With my camera.

"You have 5 minutes to get the shot."

That's what I was given by the powers that be.

I enjoy the pressure of pulling off something seemingly impossible. And if given the opportunity I might add another layer of complexity for myself, just to say I did it.

Colin Powell was in town speaking at a leadership conference, and agree to lend his voice to our local education fund.

I live in Birmingham AL. Our local Education Fund had reached out to different notable people with a connection to Birmingham. General Powell's wife had a connection here, so he agreed to be part of the campaign to raise funds and awareness to public education.

There was an agreed-upon look that we were going for, so I shot that, and then something for myself.

When shooting campaigns, there's an agreed-upon concept that I am asked to shoot. This one was Gen. Powell sitting behind a red desk with his hand raised. As a portrait artist, I also wanted to get something for myself, that reflected my vision as a photographer. But, I only had 5 minutes with him.

Two completely different set-ups, 4 minutes and time to spare.

With a great deal of planning, I crafted together 2 completely different lighting setups in one room. I wanted to create a portrait with more drama to it than what was needed for the campaign. General Powell walked in, ready to do whatever we needed. He sat behind the desk raised his hand and we started shooting. Once we had confirmation that we nailed that shot, I switched channels on my remote trigger and asked General Powell to turn slightly. He lowered his hands onto the desk and looked slightly off-camera. Nailed shot 2. Once I was happy with my shot, I told him we were done. He was shocked that we were finished so fast. We stood and chatted for a minute before he was whisked away to his speaking time slot.