Of all the Arizona event photographers, I have been lucky enough to photography Carroll Shelby and his wife quite a bit the last ten years. I have also photographed him with all sorts of other people as well with the range including starting with Sammy Hagar all the way to Muhammad Ali. He lived life well, long, and charitably.

He was Born on January 11, 1923, in East Texas, and is considered one of the truly great American success stories of the 20th century. Race car driver, WWII “Flying Sergeant”, philanthropist, automotive entrepreneur and racing team owner, he came to embody the ingenuity, tenacity and grit needed to win during his 60+ year career. In just a few short years, he became a dominant figure on the racing scene. He was courted by the top car manufacturers in the world to drive for them, including Ferrari. Shelby captured three national sports car championships in the United States, earned a spot on the Aston-Martin team in Europe, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and set land speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats. Twice, he was named Sports Illustrated’s “Driver of the Year.”

Still in his prime, a heart condition caused him to abandon his driving prematurely in 1960. Instead of reeling in self-pity, Shelby turned his attention and talents to race car design and automotive manufacturing. At the same time, Shelby’s operations turned out the Shelby 289 and 427 Cobras, as well as a succession of Mustang-based Shelby’s created at the request of Lee Iacocca at Ford Motor Company. He scaled back his California operations in the late 1960s when new government regulations and insurance rules began to affect the sales of performance cars. For several years, he operated businesses in Africa until civil war in the region closed them down. He was also a pioneer for modern licensing programs in the automotive industry. Beginning in the 1960s, he began licensing his name and designs for various products. Unfortunately, he was forced to assert his right to his famous trademarks and designs many times over the years, too.

He spent 50 years establishing and protecting his name, trademarks and car design rights, and in the 1980s he established Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc., which licenses companies worldwide to manufacture, market and sell everything from the best and fastest muscle cars on the road (e.g. the 1960s Shelby Cobra 289, 427 and Daytona Coupe, and more recently the Ford Shelby GT-500) to premium Shelby memorabilia.

He considered his greatest achievement to be the establishment of the Carroll Shelby Foundation™. Created in 1992 while Shelby was waiting for a heart transplant in the hospital, the charity is dedicated to providing medical assistance for those in in need, including children. The Foundation also supports educational opportunities for young people through automotive and other training programs and benefits the Carroll Shelby Automotive Foundation.“Carroll formed a foundation to give something back to those who have not been as fortunate as him, in both medicine and education,” explained Carroll Shelby Foundation Board Member M. Neil Cummings, Esq. “The Foundation is well endowed to continue Carroll’s vision.”

Carroll remained active in the management of each of his companies and the Foundation until his death, even though he endured both heart and kidney transplants in the last two decades of his life. An innovator and pioneer, he achieved an almost mythical status that never diminished. He traveled the world, socialized with movie stars and beauty queens, made and lost numerous fortunes, won races, built cars and lived large.

http://www.carrollshelbyent.com/home.php

http://www.carrollshelby.com/

http://shelbyautos.com/

http://www.cscf.org/

As an event photographer Phoenix is my home base but I often find myself doing projects all over the metro area usually with some project and clients taking my around the state, country, and even out of the country at times. First Western Trust has been a client of mine since they started their business. Ironically and with much success they opened their bank and first branch in Scottsdale, Arizona the month the US economy crashed in the fall of 2008. As a testament of what kind of a bank and what kind of people run it they are a continually growing success today with now a second branch office opened in the Biltmore area of Phoenix, Arizona and nine other branches out of state. Each year they have a speaker come and speak to their bank members for an evening gathering with a great dinner and drinks on the edge of Tempe Town Lake. The speaker is usually a presidential advisor or someone who has a vast knowledge and understanding at forecasting the financial future of the year to come. I have been lucky enough to be able to both photograph and sit in to listen to these people speak. This year it was Sam Donaldson who was a very down to earth and almost over the top friendly and personable. I liked how he always simply introduced himself to people by saying hello I am Sam. He is a 44 year ABC news veteran, served two appointments as chief White House Correspondent for ABC covering Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton. He has covered many major news stories such as the Vietnam War, Watergate, the House Judiciary Committee impeachment investigation, and the Gulf War. He currently lives on and runs a cattle ranch in New Mexico. As First Western Trust continues to grow the continually are making a bigger impact supporting more charity foundations. This year they awarded donation checks to representatives of Boys and Girls Clubs of greater Scottsdale, Child’s Play, The Arizona Hemophilia Association, and Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. I really enjoy all my shoots with all the people of First Western Trust as they are some of the best people I have ever met.

http://myfw.com/

http://www.bgcs.org/

https://www.hemophiliaz.org/

http://www.autismcenter.org/

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

I have always loved shooting food photography. Probably because I know I will be eating really good on those shoot days and will most likely be taking some home as well. I recently did professional commercial photography of about a dozen of the featured specialties at The Wrigley Mansion. I also photographed many images of the infamous Sunday buffet there as well which is acknowledged as one of the best in Phoneix. The Wrigley Mansion has an eclectic synergy, blending elements of the 1930′s art deco style with the energy of today. Enjoy signature cocktails or a light snack, while viewing the best sunset in the valley. With the view as dramatic as the atmosphere, you should go and experience the passion and history of the Wrigley Mansion. tWe had to have the entire shoot done before the restaurant opened on a Sunday morning for the spectacular buffet. The first plate out to me was this amazing presentation of a caesars salad and I knew it was going to be a tasty day. It was followed by plate after plate of beautifully laid out edible pieces of fantastically tasting art. We had lights and everything set up in the other room as well waiting to shoot the infamous Sunday buffet right at the last minute before it was completely set up and before the first customer was to would walk in. I would recommend checking it out whether to sample some appetizers, to have an elaborate meal, or indulge in the Sunday feast. And, if you can do it on a day when they have the guided tours of the mansion you will get the most out of your experience and visit. Aaahh, some of the benefits of doing professional commercial photography in a city with such great food as Phoenix, Arizona are priceless.

http://www.wrigleymansionclub.com/

As one of the leading Phoenix event photographers I was out in Las Vegas shooting the Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction in the fall. We do a lot of work in Las Vegas where there are more events than anywhere in the world. This event was at Mandalay Bay Resort which was really nice being able to stay, work, and play all in the same destination without ever having to leave. Whether shooting myself or with a team we always use only the ultimate and most up to date top of the line Nikon and Cannon equipment. Though photography is all I have ever done my entire life it never gets old because of the ever changing technology whether it be at my end being the user of the cameras and software or because of the clients ever changing technologies. It all supports a unique ever changing ever evolving challenge and ability to continually  re invent and create new and different for my clients. The Las Vegas auction is always packed with celebrities and this time I photographed Criss Angel, The Old Man from Pawn Stars, Rick from American Restoration, Josh Duhamel, and many others. Of all the Barrett Jackson Car Auctions the Las Vegas show has the most super cars and the most rest mods which are my two favorite types of cars. And, in addition to all these good things it is a nice relaxing half days drive across the desert so no planes, no security, no rental cars, and we just travel at our own pace and stop along the way to collect odds and ends out of the middle of nowhere desert. It’s almost impossible to be a Phoenix event photographer and not be also regularly shooting high end events in beautiful close by Las Vegas, Nevada.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/

http://mandalaybay.com/default.aspx

https://tv.crissangel.com/

http://www.gspawn.com/

As an Arizona event photographer I travel anywhere for my clients and went to Orange County, California for the Barrett Jackson 2011 auction. It was literally cool and Costa Mesa, California cool. They had $14m in sales, $850k was raised for charities, and 60,000 people walked through the gates. 60% of the bidders where new to Barrett Jackson and they purchased half of the cars. I got to photograph all the cars, the people, the auctioneers, the charities, the celebrities, and the action. It was a great event and very, very cool. 

www.barrett-jackson.com

As photographers in AZ  I photograph people, places, and things. I work out of Phoenix, Arizona but will be more than glad to go anywhere, especially when it is 120 degrees in the shade here in the summer. Here are some iP4/Instagram images for ya to check out. No job to big, to small, or to boring for me. I just love working and love being able to make a living at being a photographer. It is all I have done and all I want to do. I hope you enjoy.

Though usually when I get to go out of town I am doing it for photography work. I have been lucky enough to go on one trip for work and one trip for concert watching, Mexican food eating, Pacifico drinking, sunset watching relaxing fun this summer. The trip for work was for Barrett Jackson Orange County included a week of photographing beautiful cars and enjoying weather in the 70s. The trip to Mexico was to renew my Mexican business license but mostly to see Random Karma and Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers play for Circus Mexicus. Both, beautiful places and included is an image from each of two of my other favorite places – Oregon and Burning Man. These are iP4/Instagram images.                                           www.alstrinphotography.com

Pacific City, Oregon

Costa Mesa, California

Cholla Bay, Mexico

Burning Man Temple

Window Reflection

Casa de Rangel

Las Palomas Golf Course

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend. Heres to a great rest of the year!                              www.alstrinphotography.com

Happy 4th of July 2011

Happy 4th of July 2011

These are some editorial studio images that were shot for a fashion spread  and for some of the covers of Arizona Weddings Magazine 2010/2011 edition. They wanted to use only one model and show as many different looks as possible, so with each dress change there was hair and make up changes. After the photo shoot we did some post production work in adding the b/w flowered backgrounds to the images. We photographed the model in 12 different dresses with 12 different looks and in addition we did other sets of shots for the magazine covers.     www.arizonaweddings.com    www.alstrinphotography.com

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

AZ Weddings Magazine Fashion

Went to the nostalgic old school drags in Wittmann, Arizona last weekend to photography a couple friends of mine running their cars. More often than not I am photographing cars while they are not going 250 mph, so it was fun. The weather was awesome for spending a day at the 50th anniversary of Speedworld Drag Strip.                                      www.speedworlddragstrip.com                                    www.alstrinphotography.com

Speedworld Drags

Speedworld Drags

Speedworld Drags