Ryan P Photo

2009-01-15T16:59:00.002-05:00

So once again I've slipped in my blogging ways and I must say I'm sorry to the two people who actually read this. I've been plotting and planning for 09 quite a bit which has taken up a lot of time lately. So far in the works I am updating the website with a ton more images and a brand new layout. I'm also planning on doing a lot more traveling this year in hopes of meeting some cool new people and to try to get the ball rolling a bit more here. I've learned that I actually blog more when I'm on the road then I do any other time.

So rather than go on about nothing here, things will hopefully be changing here shortly; and if everything goes to plan there will be much more blogging this year!

2008-12-19T23:06:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited to finally be able to share this. This is the cover art for Michael Riley's new ep. that was released yesterday. I was lucky enough to get the chance to work with him on the cover and a few other photos. I'm really happy with how the hole thing turned out and am even more excited to see how the record does. Be sure to check out Michael's music at his myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/girlslovelemons

Happy holiday's everyone.

2008-12-09T22:08:00.002-05:00

So I'm pretty sure I've uploaded an image from this shoot before, but I wanted to share one of the shots taken on film. I've been really excited to use my old film cameras and every time I do I'm reminded of why I like using them so much. Though digital is by far much cheaper and easier to use, there's something about film that still is much more satisfying to me. I think it's the thrill of knowing there's a possibility that something could get screwed up. For some reason I like the "happy mistakes" that are possible with film.

2008-12-08T19:13:00.002-05:00

Featured in Epic Kiteboarding's online magazine this issue. They were nice enough to give me a little write up about my work in the kiteboarding world. Check it out athttp://epickitemag.com

2008-11-23T22:34:00.002-05:00

So I just finished spending a few days on the road with good friends Farewell Flight, taking a ton of live photos, and some new promo shots as well. I'm really excited to see how the guys use the shots this time around as we have way too many images to choose from. Here a a couple shots from one of the shows at cornerstone university, along with a shot of Nathan Kalish as well. So many great bands played this week it was amazing to be able to shoot and be around all of it.

On a sad note; due to all the time I've been able to spend shooting and doing photography, "which I absolutely love", I had to tell the guys in the band I was playing in that I would not be able to continue with them. I've invested too much into making a life doing photography to let the opportunities that have come up slip by, and though I will miss playing with them I'm sure my days with music are far from over. I'm really looking forward to see where the photography world will take me next, and I only hope that bigger and better things will be around the corner.

2008-11-21T23:56:00.002-05:00

So much going on lately... lets see. I've been on tour with the band Farewell Flight doing live and promo photos for them, before that I was down in Miami shooting some kiteboarders, and over the next few weeks I have a ton of other shoots and editing ahead.

Above is a photo of John he is a pro kiteboarder who was kind enough to pose for a few shots when he was up for the King of the Great Lakes event last month. This is an example of the kiteboarding book that I am currently working on. I'm really excited to see it all come together and hope to have an opening for the book early next year.
So much new work to come it isn't even funny so stay tuned...

2008-11-15T15:05:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I got to check out the Action Sports warehouse and NPX office in Miami. Helped out on a 40ft. slider for tomorrow's competition and got to meet some more of the great Cabrinha crew.

I also got to ride this bad ass segway! These things are crazy, probably one of the coolest inventions of our time. Then I headed to the outskirts of Miami with a few of the Cabrinha team riders and did a really sweet shoot.

2008-11-14T03:07:00.004-05:00

Also I should mention that I am in Miami currently shooting some pro kiteboarders, and when I get home I will be hitting the road for a few dates with Farewell Flight.

I've also recently shot Kaline again, and will be working with Michael Riley, as well as BJ Riley in the next month as well. Good things ahead... Can't wait!

2008-11-14T03:00:00.002-05:00

Once again I've neglected to post anything on this blog. I'm probably the worst blogger ever as it seems I'm really only ever interested in using this when I'm traveling for some reason.
Well the good news is that I should be traveling a bit more here, and I've also decided to start posting random images that will be taken with the iphone each day and put into strips like these. Total randomness but I've been having some fun playing with these so I'm going to try to make this into something a bit more regular.

2008-10-23T08:59:00.002-04:00

Jason had mentioned a while ago that he had gotten a sweet 70's Honda, so I of course needed to do a photo shoot with it. Here's one of the images we got from the day. I was so much fun messing around in the middle of nowhere shooting and coming up with some great images.

Thanks again Jason and I can't wait to get on that bike next summer.

2008-10-16T23:40:00.002-04:00

Wow things have been super busy lately! Yes I am alive, for those 3 of you who read this or even know about this. I've been working like crazy assisting, shooting, moving "new house", and editing like a madman. Above are just a couple images that have been taken lately. The first was taken during the King of the Great Lakes kiteboarding competition in Muskegon. Don rolled up on this killer bike and I just had to get a shot of him.

The rest are of a couple friends and photographers Steve and Diana. They've recently returned from a trip to a few different countries and will be producing a book of images as well as an art showing of their works. I really look forward to checking it all out, and was lucky enough to get the chance to do some portraits for their profile and website they are working on.

Thats all for now, back to work.

2008-09-05T14:46:00.002-04:00

A great designer from the New Orleans, Ottilie Brodmann was in town for a couple days and we linked up and shot a couple of her dresses. We had a good time shooting and a big thanks to Mani for helping out on such short notice.

2008-08-29T00:52:00.003-04:00

Just checking out the latest issue of Epic Kite Mag. and found that a couple images of mine made the cut. Always cool to see your work out there. Big thanks to the guys at Epic for doing such a great job keeping the sport alive in the midwest.

2008-08-21T23:56:00.002-04:00

One more day of working myself way over the limit, then finally a much needed day off! Only one though then right back to it.

Been working with Dustin Anderson on a soundtrack for Bethany Christian services. It's a short piece but is turning out to be really really sweet!

2008-08-21T07:42:00.002-04:00

Just found out that one of my photographs won third place in an online competition! Such a cool way to start the day getting great news like that!

Big thanks to Zack Arias the king of one light, Ben Scott-Brandt and of course Laura for being such a great model.

2008-08-11T21:30:00.002-04:00

Wow that madness! Buying a house is a ton of work; exciting and scary all at the same time. My wife and I got the official word that we are going to be very in debt like the rest of the world the other day. We are super excited to get into the new space and make it our own.
In other news the pins are in! Arrived today in the mail from Pure Buttons, and they look great. If anyone is interested let me know.

2008-08-08T02:53:00.002-04:00

As if I didn't have anything better to do with my time; for some reason tonight I felt like creating a facebook profile at 2:00 am. Really not sure why or how long it will last but if anyone out there wants to add me, I'm sure it would make me feel that much more cool.

2008-08-05T00:53:00.002-04:00

Not much as far as photo news goes. I've been busy playing catch up in the office lately and doing more research on a few things to get me on the way.

In other news I've decided to have a small run of buttons made: as shown above. So show your support by rockin another scene button along with the others on your overloaded backpack or jean pockets. I should have them in shortly and look forward to getting them out there.

A few shoots are in the works, but not much for news now.

2008-07-29T00:18:00.002-04:00

Not too much for news. I've been doing the search for a new home lately which has been taking up a ton of time. It may be a buyers market but it's still a pain in the neck to find the right deal on a house.
The image above was featured this week on digitalpixel.net in the flickr photo blog section, so a big thanks goes out to those guys for the props on the image. That's all for now hopefully some new stuff soon!

2008-07-20T19:56:00.002-04:00

I shot Craig a few months ago and he recently let me know that one of my images has made the cover of Rethink Magazine. The issue is due out in September but I'm pretty pumped about my first magazine cover.

2008-07-10T10:03:00.003-04:00

Wow time just doesn't seem to go as slowly anymore as it's already been a while since the last post. Anyway thought I'd share a few shots from a recent shoot with Megan. This was our second time shooting together and she was great to work with.

Started playing around with the umbrella again and I'm really pleased with the results. I always forget how easy and versatile they are to use.

2008-07-02T16:33:00.002-04:00

Ok seriously there's something really wrong with the world... Last night I spent the night just outside of Frankfort in hopes of doing some kiteboarding and shooting for the book project. This morning I woke up and it was poring rain; so I decided I'd head south to Muskegon. Got some rides in there "no-one to shoot though" and watched an insane storm move in over the lake. So now I'm back home and it is the middle of summer and it's friggin hailing outside!

On a side note I came across this incredibly cool site. Also check out these clouds that were featured on the site a while ago. Crazy stuff!

2008-07-01T23:48:00.002-04:00

New images from a recent shoot with Meg. A big thanks goes out to her for being so willing to help me out and have a great time shooting. This was the second shoot I've done with her and it was a great time.

In other news the website has been updated finally with some newer images, and a whole new layout is being put in the works soon. Other than that I'm currently sitting in another hotel room in northern Michigan this time, as I'm working more and more on the kiteboarding book project. Getting really excited about things.

2008-06-23T00:52:00.002-04:00

One heck of a weekend... So many great shoots and more on my quote weekend off, ha at least of shooting weddings that is. Anyway, got to shoot the Dykhouse brothers for a family present, Gasoline heart "which the bass player is from Squad 5-0" one of my favorite bands back in the day; and Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire. I also shot Maps and Atlases as well as Me Without You but don't have images ready to share quite yet.

Productive and really great weekend though it was busy I still managed to fit in some time with my wife looking for houses, and hang out with some great friends. More images to come and more updates as well, as I hope to start blabing about my life a bit more on this here inter-web...

2008-06-11T12:24:00.001-04:00

Here's a sad truth for ya. Pretty interesting video.

2008-06-02T01:02:00.003-04:00

So today at practice, "yes practice, I'm playing music with some good friends of mine in what we are calling Oh Brave Youth"... Anyway we somehow got on the topic of really badly thought out tattoo ideas. I of course mention the obvious ones "tribal, barbed wire bands, American flags, etc. But nothing quite compared to the above "yes it's a real tattoo"!!! Now really, OK, great concept but to actually go through with getting this tattooed on you now that's some commitment and I truly commend this person though I'm not sure why ha ha.

2008-05-21T22:57:00.004-04:00

Ok ok, so I admit that I suck at the whole blogging thing... Well let's see where to start; things have been pretty crazy with work "assisting" I've been in and out of town still and working some crazy long days. I'm actually just getting off of a 16hr one as I type this. Aside from that I've been working with a few bands on some photos, some album artwork, and I've gotten started on a Great Lakes Kiteboarding book of portraits that I've had the idea for for quite some time.

So from the top: Plu these guys came into town with good friends Farewell Flight and we had a great time covering them in milk... yes I said milk.

Next is Mark drummer of Farewell Flight from the show they played that night.

I also recently shot Brothers locals to Grand Rapids and a great hardcore show if I do say so.

Finally are two shots of Take the City. I worked on their last album artwork and this time they had me do some more as well as some photos.

Ok, so enough to satisfy some of you for a bit. I'd like to say "I promise to start updating more" but I know that would be a lie. So until next time thanks for looking and keep checking back.

2008-04-06T23:39:00.003-04:00

So sorry for the lack of posts lately for those of you who read this; but a lot has been going on recently. I got back from a little vacation to the Outer banks, NC. Had an incredible time doing some kiteboarding and shooting out there. Then got home to find that a few of my photographs have been published in this months issue of Recoil Magazine. The cool part is that not only were a couple shots in there but the cover shot is one that I took as well! On top of that I sent out a few of the kiting images to a great lakes kiting magazine and it sounds like they are going to publish a few of those as well in next months issue. So yeah a lot going on right now, plus I'm starting to work with a few bands on some album artwork which should be really cool, and I'll be sure to keep everyone informed on that.

Above is a sequence of Andy Bolt taken one of the days of the OBX trip.

2008-03-16T22:49:00.002-04:00

What a great weekend. Spent some time relaxing with my wonderful wife Amy, and some friends. Then Sunday I packed up the kiteboarding gear to ship out to Cape Hatteras for next weeks trip. Got to top off the day by heading out to a little get together of some of the riders, to say goodbye to good friend Andy Bolt, and to check out his sweet new video. Even got started on the kiteboarding project that I've been wanting to do for the past two years. I'm excited to see what happens with it but so far I'm pretty happy with how it's going.
That's all for now.

2008-03-04T22:48:00.003-05:00

Today I had a super easy and quick shoot in the morning then we headed to Marquette with a few detours along the way "of course". First stop Paradise, MI where as you can see below the beaches are just fabulous. I was ready to jump in but something just didn't seem quite right.Then, after a couple other quick stops here and there for small photo opps we made it to our destination, got our hotel and some food. Well while walking out to get food I couldn't help but notice that our pool area looked very similar to the pool scene in Tommy Boy so I had to take a couple quick shots to post.

Tomorrow is another day of shooting then off to Gaylord then back home.

2008-03-03T16:40:00.002-05:00

Over the past few weeks I've decided to start working on a few things that I've really wanted to for quite some time now. Building walls for some room shoots, starting a booking of kiteboarders or the Great Lakes, and working with a select few bands in town on some photos. I'm really excited to see where these projects take me and end up as a couple of them have already brought on some interesting options and ideas. It's been great to have some time the past few weeks to sit and think about everything and to be able to digest all my crazy randomness a bit.

2008-02-17T00:06:00.002-05:00

What a great day, started it off with an incredible snowkiting session with my good friend Mark Hoeksema. Funny thing was that it was probably the most photogenic setting I've ever seen for kiteboarding in Michigan, both of us are photographers, and yet there was no camera in sight... Typical I guess.

Now I'm sitting here in my soreness watching some crappy movie and enjoying probably the best soda ever made "IBC cream soda". I love that stuff; so much so I've been known to drink a six pack in one sitting, usually followed by a very painful stomach... but it's just so good.
Yes I know this is a totally random post but I figured I lighten up the mood on this thing a bit.

2008-02-14T20:27:00.002-05:00

Had a pretty good day doing some test shooting with my good friend Luke. I'm trying to develop more of a classic style to my work, as I've realized that much of what I have done doesn't seem "lasting". I've been doing a lot of research into photographers from the 60's and 70's lately and have grown to see the simplicity in many of the images from that time that allowed the people in the image to stand out. I look at a lot of the shots music photographers are doing today and really don't see them standing the test of time that the images from the 60's have and will. It's funny because at first I thought it was just because of the people the shots were of; but now I see that its much more than that. Looking forward to the future of work...

2008-02-13T16:58:00.003-05:00

Home sweet cold ass home. Yep made it home last night, pretty cool driving from white sands New Mexico to Michigan in two days. Overall it was a great trip now I get to start working on some of the ideas from the road. Can't wait...

Heres a shot from White Sands, I'll probably have a few more from the trip soon.

2008-02-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well I've had an amazing few days on the road so far. Thought I'd share a couple photos.

From the National Monument park in Utah, we shot some pretty cool ledges yesterday.

And here is the sunset we got to drive back to our hotel gazing out the window as much as possible at.

This is actually from the third day of the trip, in the shark exhibit in Las Vegas. Pretty cool even though Mitch had to sneek in the camera.

2008-02-07T00:05:00.000-05:00

So far so good. This trip has been great so far, seen lots of cool new landscapes and even won four bucks playing roulette for the first time. Today Mitch and I worked our way over to the national monument park just north of the grand canyon. Tomorrow will be a full day of shooting then off to white sands new mexico.

13 hours later...

2008-02-04T01:58:00.001-05:00

What a day... Took off from Grand Rapids around 10am and drove straight through 13hrs. My goal when I took off was to make it to Omaha but I made it there by 6:00pm so I kept going and made it a couple hours outside of Denver. One hell of a drive to get this trip started and now off to bed so I can get up and make it the rest of the way to Las Vegas tomorrow.

The American West

2008-02-03T08:02:00.000-05:00

Today I'm heading out west, I have a 26 hour drive ahead of me that I've been looking forward to in a strange way for the past couple weeks. I'm driving out to Las Vegas to meet up with photographer Mitch Ranger who I assist in town, to shoot some landscapes for a personal project of his. I was lucky enough to be invited along and am really excited to see what comes out of this trip. Hopefully some photos from the road will be posted soon, otherwise some really exciting things should be happening in the near future.

#1

2008-01-29T10:58:00.000-05:00

Yep this is the first; and this is me.