Tractors are beautiful!

Mahindra display in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The assignment sounded pretty simple, try to get a great shot of the tractors on display at the Mahindra National Dealer Sales Meeting.  They were parked out front...in a line that stretched between two buildings.  I looked around, moved my camera all over the place finally deciding to do a few cameo shots.  With the help of some Nik Filters, I was able to make them more interesting than they appeared as they sat there on the street.  The tractors are far from boring, but the presentation was more about showing off how large and complete their line is.  After all, this company is number one in the world in tractor sales, crazy isn't it?  There is a lot larger buying pool out there than just our United States, and capturing that market is obviously a game changer.

I like the custom graphic on their truck and thought it looked good against the building.

One of the things I enjoy most about this profession is the ability to go "behind the scenes" of places I would never be invited to.  I've been able to hear motivational speakers, Presidents and CEO's of top companies share their visions for the future.  Because of what I do, I've then had a chance to talk to them and speak one on one just like we were old friends.  Funny how a little thing like a camera opens doors to more opportunities.  Ross Bernstein gave one of the most interesting motivational talks I've EVER heard!  He was beyond interesting, he was challenging and real in the material he presented.  It was polished, had super graphics and supporting data, and all of it presented "upbeat" with a "first person" feel to it.  This guy is a prolific sports writer with over 50 books to his credit.  If you know me, you know I don't follow ANY sports at all. (except The Ohio State University football team)  For me to be that intrigued is saying a lot.  I am looking forward to reading some of his books and learning all I can from Ross!

There was a brand new model in the trade show area their advertising agency Richards/Carlberg needed an image of immediately.  It was incredible to see their marketing plans unfolded for the attendees to see what is coming in 2014.  What media they are planning, print ads, it was laid out like a well designed battle plan.  I did say they are number one in the world, and Richards/Carlberg has helped them get there!  Here is a very quick shot I did with a new Canon 70D, 24-70 f2.8 lens and 600 flash.  I have to give a shout out to my friend Chase Reynolds from lensrentals.com  He helped me rent the Canon system so I could give it a try to see how it worked for this low light, fast action situation.  The money I spent on rental went a long way in making this assignment go much smoother.  The equipment functioned perfectly and it was a breeze to return too.   

After a little post in Nik Color Efx, it turned out fine.

I worked a ton of hours over the 3 days, but it was a lot of fun plus Marlene was there to help me.  I haven't mentioned that I lost my voice for most of this assignment, so she was there to make sure we still delivered what our client needed.