field while covering the Green Bay Packers that felt like all the action and touchdowns happened in the opposite end zone from me. I’ve been covering the north end zone at Lambeau Field as part of a wire service team since the late ’90s. Today, I felt bad for the NFL photographers covering the south end zone. Everything came my way as the Green Bay Packers beat the Carolina Panthers 38-17. I think I did a nice job of catching that action. With this win, the Packers bring their winning streak to four games and are 5-2 in the season.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the game.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers runs on to the field during player introductions.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson gets past Carolina Panthers strong safety Roman Harper on his way to a 59 years catch and run touchdown.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Randall Cobb.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb stiff arms Carolina Panthers free safety Charles Godfrey on a first down catch.

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy congratulates Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy on a touchdown run.

Green Bay Packers running back James Starks dives in to the end zone for a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews pulls in an interception that he would run in to the end zone for a touchdown, but the play would get called back due to pass interference.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams tries to defend a pass to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin.

Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis pushes Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb out of bounds.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams gets in to the end zone for a touchdown as Carolina Panthers strong safety Roman Harper tries to defend.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams does a Lambeau Leap to celebrate his touchdown.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton escapes the pressure of Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews.

Carolina Panthers cornerback Antoine Cason tries to stop Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy.

Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly makes contact with back judge Steve Freeman before getting ejected from the game.

Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers can’t pull in a pass in the end zone as Carolina Panthers linebacker Ben Jacobs defends.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton heaves up a long pass.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates with fans as he leaves the field after the Packers defeated the Carolina Panthers 38-17.

Associate Appreciation Photography • Corporate Identity Photography

Monday, October 13, 2014

One of my favorite corporate photography clients has a very strong visual corporate identity. Schneider, a Green Bay, Wisconsin based trucking company, is known for their orange trucks and trailers. As a photographer, I love having that orange truck as a background for portraits; that truck was my background for recent driver and executive portraits. As part of their associate appreciation week, Schneider wanted to open up the opportunity to the rest of their associates to have a portrait done with a truck. Here is a large sample of some of those portrait shots done in one day with the help of some great Wisconsin fall weather.

My assistant and I kept things simple with just two lights, a main and a hair light. We also kept the subjects in the shadow of a large scrim to reduce the effects of the harsh sunlight and to reduce squinting. When you shoot portraits of a 150 subjects in one day, you don’t have a lot of time to get to know the subjects and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera; with our limited time, I think we did a great job.

Schneider will be giving the photo files to the associates as a thank you to be used for things such as social media profile photos or Christmas card photos, as a few of the subjects mentioned. So if you get a holiday card this year with a big orange truck in the background, it may have come from this shoot.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Photos From The Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings NFL Football Game • October 2, 2014 • NFL Photographer

Friday, October 3, 2014

Being an editorial photographer covering NFL football games, it’s important to tell the entire story of the game. For most NFL photographers, that story begins and ends on the field. But for me, the story begins with a photo or two of fans tailgating outside the stadium. On Thursday October 2nd, I decided to start my story telling earlier than usual for a game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I arrived at the stadium about five hours before kickoff – way before they would even let fans into the parking lot to begin their pre-game rituals. I found a couple of fun features -one a dummy hanging out of the sunroof of a car waiting to get in to the parking lot – and while shooting that photo, I used a little vision and a car side mirror to show how a couple of Packers fans relax while waiting.

Another important part of the story on Thursday night was that it was the first NFL football game in October, so the first game that players, coaches, officials, and fans, etc. would be wearing pink to bring awareness to breast cancer. Often these photos aren’t exciting to take, but they are important, so I tried to use a little vision to make them more interesting.

The game ended up being a blowout 42-10 win for the Green Packers over the Minnesota Vikings on a damp night at Lambeau Field. I geared myself up as best I could for the forecasted rain, but I wasn’t excited about shooting a game where I needed to focus on keeping my gear dry. We did get some heavy rain to start the game, but by the beginning of the second quarter, the rain moved on and I was able to shed my camera covers.

I was happy that I got some decent shots of most of the key moments of the game. As with any sporting event, you always second guess yourself. I wasn’t real happy with the photos I got of Packers Jordy Nelson’s 66 yard touchdown. I got a shot of the catch, but he is all alone and the photo gives no context of his proximity to the other players. On the other hand, I was pleased with the photos I got of Julius Pepper’s touchdown run after making an interception. He was heading to the end zone opposite of my position, but the side view I was able to get early in his run ended up being a nice shot.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day and early afternoon.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Not all Green Bay Packers fans are dummies.

A “smokin” Green Bay Packers fan waits in her car.

Packers fan Isaac Bell and his Vikings fan wife Ashley tailgate before the game.

It’s important to stay hydrated at a Packers game.

An NFL owner with his Super Bowl ring cheers while tailgating.

Not actually Aaron Rodgers just someone wearing his jersey.

Skol Vikes?

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy wearing his pink ribbon branded hat before the game.

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy runs over Minnesota Vikings strong safety Robert Blanton.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Davante Adams.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb celebrates his touchdown with a Lameabu Leap.

Green Bay Packers’ Jordy Nelson catches a 66-yard touchdown pass.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder gets sacked by Green Bay Packers inside linebacker A.J. Hawk and outside linebacker Nick Perry.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers gets away from the Minnesota Vikings defense.

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers some advice.

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Julius Peppers returns an interception for a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers inside linebacker Jamari Lattimore celebrates an interception.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Green Bay Packers running back James Starks tries to get away from Minnesota Vikings free safety Harrison Smith.

Minnesota Vikings strong safety Robert Blanton loses his helmet, but can’t keep Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy from scoring a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams tries to take down Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson.

Green Bay Packers free safety Micah Hyde breaks up a pass in the end zone intended for Minnesota Vikings tight end Chase Ford.

Green Bay Packers nose tackle Letroy Guion celebrates the Packers win as he walks off Lambeau Field.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers high fives fans as he runs off Lambeau Field after the Packers win.

Wisconsin Stock Photographer • Photos From Madeline Island • Apostle Islands Photos

Friday, September 26, 2014

My wife Judy and I recently visited the Apostle Islands area of Lake Superior. On our fist day there, we took the ferry out to Madeline Island and biked around. I hauled my camera with, but knew it would be a flat light overcast day and probably not great for pictures . While biking to the ferry to head back to the mainland, the sun broke out of the low hanging clouds for just a couple of seconds. Luckily we were biking past a park that had a number of sailboats moored not far from the shore. I yelled to Judy that I would catch up with her and went off road with my bike to get down to the shore as quickly as possible. I dumped my bike a few feet from the shore and dropped down in to the sandy beach to get as low of an angle as possible. I had just a couple of seconds to take advantage of this amazing light that was popping a warm glow on to the water in the midst of the cool blue clouds. As quickly as it appeared, the amazing light vanished and my artistic vision was gone, but I knew I had my shot. As I headed back to my bike, a gentleman enjoying a beer and a family picnic in the park must have noticed my frantic rush to the shore. As I walked past him he said to me “not a real good day for pictures, huh!” I nodded in agreement and said maybe tomorrow, but as most photographers know blue sky, bright sun days can be great for pictures, but are also a dime a dozen. Unique and fleeting light can set a picture apart and I think on this day I captured exactly that.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

Combining Landscape Photography and Architecture Photography • Green Bay Photographer

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

I tend to think of myself as a “people-on location” photographer. Most of my photography has a person in it and I think I’m good at making the person look their best in photographs. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy shooting the occasional product photography or even architecture photography. I enjoy landscape photography even if it requires taking on a chilly sunrise along the shore of Lake Michigan. In the past few months, I was commissioned by two separate clients to do what I would call architectural landscape photography. Both clients wanted me to shoot bridges. One of the bridges was over the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the client wanted a dramatic shot of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at sunset. The other project was of a bridge – okay, maybe they are called fly over ramps – at the intersection of Highway 41 and 29 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That client also wanted a dramatic shot of the bridge spans overlapping one another.

For the job in Missouri, my shooting platform was a helicopter and I needed to negotiate all the hurdles aerial photography can throw at you. I also needed to do a lot of praying that the extended weather forecast was accurate since the location was 700 miles from my home base and I only had one alternate weather date to push to if needed. For the the Green Bay shoot, I needed to work with a crystal clear sunrise. The first handful of mornings that I had planned to shoot the photos, the weather didn’t cooperate either because of some un-forcasted clouds or morning fog.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the shoots. Thanks for looking!

Mike