Champion Cornhole Player Ryan Smith for The Wall Street Journal

Eric Kayne February 6, 2020

Ryan Smith, a former defensive back for James Madison University, found his post-collegiate athletic calling through the game of cornhole. The object, to toss a bean bag 45 feet away into a hole six inches in diameter, is as challenging as it sounds.

I was able to photograph Ryan at a brewery, Twinpanzee, in Sterling, Virginia. The cavernous space offered lots of room to work in. Movable walls made of plywood the brewery uses to separate brewing equipment from the cornhole court created interesting, clean backgrounds and good visual separation between Ryan and what would otherwise have been a very cluttered background of tanks and hoses. The best part is Ryan had no problem at all with my strobe blasting away for the whole shoot. He continually dropped bags into the hole like he was standing right over it - it really was amazing to witness.

It’s a good thing we both showed up early, because I used up a half-hour attempting some stroboscopic images of Ryan tossing the bag, but there was just too much ambient light I couldn’t control, so I bagged the idea and moved the strobe behind and to Ryan’s right, really just to see what it would look like and to get some kind of visual starting point. As soon as I saw the potential in the first frame of creating Ryan’s silhouette on the wall and getting his beanbag in there, nicely separated inside the shadow, I knew I’d have a keeper.

My favorite photo is the first one below. I brought along a Q-Flash T5D-R, a small, powerful strobe that is easy to move around in active environments like the cornhole court.

The image also set a style for the remainder of the shoot. Luckily, Ryan was playing in front of a large stainless steel wall, inside which kegs of delicious beer are kept. The Q-Flash loves shiny surfaces, and with Ryan’s bright red jersey, blue beanbags, and outgoing personality, I was able to create images that, for me at least, made something visible from the invisible.

Check out The Wall Street Journal’s story to learn about his workout routine and how he keeps in shape physically and mentally for his upcoming busy tournament season. And see some outtakes and the tearsheet below.

Ryan Smith, an Ashland, Virginia Project Manager at a logistics firm and top-ranked corn-hole player, practices Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 in Sterling, VA.

Cover and feature photography for Maryland Leaf magazine's February 2020 issue

Eric Kayne February 4, 2020

I hope your week is going well because it’s about to get a lot better after you check out the pics I made for my first Maryland Leaf assignment! We toured the grow operations at gLeaf Medical Cannabis in Frederick, Maryland for the February issue.

Fifty from 50 - Images from US Highway 50, from California to Maryland, fourth in a series of posts

Eric Kayne April 30, 2019

Constructed in 1926, US 50 was part of the original United States highway system and extends from California to Maryland. Our recent move from Oakland, California to Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, DC inspired me to travel on this historic byway and document my journey. All work was shot on a Mamiya 6, a film camera that creates negatives that are six centimeters square. This camera really forces me to shoot with intention. The film stock is mostly Ektar 100, for those who are curious.

Nativity tableaux, Linn, Missouri.

Santa horse, Louisburg, Kansas.

Kaskaskia river, Carlyle, Illinois.

Spring Hill Cemetery, Shoals, Indiana.

A murmuration of starlings near Odin, Illinois.

East Saint Louis, Illinois.

Swing set, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

Wheatland Generating Plant, Wheatland, Indiana.

Roof cow, Rowlesburg, West Virginia.

Grafton, West Virginia.

Nativity tableaux, Odin, Illinois.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Motel door, Pleasant Valley, West Virginia.

Tanner's Creek Generating Station, Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Sunrise, Ladue, Missouri.

Fifty from 50 - Images from US Highway 50, from California to Maryland, third in a series of posts

Eric Kayne March 15, 2019

Cañon City, Colorado. These colorful cider bottles with the sun streaking through them caught my eye, but not just because of the color, but because they were very dusty. It boggled my mind that someone would put these bottles out for display to entice shoppers to stop inside their store wouldn’t clean their product of dust I could see from a moving car passing by on the street. I stopped and grabbed a few shots of totally meaningless eye candy, and then noticed an old Chevy around the corner in the parking lot. I made a few shots when an older woman with a heavy Germanic accent aggressively confronted me to ask what I was doing. I told her I was taking a picture of the car and she replied that there had been a lot of vandalism lately. Mind you, this was in the middle of the day along a major artery of Cañon City, in a parking lot that was empty save for the Chevy. All in all, not a great first impression for Cañon City. I cut off her rant by apologizing for disturbing her and walked back to my car. It’s too bad because in hindsight, I would have loved to make her portrait and buy some cider.

Museum of Colorado Prisons, Cañon City, Colorado. The website compels visitors to “unlock the past and experience the colorful history of prison life!”

A giant snow plow rests at Monarch Pass in Colorado. The pass sits on the continental divide at an elevation of 11,312 feet above sea level. I had great weather during the road trip and going through the pass in the middle of winter was a breeze – no snow plow required! Seeing this bright orange snow plow reminded me of a funny story my wife told me about learning to drive a stick-shift as a teenager. My mother-in-law told her she’d need to know how just in case she ever needed to drive a Snow-Cat. It seems hilarious because my wife is from St. Louis. But I suppose that since “The Shining” was still relatively fresh in people’s minds in those days, we all probably should have learned how to drive a Snow-Cat.

A decommissioned tank with the words “Spear Chucker” on the turret sits in the Offerle, Kansas city park.

Grain mill, Halstead, Kansas, photographed after eating a Subway sandwich. I realize grain mills at dusk are visual low hanging fruit, but I couldn’t resist!

A white-tailed deer sprints away from tracks left over from the old Santa Fe Trail near Dodge City, Kansas. Opened by Spaniards at the end of the 18th century, the Santa Fe Trail brought migrants into the west in the 19th century from 1821 until 1880.

Two views of the 8-ball water tower in Tipton, Missouri. The tower was built by Fisher Manufacturing, which for a time was the biggest maker of billiards tables, to protect its new factory from fire. The plant closed in 1977 and was bought by Fasco Manufacturing, which painted over the tower with its logo. Fasco closed in 1989 and the town decided to repaint the tower with an 8-ball in 1999. The tower is sometimes recognized as the world’s largest 8-ball.

Two views of the capitol building in Jefferson City, Missouri. The building is undergoing renovations but it looked like Christo and Jeanne-Claude had been by and wrapped the building like they did the Reichstag.

Two views of an abandoned school in Bushong, Kansas, population 34. The town was named after St. Louis Browns catcher Albert J. "Doc" Bushong who played in the 1886 World Series, beating the Chicago White Stockings. Bushong was also the location of an Atlas missile base, abandoned in 1965. Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the missile base while I was in the town, despite it being only 10 minutes away. However, it’s a great reason to head back out on the road!

“Paulhenge,” located in Versailles, Indiana. The sun shines through the holes on solstices and equinoxes .

Stonehenge structure, Matfield Green, Kansas, population 47. According to Wikipedia, the village contains a small colony of artists and writers. I assume their Stonehenge structure is an art project and gathering place.

Fifty from 50 - Images from US Highway 50, from California to Maryland, second in a series of posts

Eric Kayne February 27, 2019

Graffiti covers a metal wall inside a target structure at the Dixie Valey Naval Training Area. The valley was acquired from local ranchers by the US Navy for electronic warfare simulation in 1995. The water table is very high in the area and many ranches in fact were beginning to experience sinkholes and subsidence.

Target structure at the Dixie Valey Naval Training Area. The valley was acquired from local ranchers by the US Navy for electronic warfare simulation in 1995. The water table is very high in the area and many ranches in fact were beginning to experience sinkholes and subsidence.

Graffiti at Sand Bench Viewing Area in Utah. The pullout features spectacular views of the San Rafael Swell, an area managed by the Bureau of Land Management, consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide Orogeny 60-40 million years ago.

A man jumps in the air for a photograph at the Sand Bench Viewing Area in Utah. The pullout features spectacular views of the San Rafael Swell, an area managed by the Bureau of Land Management, consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide Orogeny 60-40 million years ago.

Ticket booth, Blackhawk Arena, Salina, Utah.

Camp Salina, a former WWII POW camp in Salina, Utah, is the site of the worst POW massacre in United States history. American private Clarence Bertucci, immediately after beginning his guard duty around midnight, fired a .30 caliber M1917 Browning machine gun into thirty of the forty-three prisoner tents, unloading 250 rounds in about 15 seconds. Most of the German soldiers were from Erwin Rommel's Afrikakorps. Nine soldiers were killed and nineteen were wounded. Bertucci, who already had two prior court martials, concluded that he had hated Germans, so he had killed Germans. Bertucci was found to be insane by military officials and spent the rest of his life in Mason General Hospital in Brentwood, New York until his death in December 1969.

A roadside Native American statue in Salina, Utah. The statue used to be a slave holding a cup, but was rebuilt sometime between 2003 and 2004. The cup was changed to an axe, and the slave was transformed into a Native American.

The home of the Herbert Clutter family, Holcomb, Kansas. The four family members were murdered in the home in 1959 and were the subject of Truman Capote’s masterpiece “In Cold Blood.”

Fifty from 50 - Images from US Highway 50, from California to Maryland, first in a series of posts

Eric Kayne February 21, 2019

Constructed in 1926, US 50 was part of the original United States highway system and extends from California to Maryland. Our recent move from Oakland, California to Silver Spring, Maryland inspired me to travel on this historic byway and document my journey. This image was made in western Kansas, where the US 50 runs almost parallel to the old Santa Fe Trail, a critical transportation route in the 19th century.

A demilitarized tank sits at the Dixie Valley Naval Training Area. Dixie Valley was a small ranching community outside of Fallon, Nevada that was acquired by the US Navy for electronic warfare simulation in 1995. While most of the area is publicly accessible, a sign near the entrance states “The land beyond this sign is used by NAS Fallon for military training. Low flying aircraft, military vehicles and personnel may be using flares, smoke/simulator grenades, and blank fire ordinance on this area at any time.” Needless to say, I wasn’t attacked while I was there. The area was quiet and vast. While researching the area, where other demilitarized vehicles and radar stations are spread across the valley, it was suggested that Dixie Valley was used to mock an invasion by a foreign power on American soil. Also, the Navy’s “TOPGUN” program (Naval Fighter Weapons Program), moved from Miramar, California to the area a year after Dixie Valley was acquired. If anyone has an idea of what kind of tank this is, please let me know in the comments!

It’s hard to describe the isolation of Dixie Valley, a former ranching community in the Nevada desert now used for combat simulation by the US Navy. So, imagine my surprise when I met this cowboy as I was going down the last road I told myself I’d explore in the valley before moving on down US 50. I stopped and we chatted for a spell and he told me I was the first person he’d spoken with in weeks. Apparently, the valley is not just for combat simulation, but is also interspersed with ranchland. He was preparing to ride out into the desert to drive cattle to another pasture, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was completely jealous. He’s originally from Cleveland, Ohio but made his way to the desert after a series of moves that became more and more rural as time went on.

Street signs mark a former neighborhood in Dixie Valley, Nevada. The area was purchased by the US Navy in 1995 to use for combat simulation by fighter and electronic warfare pilots. There’s a part of me that is fascinated by neighborhoods that revert back to nature ever since portions of my childhood neighborhood were allowed to return to nature following a 100-year flood.

A demilitarized troop carrier, used as target practice inside the Dixie Valley Naval Training Area in the Nevada desert. The area was purchased by the US Navy in 1995 to use for combat simulation by fighter and electronic warfare pilots. The area is littered with decommissioned tanks, radar stations, troop vehicles and other abandoned structures. While the area is publicly accessible, there is still a warning sign at the entrance to the valley stating that the area is still actively used for training purposes.

Buses traveling back from the sierras to a school district near San Jose.

Cattle watering troughs near Dixie Valley, Nevada.

A Project Shoal Nuclear Test Site monitoring well in the Nevada desert. The underground nuclear test took place October 26, 1963 to compare seismic activity between a natural earthquake and a nuclear blast. The 12-kiloton device was detonated at 1,211 feet underground.

A wall of polaroids at La Fiesta restaurant in Ely, Nevada made on a dinner break on a cross country trip from California to Maryland on US Highway 50.

A Midwestern Holiday

Eric Kayne January 16, 2018

Photography: Road trip photos of Missouri

I married into a family that has many more traditions than my family. We go to my wife's hometown of St. Louis at least three times a year, and every time I go, I add to an ongoing photo essay of St. Louis and the region. St. Louis is different in a way that is hard for an outsider like myself to describe, so I do it with images.

As some of my other personal work is about the environment and our impact on it, some of the pictures I make relate to this theme. However, I also make pictures of my in-laws and their home. It's a quiet house on a quiet street, with a quiet dignity to the area that is different than the suburbs of San Antonio I grew up in, hewed out of South Texas caliche and live oak scrub.

As we become more alike in the Age of Information, I still try to celebrate the regional differences in America that give each place it's own particular flavor.

My daughter plays with a glow stick, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Guest bedroom, my wife's former bedroom growing up, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

A performer at the St. Louis City Museum, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Lighthouse decor, my in-laws' home, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My in-laws' bookshelf, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My daughter lights Hanukkah candles, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Geese fly Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Gateway Arch, as seen Dec. 2017 in East St. Louis, Missouri.

A graveyard in the middle of farm land, Dec. 2017 south of Columbia, Illinois.

Charred foliage surrounds the cap at the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project December 27, 2017 in Weldon Springs, MO.

Car accident, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Bridgeton Sanitary Landfill, Dec. 27, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. An underground fire was detected underneath the landfill in 2010 and still burns today. There have been concerns as radioactive waste is also buried nearby the landfill.

Self-portrait, under-construction golf driving range outside of Chesterfield, MO, Dec. 27, 2017

New Year’s Day, 2018, St. Louis, MO at the City Museum.

Frosted window in my in-laws' bedroom window, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

My father-in-law speaks on the phone in his bedroom, Dec. 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Northern California fire coverage for The Wall Street Journal

Eric Kayne October 19, 2017

Last week, I was called by The Wall Street Journal to shoot video and still photographs of the aftermath of the historic wildfire in Sonoma and Mendocino counties in northern California. The devastation was unlike anything I had ever witnessed.

My assignments allowed me to interact with the Monroes, whose family property in Redwood Valley, California was completely destroyed. You can read the harrowing story here.

Fire aftermath in the Coffey Park neighborhood Oct. 12, 2017 in Santa Rosa, CA.

Cal Fire officials survey the damage of a devastating fire in the Coffey Park neighborhood Oct. 13, 2017 in Santa Rosa, CA.

Fire aftermath in the Coffey Park neighborhood Oct. 13, 2017 in Santa Rosa, CA.

Eli Monroe, center, stands by his car he used to barely escape the Mendocino-area wildfire on his family's property Oct. 15, 2017 in Redwood Valley, CA.

Jan Hoyman's property destroyed by wildfire in a secluded neighborhood off Tomki Road Oct. 15, 2017 in Redwood Valley, CA.

Firemen search for hotspots on Jan Hoyman's property destroyed by wildfire in a secluded neighborhood off Tomki Road Oct. 15, 2017 in Redwood Valley, CA.

The Monroe family property destroyed by wildfire in a secluded neighborhood off Tomki Road Oct. 15, 2017 in Redwood Valley, CA.

Firemen leave the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds Oct. 15, 2017 in Ukiah, CA. The fairgrounds were used as a staging area for fire officials.

A burned car sits on the road to the Monroe family property, destroyed by wildfire in a secluded neighborhood off Tomki Road Oct. 15, 2017 in Redwood Valley, CA.

Right-wing rally at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park

Eric Kayne August 28, 2017

It was a busy weekend here in the Bay Area, ending with a sometimes violent rally held at at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. The event began quietly and then quickly ramped up into violence. I avoided the main scrum and stayed around the edges. However, quite a bit of activity happened where I was stationed near Allston and MLK, where I made the photos below. 13 people were arrested, but thankfully nothing happened as tragic as what took place in Charlottesville a few weeks ago.

Protest coverage for the San Francisco Chronicle

Eric Kayne January 24, 2017

Last week was busy in the Bay Area with multiple rallies and protests connected to the presidential inauguration. I was sent to cover two protests, both at or near Oakland City Hall on two separate days, for the San Francisco Chronicle.

As this was the same area that was exposed to rioting following the 2016 election, it was all-hands-on-deck. For the protest following the inauguration, photojournalists, myself included, would work in overlapping shifts that began at 7am in the morning and didn't end until 15 hours later. For those who've never experienced it, covering a large, all-day protest with the threat of possible violence in the evening required a bit of planning and mental preparation. Having covered the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, where I was shot in the arm with a "non-lethal" projectile and sucked up plenty of CS gas, I made sure my ducks were in a row: putting the flak vest and helmet into my car, as well as making sure I had a fresh respirator cartridge in my gas mask.

While covering Ferguson, I learned an important lesson. I had bought a gas mask from local Army surplus store the day after my first night of coverage where I found out just how nasty CS gas is. Like clockwork, gas came again the next night. It was only then I learned that filter cartridges have expiration dates. Whoopsy! Luckily, things didn't progress in that direction in Oakland this time around. After all was said and done, I think only three people were arrested out of a march of thousands, which I've learned is apparently very tame by Oakland standards.

By the way, I'm totally great with tame protests. Imagine looking for moments to photograph while simultaneously keeping an eye open for anarchists looking to punch me, or grab my camera, while carrying about 30 pounds of gear following four hours of marching. It's a lot to think about.

The images I've included in this post aren't necessarily the most storytelling or dramatic, just my favorites from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!