Blog

Captain Dave

This is my good compadre, Dave. A sailor since his youth, a submariner who served our country, and a Master Scheduler with the voice of Jack Nicholson. Our paths first crossed when I joined Vantine Imaging in the summer of 2016. Dave helped show me the ropes at Vantine, and taught me plenty along the way. When I learned he was a sailor and expressed interest in coming along, he was generous enough to welcome me aboard his vessel, a 1967 37’ Chris-Craft Apache with classic lines and a navy hull. She was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and weighs in at about 15,000 lbs with a 5’9” draft and a 50’ keel-stepped mast. There were only 80 ever built. She’s a beauty, and compliments the man very well.

Dave taught me a lot about sailing and I appreciate his willingness to share his knowledge.

Fair winds and calm seas, Skipper!

For the first time on my blog, these are not my images. Photo credit goes to Kim Koennecke. She sailed with us this day and captured a series of images with her iPhone. I spent a bit of time with them in post to provide the look.

on set with derek webb | nashville, tn

amisha

Amisha Bhatt. Business extraordinaire and sharp as a tack. She's focused, driven, and resilient. I had the privilege of calling her a colleague for several years while living in the city of St. Louis, MO. This image was about eighteen months in the making, as life moved me in a whirlwind of directions. Thanks for your patience, Amisha.

Cheers.

Ryan Walters  |  Central New York Photographer

bre

This is Bre. We met up for an impromptu shoot on the outskirts on Indianapolis while I was road tripping from St. Louis to upstate New York. My direction for the shoot was that of a bohemian vagabond from the 1970's, and I think Bre pulled it off very well! There's some Janis Joplin soul in her swag, and I like it! Thanks for being game on such short notice!

Ryan Walters  |  Central New York Photographer

holly marie | ithaca farmer's market

On a recent location scout in Ithaca, NY, Holly and I discovered the Ithaca Farmer's Market. It was pouring down rain, so we were in search of a vacant, covered space to test some new gear and pull off a shoot in a pinch, if ever we were challenged to do so with a client. This space was inspiring! Constructed of old raw lumber, it must have been the length of a football fiield at least, and it provided endless possibilities. I was testing a new modifier with a speedlight for a lean and mean lighing kit in situations where I want to stay very light and mobile, but still have some lighting control over the environment. We were set up and shooting in a matter of minutes! Holly was gracious enough to endulge my expolration of the new kit, and we had a great time! It's been way too long since we did this sort of thing together, and I miss it. She was stellar, beautiful, and willing to let go and just have fun. The shoot yielded several memorable images, but this one is my favorite.

Ryan Walters | Central New York Photographer

place of legends | monument valley

Tim Kotthoff. You've seen him here before. I've written about his extraordinary gifts as a video editor, a mentor, and a teacher. In May of 2011, we took to the road on a quest to conquer The American West with cameras. Maybe it was the mountain air, or maybe the ghosts of legends like John Ford, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne who walked here before us, but in the midst of the desert, most notably in Monument Valley, I watched this man come of age as a photographer. And he has the work to prove it. His black and white prints hang gracefully throughout the halls and offices of a St. Louis marketing agency, and they bring an epic element to the space. This shot most successfully communicates the triumph and grandeur I witnessed out there. We're going back. Soon.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Photographer + Cinematographer

the gem

On a recent location scout for a music video with none other than the legendary, Gary Winchester, we came across an abandoned movie theater that looked promising for what we had in mind. Not wanting to miss an oportunity for some great images, Gary jumped out on a mission to find a way inside. It wasn't long before this "Here's Johnny" moment presented itself, and I fired one frame from the car. Obviously, he was pleased with his success, and the images that resulted were as epic as that grin!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Photographer + Cinematographer

bridget + justin


I recently had the chance to pull off an engagement shoot on location for an old friend. We shot at a winery in St. Gen, where they are to be married this September. Bridget and Justin were great to work with, and we came away with some memorable images. Thanks to you both for sweating with me, and being great sports about it!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Photographer

katie + maisy | volleyball

These two girls are awesome. They are fierce competitors and are both in the running for volleyball scholarships when the time comes! I was hired to create portraits of them for the purpose of sending to agents and coaches, and I thought what better way to feature an athlete than to treat this as a shoot for a Nike campaign or the Olympics. With that in mind, I worked to create striking (no pun intended), attentiona grabbing images of both girls to elevate their image and help them on their quest to a higher level of play.

Thanks for hanging out and best of luck to you both!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

my wife | puerto rico


In 2009, Holly and I were fortunate enough to take our first trip to Puerto Rico together. It was a vacation I'll never forget. It was her very first visit to the ocean, and my first time in Puerto Rico, we both had an amazing week. We stayed in a hotel called the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza and I highly recommend it.  The hotel's lobby was featured in Ocean's Eleven when several scenes with Brad Pitt and George Clooney were filmed there. We spent the majority of our time on the beach and shopping in Old San Juan, but the hotel was always an oasis to retreat to in the evenings. I fell more in love with the girl who would become my wife in rural surfer towns along the eastern coast of Puerto Rico.  It was then I knew I wanted to spend my life with her. We were married in 2010, and journeyed back for our honeymoon.

The image on the left is straight out of my camera, and the one on the right was edited using NIK's Snapseed. It's software that saves a professional photographer time when working to create vintage looks like this one. It's available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Give it a shot.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

macy + jeremy

These two people are awesome. I've had the pleasure of calling them colleagues at Apple for several years now, and it's been cool getting to know them. Macy and Jeremy are both incredibly creative people, and it's been interesting to watch them evolve and become entrepreneurs recently. They own a wedding videography business named Rue de la Vie. Check them out for all your wedding and save the date video needs! Having shot my wedding, I can personally recommend their services. They are professional, and they do a phenomenal job capturing your big day! They even offer Blu-Ray output! Thanks to you both for letting me be a part of your day, and I wish you all the best in your journey together!

For these shots, we placed the red sofa in an alley behind their home in Soulard. The ivy happened to be covering a nearby building, and I liked the texture it provided. We lit both shots with one light and a large octabank. The light was powered by a Vagabond II.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer