Tom Hussey Welcomes You to the Goodness Hotel for Avocados from Mexico

The world is about to get better, especially in this Super Bowl season where great guacamole flavor comes out on top. Tom Hussey scores big with his latest promotion for Avocados from Mexico (AFM) for the Ultimate Big Game. Tom shot a multi-faceted campaign of print, video spots, digital and in store promotion with football legend Deion Sanders and his fiancée, award-winning TV and film producer Tracey Edmonds.

Welcome to the Goodness Hotel is an integrated approach combining the AFM brand with data, innovative technology and vibrant visuals in a digital hotel space to celebrate the Big Game. The power couple share their favorite “Always Good” guacamole recipes in the colorful lobby spaces and fans can interact to win big prizes. Enter a Goodies Shop with an exclusive big game swag, a Genius Music Lab to create your own jam, an Elevator to explore rooms and activities, and a “Say Avocado” station where you can snap a selfie to share with friends. Get ready and get your guac and football here. Follow @tomhusseyphotography for more new work. Follow us for news and updates @dougtruppe.

Deion Sanders and Tracey Edmonds Press Release for Avocados from Mexico.

Walter Smith: An Unexpected Document of My Parents' Lives

Walter Smith has been photographing his mother and father in their later years. It is a story of changes, challenges and selfless love, even if coming a bit late in their lives. He shares his experiences below in thoughtful words and imagery everyone can relate to today.

I've stumbled into documenting my parents over the years. A simple portrait here and there has started adding up to something more like a story. I like having the images...seeing them change...seeing how I've changed. I've never been sure when a series is complete....maybe it never ends and just transitions to something else.

This is my mother. She has been the woman at the sink hand washing every dish because a dishwasher will not get them clean. She spent 80% of her day at that counter...at that window. She started to develop an issue with her heart, and I watched as my father anxiously and tenderly took care of her in the hospital. Their relationship changed after that. As my mother became a bit less like my mother, my father became someone kinder and more patient than the person I grew up with. It has been beautiful to watch.

My mother's mobility started to wane as did her thought process. They had to leave their larger home and downsize to something more manageable. She angrily walked around in a housecoat and swept every inch of their old home just before they left for a new place. She has not forgiven my father for "making them move." She has not forgiven the family that neglected to pay her 80 years ago when she babysat for them. She has large gaps in her memory, and as they grow so does my father's patience. It’s Alzheimer's or dementia. She shuffles now...she talks of bitterness regarding her loss of independence. She asks Rhea to fix the dropped stitches in the potholders she tries to knit. My father continues to find compassion and patience and loves her for who she was and who she now is. That's their marriage. See more of the story here.

Be sure to check out more of Walter’s work at his new site Follow him @waltersmithphoto. Find more news and updates for us @dougtruppe.

Mom in the hospital with a heart condition, and my father watching over her.

Mom sweeping her old home before moving into the new place.

Walter Smith: New Year, New Work, New Site

Many photographers go through a website update every year or two. Add in a few...remove a few...add images from jobs...fight the good fight of client images vs personal images. For Walter, the line between his personal work and client work is often blurred. His curiosity and documentary style of creating work has allowed him to work with clients from the pharma world to industrial clients. His response when clients ask him to describe his process is always the same... it's about the conversation in the room...the relationship with the talent...the trust of clients. Have a look at the new site and see how he puts this into practice. For more new work follow @waltersmithphoto. Follow us for more updates @dougtruppe.

See Walter’s past year in review below.

Claudio Napolitano Honored By 17th Annual Black & White Spider Awards

“Lurking,”Claudio Napolitano’s black-and-white portrait of a Cuban boxer has been nominated in the 17th Annual Spider Awards in the sports category. Claudio loves to push the envelope, striving to create images that tell unforeseen stories. His motto, “If there is no work, then you have to create it for yourself,” propels him to seek out opportunities in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America and the results are always visionary and award-winning. See more at his site claudionapolitano.com Follow us @DougTruppe for more new work and news.

“Lurking,” nominated in the Sports Category of the 17th annual Spider Awards.

Scott Montgomery Strikes a Nerve with The Reader

We are proud to present Scott Montgomery’s personal project The Reader, recently featured in the Workbook Weekly, the place to see great work. It is beautifully crafted storytelling using motion and imagery,

Tired of scrolling and binging watching during the first Covid wave that gripped New York City during the winter of 2020, photographer/director Scott began reading to his wife one evening in bed. The sense of intimacy it created transformed them, and for Scott it was the inspiration for the story that he wanted to tell.

He began with a simple story line about a young woman living in Brooklyn. She and her boyfriend love books and read to each other as a way to decompress after work. She wants to share this experience with others and decides she can build a side hustle: a personal reading service. People respond.

Scott began casting in the spring of 2021 but complications due to Covid brought shooting to a halt. But in the Spring of 2022 he met Jenna, an ICU nurse who had worked throughout the pandemic in NYC. She embodied all the traits of the character he called The Reader. And coincidentally, in real life, her boyfriend would read to her to calm her down after a particularly difficult shift. Scott now had the full narrative.

Scott shot both stills and motion and the blending of the two plays to his strength as a storyteller. As he told us, “…For a long time I’ve lit still scenes with a gaffer using motion continuous light. It’s rounder and softer than strobe and I prefer the look. Only gear change is camera. Second, I’m my own DP for main camera. Seamless continuity from stills to motion. Third, narrative story is my natural voice. My stills have always resembled a moment pulled from a movie…. now they link together to make mini-movies.”

“Researching the subject, I expected to find a focus on kids or the elderly. I was wrong. Reader clubs exist! Better yet, as we’ve started to show the piece, person after person has messaged and shared a story. We struck a nerve – The gift of reading out loud,” says Scott. See the Workbook promotion here. Find more updates and follow Scott @scott_mont

Click on the Images below to view The Reader and accompanying images.

Comerica Banks on Equal Opportunity with Tom Hussey Print Ads and TV Spots

Equal opportunity with equal access. Photographer and director Tom Hussey adapts the theme of access and greater awareness to a series of :30 TV spots and accompanying print campaign he created with Occam Marketing for client Comerica Bank. Both client and agency wanted Tom because of his own strong feelings about ethical standards in the workplace. “We at TOM HUSSEY Photography feel strongly about people being treated fairly and as equals which made bringing this project to life even more rewarding,” he says.

A big theme with a lot to cover, Tom shot and coordinated 14 different talent in 14 different locations to create a seamless campaign in just three days. Each face is a story of pride, goals achieved and empowerment.

The Comerica Bank TV spots and print ads can be seen in the Dallas area and then head to national markets. See new work and follow Tom @tomhusseyphotography. Follow us for daily updates @dougtruppe.

Click on Comerica Bank TV Spot Below.

Comerica Bank TV spot. Click on the image above.

We're On the Road with Tom Hussey: At the Dog Show

Everyone thinks they have the best dog and none of them are wrong. Tom was driving back to the studio after purchasing a new camera. He passed a large convention center in Dallas and noticed the marquee said “Dog Show.” Being adventurous, he decided to give his new camera some exercise and see what was going on.

It was like walking onto the set of “Best in Show” but with the smells you don’t get watching a movie. Huge mounds of dog hair, some as much as three to four feet high filled the venue. He created a promo booklet from the images made that day. The book is on the site as it was printed with wonderfully designed quotes on the images befitting the grandeur of man’s best friend.

See more images from the Dog Show here and follow @tomhusseyphotography to see new work. Follow @dougtruppe for more news and stories.

We’re on the Road with Tom Hussey: At the Dirt Racetrack Full Speed Friday Nights

Tom was on assignment for AAA. The job—travel by car within a defined territory to find “America” photographically. The images were to be used in decorating a new AAA headquarters.

On the first day, after getting his bags and rental vehicle, he headed north from Minneapolis and stumbled on an oval dirt racetrack going full speed. It was a Friday night. “You could picture this track back in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Drivers with home-built cars and guys handy with screwdrivers and wrenches would show up at a dirt oval to see who was fastest,” he says. No big sponsors, no glass suites, just skill, passion, friends, family and the hope of a checkered flag. The final checkered flag falls over the finish line. Trophies and cold beer get shared as trailers are loaded. Lights go out and the hopes and plans for next Friday night’s chase start revving up. See more of the Racetrack images here and follow @tomhusseyphotography for more updates . Follow @dougtruppe for latest news and stories.

Scott Montgomery Wins for Lifestyle in APA Awards

We are very proud and congratulate Scott Montgomery on winning the Lifestyle category, 3rd place, in the 2022 APA Awards. In his latest personal projects, Scott creates and authors characters, their stories and then produces using the elements of narrative motion and stills to fit. “The work has to hold relationship. Our lives are deeper because of the people and places in them,” he says.

With the help of producer Janet Henderson, @zincproductions, Scott found some outstanding locations along coastal Maine, creating more ideas for his script. Next was searching for talent. Scott found his perfect fit in Taylor. She became his active mid-career novelist living on an island in a house over 100 years old without power. “I wanted to bring her mind’s words to life by dropping in as she’s writing,” says Scott.” Crew, gear, wardrobe—everything was skiffed to the location, adding an authentic feel to the character and surroundings.

“I guide real people and pro talent to share a story (some real, some not). When it’s emotionally true, you feel it. We connect, that’s the good stuff.” We couldn’t agree more. Follow and see more work @scott_mont. See more updates and news @dougtruppe.

APA winning image for Lifestyle Category, 3rd place.

We’re on the Road with Tom Hussey: Triathlon Time Brings Addys

Tom was on a shoot for Epipen in Miami. Ever the curious, he noticed a major event was being set up across the street from his hotel. It turned out to be a National Triathlon.

He decided to get up early on the morning of the tech scout to see if there was a story to tell. He walked into the event with three professional Nikons around his neck and people figured he was supposed to be there. “I talked with competitors and made images of the entire triathlon. The light was absolutely perfect, and I was able to create a fun new body of work,” says Tom. As he walked back into the hotel lobby, his client (CD) was getting a cup of coffee and asked what he had been doing. Tom showed her some of the images on the back of his cameras. There was enough for a promo and he asked her if she might be willing to design it for him. She agreed, and he mailed out around 3,000 of them. Tom entered the promo into the Addy awards and was thrilled to call his CD letting her know he had won a Silver Addy. See more of Tom’s Triathlon images here . Follow @tomhusseyphotography to see more work. Follow us for more news and stories here.

Doug Truppe’s Platform of Values: Passion - The Human Elements for Life and Work

Doug Truppe is on the road again and presents a unique approach to outstanding production that brings your storytelling to life. “I live, work and make choices by these values with photographers, creatives, clients and everyone I meet.” Doug’s values of Curiosity, Passion, Kindness, Truth and Integrity are part of an ongoing series of presentations from our photographers and directors to the creative community. We present the value of Passion— an energy, a compelling desire for someone, something, some place, some idea. Our passion is our purpose. We show it in every image we make with: @KevinArnoldPhoto, @ClaudioNapolitano and @Scott_Mont here.

New collaborations and new relationships with values are the building blocks to great storytelling.

Click on Passion to see much more.

Jim Hughes Shoots Superstar Simone Biles for United Airlines

Jim Hughes photographed Gold Medalist Olympic champion Simone Biles for a United Airlines campaign as part of an ongoing partnership they have shared with the U.S. Olympic Athletes Team for the past 35 years. Jim captured superstar Biles taking selfies with the actual United employees.The images have been displayed on social media platforms in all United terminals, United magazines and digital billboards. Biles is also one of the latest civilian heroes to be the recipient of the Medal of Freedom. See more updates from jim @jimhughesphoto. Follow us for more news and stories @dougtruppe.

Gold Medalist Olympic Champion Simone Biles and United employees.

Simone Biles “Flies the Friendly Skies.”

Superstar Simon Biles and her United friends.

Kevin Arnold Talks Tech on the New Leica M11 Camera

Note: Kevin and Doug recently made a trip to Chicago. While there, Kevin took advantage of the wonderful Chicago landscapes to test his new Leica M11. We are proud to share his insights and technical advice on the new camera.

I’ve been shooting with the new Leica M11 camera and loving it. Traditionally, Leica's M cameras have been the camera of choice for reportage and street photography. They are small and light, and have super sharp optics. But I'm excited about the camera for another application: landscape photography.

Whether I'm making landscape images in the middle of the city or the middle of nowhere, I'm often literally chasing the light. For me, location and light are two sides of the same coin in landscape photography. A great image requires both to come together perfectly - or imperfectly, depending what I'm after. It's not always easy to know where that intersection of light and location are going to occur, especially when I'm shooting personal work where I often don't take the time to pre-scout the location like I would on a commercial job. When I'm shooting personal work, I like the excitement following the light and discovering images as they reveal themselves.

I also want my final images to be as good as they can be for printing - tack sharp, great color, tons of detail - and this isn't always an easy combo. The most straightforward way to achieve this is by sticking a high-resolution medium format camera on a tripod. But carrying around a heavy set-up like that sucks. In the backcountry it limits how far I can hike or bike, and in the city it's bulky and cumbersome. Until now, I haven't found a lighter weight solution that doesn't compromise my final images, but I may have found it in the new Leica M11.

With post-pandemic supply issues, the M11 isn't an easy camera to get your hands on, so I feel pretty lucky to even have one. And I have to say that so far, the combination of the new 60-megapixel sensor and the Leica's famously sharp lenses might just be the ticket. Shooting with it still requires careful attention to technique because of the high-resolution, but it is ridiculously easy to bring along on any adventure. These images from Chicago are a great example of where it shines. The light was beautiful, but unexpected and fleeting. And the places I wanted to shoot were best accessed on foot. With this little beast in tow, I covered a ton of ground in two short shooting windows. The final images from the camera have three-dimensional detail and really beautiful color rendition, which had the unexpected bonus of making post-processing easier also.

See more work from Kevin @kevinarnoldphoto. Follow us for more updates and stories here.

Andy Goodwin Is Honored by Creative Quarterly

We are proud to announce Andy Goodwin has recently won a contest hosted by the prestigious Creative Quarterly for portraits from his Driftless series. Over several visits, Andy documented wonderful artisans at their crafts in the lush landscapes of the Driftless region in southwestern Wisconsin. Creative Quarterly is an international journal focusing on promoting the best work in graphic design, illustration, photography and fine art. Andy’s portraits will be featured in two full spreads in the issue on newsstands now. For more updates, follow Andy @agoodwinphoto https://www.instagram.com/agoodwinphoto/. And follow us @dougtruppe for more news and stories.

Honored images from Driftless in Creative Quarterly..

Kevin Arnold Meets Challenges and Reaps Rewards with Coors Light Campaign

We love the way our photographers break barriers, take risks and turn on a dime to get the job done. Kevin Arnold is no exception. Kevin was commissioned by ARC Worldwide for their client Coors Light to create a series of summer beach and backyard scenes that evoked the feeling of carefree good times with friends and family under the sun. The job also called for an additional fall fishing image, and needed to be shot over two days. This called for a unique location, and Vancouver was the perfect place. Unfortunately, Pacific Northwest weather isn't always reliable—or rather, it's reliably unreliable—and Kevin had to shoot during two days of steady rain and cold temperatures. The production had a lot of moving parts: products for different markets that had been shipped to the location, a large cast, and a number of clients who had flown in from various places. A weather delay wasn't an option.

Keeping the talent and clients warm, and making fall look like summer became the priority. Extra generators and space heaters were acquired on short notice for the beach scenes. And, Kevin and his producer quickly put together a new plan for the lighting that included a truckload of movie lights and a couple of extra lighting assistants to help put them up and keep them running. With locations lit from a distance and large continuous lighting on very tall stands, the sunny warmth and shadowy feel of a summer afternoon became a reality. Scenes and close ups were then lit with a combination of photo strobes. Turkey bags kept the electronics dry and a group of hardy Canadian models kept things fun, goosebumps and all.

With a little magic and a can-do attitude from his production and photo team, Kevin created a perfect summer beach story of good times with good friends. “These are the kind of challenges that I love working through as a photographer. The images are so much more rewarding when they don't come easily,” says Kevin. See more work @kevinarnoldphoto, and be sure to follow us for more updates here.

Barbecue always tastes better with Coors Light.

We're on the Road with Tom Hussey: Surfing USA

“If everybody had an ocean across the USA, then everybody’d be surfin’ like Californi-a.” Tom had an intern named Sarah who was from San Clemente, California and grew up surfing. She told him how much she missed it and Tom, ever the adventurous, decided to go with her for a weekend to that surfing area to photograph some of her surfing friends and anyone else he met along the way.

He spent four days travelling from one beach to another photographing people he met, as well as Sarah and her friends. “We met a large family who made the trek to Southern California every year for a week-long surf vacation. They would camp and ride the waves from sun up to sun down.” says Tom. Many of the images are from the family, in particular the young woman with the board on her head, the older grey-bearded man smiling at the camera and the guitar-playing young man. It was a great trip and Sarah loved that her internship with Tom got to fly her home for a long weekend doing what she loved—surfing. See more of Tom’s “Beach Boys and Gals” here and follow @tomhusseyphotography for more updates and stories. Follow us here for new work.

The Art of the Personal Project Profiles Kevin Arnold

Take a look at this fascinating piece on Kevin Arnold by APE contributor Suzanne Sease for “The Art of the Personal Project.” Kevin’s fine art takes us to the stunning prehistoric landscapes of Tombstone Territorial Park in the Yukon Territory of Canada’s far north. Detailed aerial views present a vast, mysterious world that tells the story of how the land was and continues to form. Read the column and view more of the project here. Follow Kevin @kevinarnoldphoto for more updates and stories and follow us on Instagram here.

We’re on the Road with Tom Hussey: Kaffie-Frederick, Inc. General Mercantile

On a road trip through Louisiana Tom Hussey came upon The Kaffie-Frederick. Inc. General Mercantile in a small town called Natchitoches (pronounced Nacatish). Kaffie-Frederick General Mercantile is Louisiana's oldest general store, owned and operated by the same family since opening in 1863. It is run by two brothers who are the great grandsons of the founder. Walking through Kaffie-Frederick is like stepping into a time warp. It’s the sort of a place that used to be a common sight in most small towns and now has been replaced by big-box, home-improvement stores or online shopping.

The store features everything you remember from the "good old days"— hardware, housewares, cookware and kitchen supplies, classic toys (like Radio Flyer) and gifts. The original freight elevator still operates, and the 1910 cash register is not only in great condition but is used for every sale. Happy to say, shopping with old-world charm is out there if you look for it. See more of the Mercantile images here and follow @tomhusseyphotography for more updates and stories. Follow us here.

Welcome to the Truppe: Kevin Arnold Photography

The projects may vary, but Kevin Arnold’s focus remains the same: create alluring imagery that not only gets it right technically, but also hits you in the gut emotionally. Based in Vancouver, BC, he travels the world photographing and directing lifestyle, landscape and industrial advertising imagery for clients such as MillerCoors, Mercedes-Benz, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Arctic Cat Snowmobiles.

Before becoming a professional photographer, Kevin worked as an editor and travel writer for magazines such as Outside, Men’s Journal and Adbusters. Now living in a more visual world, he still relies on his journalistic instincts but creates the good stories with a camera.

Kevin’s toolkit—meticulous planning, attention to detail, the confidence to improvise and take risks—allows scenes to unfold naturally. Moments of discovery and spontaneity are captured in real-time action like a breath of fresh air. Inspired by his energy, we are thrilled to welcome Kevin Arnold Photography to the Truppe. Visit Kevin’s site to see more of his imagery and stories, and follow him @kevinarnoldphoto. Follow us on Instagram here.

Yukon Overland is a series of images created for Woods, a Canadian outdoor brand that specializes in camping supplies and travel gear.

Coors Light campaign created for ARC Worldwide in Chicago for MillerCoors International.

From Tombstone Image Collection. A fine art print collection of aerial images shot in Canada’s far north.

Andy Goodwin Wins Creative Quarterly 67 Best in Show and More

We are proud to announce that Andy Goodwin is the winner of Creative Quarterly 67 Best of Show in the photography category for his “Nightmare at the Museum.” Andy put a personal twist in this composite series with little Violet, a precocious young scamp with spunk, who strays from her field trip and wreaks havoc in the Hall of Mammals. See all the CQ 67 winners here. Also, all winners will be published in Creative Quarterly available summer 2022 on an Online Gallery. The series has also been featured in Communications Arts.

Enjoy more of Violet’s antics and Andy’s Composite/CGI projects here. Follow him @agoodwinphoto for more updates and stories.

Retoucher: @jeffsatterthwaite_creative

Model: Violet Koch⁠
Inspiration: Fearless Girl Statue, Eloise at the Plaza⁠