You might have noticed a few changes around here, and even though things are in beta a little bit, it’s still a welcomed change. But just in case you haven’t noticed, let me point out a few things.

The most obvious change is the layout, which has come quite a long way since the original design. I’m still tweaking it, but soon I’ll have a dynamic portfolio that will expand and contract with the size of the browser window. I’ve also got to flesh out a few of the other details, but that will happen too.

I also tweaked the logo a bit, something which is a bit of a minor change, but still important. I changed the default font to something similar but a bit more modern, and I also designed a new circular logo designed for stickers and vertical placement.

Finally, there’s also a few new ways to contact me. In the menu bar on the left there are icons for the Whipps Industries Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as the RSS feed. Feel free to become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get updates as they come. Additionally, I’ve also implemented a new contact form for email, which should solve the communication issue as well.

These are just a few of the changes here, and there are more on the way. Thanks for stopping by.

I’ve been working a lot on getting the site up to date, but in the meantime, I’ve also been working on getting my name out there. Originally, I hoped that somehow — through the magic of the Internet — that I could keep my private life and business life separate; I could maintain my own persona there and keep that apart from my life here. But that just isn’t realistic. If you’re a potential client and you want to find me, you’re going to do a Google search for my name. And if you do that, you’re going to find everything. Even the bad stuff.

Sidebar: I just Googled my name, and apparently, there are several Kevin Whipps’ on MySpace, as well as one on Bandcamp. Fascinating.

Anyways, if you find me offensive in any way, then chances are good that I’m not the person for your next project. I am a bit of a personality, and no matter how professional I act, there will always be some way to find out what skeletons I have in my closet, just like there is for everyone else.

So with that, I give you the list of every possible way to get ahold of Kevin Whipps, Whipps Industries and everything else I do on the web.

Twitter

• @kwhipps
• @whippsind

Facebook

• Kevin Whipps
• Whipps Industries

About.me

Formspring

Tumblr

LinkedIn

Seven years ago, I was a struggling writer. I was published in three or four magazines at the time, just starting to dip my toes into photography, and my main focus was still my full-time job. At the time, I was the shipping department manager for a software company, but if you want to translate it a different way, I worked for my folks. I did spend lots of time organizing and cleaning up the shipping department, and I’d like to think that I made a positive impact on the company. But when the busy season left, I was idle a good amount of time, which became awkward.

That was around the time that I really started to explore blogging and other bloggers. I found some great writers on the web, and even began writing for fun instead of for profit. Somewhere in the process I discovered someone who would become one of my favorite authors, the Magazine Man, or as most people know him, MM.

MM writes in a way that really makes you feel like you’re sitting down next to him in your living room, just chatting like you’ve been friends forever. He can lead the reader up to a point where all they want to do is keep reading, then stop and say “to be continued,” causing everyone to moan and beg for that next post to come up. He creates anticipation, but also rewards the reader with heartwarming tales about his family and his dog; He’s an amazing writer. I’ve followed his blog ever since I discovered it seven years ago, and even though he doesn’t update it very frequently, it’s still a great read every time.

When I became the editor at Rebel, I knew that I wanted to bring in some of the writers that I admired and put them up on a national platform. Not everyone I e-mailed replied, and that was a bit disappointing, but when MM sent back an e-mail saying that he’d be interested, I was ecstatic. He ended up writing a story for the magazine about Christmas and his son, and it was just perfect. So perfect that even after I left the magazine, Rebel still wanted him to write for them.

When I left Rebel, I reached out to MM. I knew he was the editor at a national magazine, and I figured I’d see if I could get some freelance work. Sure enough, he assigned me a 500-word story and after that was turned in, he asked me to go out and shoot some pics too. It didn’t matter that I had no experience writing for that type of magazine, I still was given a chance to show what I could do, and I appreciated it.

The magazine (pictured above) is called Healthy Cooking. For a guy who clocks in over 250 lbs, “healthy” doesn’t generally come up with my name. But besides that, the article was about community supported agriculture (also called a CSA), and a local farmer here in town. Fascinating stuff, really, so go out an buy the magazine. One of my pictures is in the table of contents, and the article is on page 38.

So what makes this such a big deal? Healthy Cooking is a part of the Reader’s Digest family of magazines, and now I’m in their system. That means that I can pitch to other editors in the company, and use that as an entry point. The pay is more than good, and it’s paid within 30 days of acceptance, not of publication. If all of my magazines did that, I’d have a ton more cash in my hand, that’s for sure. It’s like I’ve been playing minor league ball for years and the Red Sox just called me up to play first base; It’s that big of a deal to me.

I’ve got quite a few things in the works for this year, and seeing this article in print makes me think I’m on the right path. I’m always going to shoot custom cars and trucks, and I’ll always still be a car guy, but being able to get my words out into a whole different demographic is really quite cool, and the start of something bigger.

Looking back, it’s kind of funny that my lack of productivity seven years ago lead me to a new high point in my career today, but I guess sometimes that’s just how things work.

Time to get a little personal.

I’ve never really been one of those guys who was into sports. I guess that comes from my father, who was born and raised in Canada, and thus loves some good Canadian beer and has at least a passing interest in hockey. For me though, growing up in Boston meant loving — or learning to love — all things Boston sports, win lose or draw. Back then, the Red Sox had Clemens, the Patriots sucked, the Celtics were amazing and the Bruins weren’t really on my radar. When we moved to Arizona from Boston, all of that sporting atmosphere got sucked out and I was left with this weird void. Arizona didn’t have a football or baseball team at the time, and the Phoenix Suns had never won a championship. It was a completely different experience.

As I grew older, I started to get back into the swing of things. I started watching more professional sports through college, and attended a few games here and there. But I was never really the SportsCenter guy until about 6 years ago, when I decided that it was time to get back into sports.

Many people have a favorite group of teams, and it’s usually based on where you’re from. For me, I had three choices: Montreal (where I was born), Boston (where I grew up) or Arizona (where I’ve been for at least 20 years). You’d think that between the three choices that I would just choose a few favorites and move on, but that’s not really how it worked. Somehow, I’ve gained a weird sentimentality for certain teams, and I can’t really explain why. For example, I like the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins — but if pressed, I’m Canadiens all the way. With basketball, I’m the Phoenix Suns and the Boston Celtics, but anyone who knows me well enough understands that the Celtics are my true home team. Then there’s baseball.

With baseball, there’s never really been a choice. Sure, the argument could be made that I could have liked the Montreal Expos and therefore now the Washington Nationals, but I never really felt that connection to the team. Yes, I lived in Phoenix when the Arizona Diamondbacks made their World Series bid in 2001, but there’s something about the team I just don’t love. For me, baseball has always been about the Boston Red Sox.

It’s about history. The way I see it, a team should get a logo and then stick with that forever. Sure, it might look dated and need some minor refreshing here and there, but as a general rule of thumb, that’s your logo. If you plucked someone out from 2001 and showed them a 2011 Diamondbacks logo, what would they think? I mean, there’s several variants of the logo floating out there, and they even changed the colors. In 1933, this was the Boston Red Sox logo. Now, it’s this. Minor changes, sure, but in almost 100 years of baseball the Boston B has been the same. To me, that’s what baseball is all about.

This is also why I love living in Arizona. For one month I get to attend a Spring Training game for teams that make up half of the MLB, and then get ready for the regular season. This year, I wasn’t quite sure when I was going to get a chance to see any games, mostly because of my tight schedule, but through fate (and some coincidental planning), I was able to spend Thursday through Saturday last week catching some games.

At Spring Training, I don’t care who wins or loses, and I don’t care if I stay the whole game or just last a few hours. I like to sit down in my seat, watch a few innings play out then take a walk around the park to see what the facility is like. This year is the first for Salt River Fields, a shared stadium for the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. My wife and I spent Saturday sitting just 7 rows back from home plate (pictured above), and it was a phenomenal time.

Last week was a tough week for me, and getting to spend some quality time with my wife and friends enjoying a great sport made it all worthwhile. Maybe I’ll even sneak in another game or two before the season ends.

For almost 20 years now, I’ve been involved in some way, shape or form in the car industry. In that time, I’ve been mostly concerned with building show quality vehicles. I’m not sure exactly what it is about them, but I never really wanted a beater. For me, a custom car is finished top to bottom, paint and everything, and ready to be put on the floor at SEMA.Even after all the hard work though, I want to drive my cars as much as possible, which always makes me paranoid about getting a ding or a dent. Sometimes, it takes the pleasure out of driving them, which ultimately leads to me selling the ride and moving on to the next one.

Then I met Dino. A few years back, I was called by one of my editors and told to go shoot a piece on a guy who lived in Central Phoenix, and feature the many different trucks in his collection. At the time, he owned quite a few – six, I believe – mostly in the ’60-’66 C-10 era. He owned one show car, but the rest were just laid out trucks with reliable motors and big wheels. No fancy paint, no shaved handles or roll pans; just pure, simple, drivers. I asked Dino why he never really took his trucks to that next level, and his answer surprised me.

See, Dino lives a different lifestyle than most. His cars live in his backyard, which is also where his 100+ pound rottweiler spends most of his time. On more than one occasion, Dino would go out into the yard and find the dog sleeping on the hood or in the cab, leaving scratches and dents in his wake. Owning a show truck didn’t make sense for Dino, because he didn’t want to worry about an accident with a dog or a ding from a shopping cart. The main thing for Dino is that he owns a mechanically sound vehicle that runs and drives excellently, lays low, and that’s it. Forget the primered shell or the faded paint. For him, it’s about function.

This concept seemed foreign to me at the time, but after spending more time with Dino, I learned that it was just his way. Dino loves his trucks, but he doesn’t hang onto them for years at a time unless he really likes them. Instead, he buys them and flips them fairly quickly, but only once he’s gotten his fun with the vehicle out of his system. It made me see that I don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to have a cool truck, I just need to have something cool that I enjoy, and that’s ultimately all that matters.

Tonight, I went out and shot Dino’s latest creation, a 1953 Chevrolet 150. This gorgeous car sports the original inline six cylinder engine, stock faded paint and a redone interior. It’s mechanically sound, airbagged and rolling on 1949 Cadillac wheels. It’s not only fun to drive, but it’s fun just to look at, and gets tons of stares wherever it goes. For Dino, this car is just about perfect. Sure, he could buy a 350 and throw that under the hood, and yes, he could chop it and paint it with a heavy flake. But for him, this car is just fine as it sits and for now, he’ll drive it all day long.

This car, and people like Dino, are the reason I do what I do. It’s not always easy to find inspiration, and sometimes my job can be downright frustrating. But today, I found it in the faded patina of a 1953 Chevrolet.

Born at 3:45 pm. 8.2 lbs, 20.75 inches long and healthy.

I’m ecstatic.

I got a call from a good friend of mine the other day, about shooting a truck for one of the magazines I work for. “They screwed this article up royally,” he says to me. “I wasn’t even listed, and neither was another guy. You should shoot it for another magazine and make sure we get the right credit.”

I’ve been in this situation before, and it was a tricky scenario. Back then, I was a young photographer, just trying to make my way in the business. Now that I have a bit more experience however, I know the way this should go down.

Chances are pretty high that there’s a reason why my friend’s credits weren’t given in the tech sheet. Either the owner wasn’t happy with the results, or maybe someone else had to be paid to redo the job. Regardless, the owner doesn’t want to give certain people credit, and as the guy who possesses the vehicle, it’s his right to do so.

This puts me in a weird situation. I want to shoot the truck because I think it’s a great vehicle and I’d love to put it out there. But if I do that, I have to choose between satisfying the owner, and satisfying my friend. Either way, someone is going to get ticked off.

What’s the answer?

I put the truck on my “do not touch” list. It’s not a very long document or anything, but from now on, I don’t touch the truck or anything the owner builds. That way, I don’t risk irritating anyone along the line. Sure, that does rule out me shooting anything he does in the future, but more often than not, I photograph the cars of first-time vehicle builders. Chances are pretty good that I won’t be asked to shoot one of his trucks again, and if I do, I’ll politely decline.

Sometimes it’s more about being political than anything. It’s not a great situation to be in, but by avoiding it entirely, I also avoid the potential problems down the road.

Well, it’s taken some work, but I’ve been making some progress on the website. After some discussions with my programmer buddy, he got some of my portfolio things sorted out and now we just need to get the tech sheet online and we’ll be good to go.

Right now, the site is pretty sparse, but these improvements are going to help a lot. It only took me 10 minutes or so to update one of my past projects – the Makin’ Waves Ford Focus Wagon – and in the coming days I’ll be adding pictures of my Civic, my ’04 Silverado, and my latest project, a ’95 Silverado named Dumb Luck.

I am looking for a new project as well. I need something that can tow, but I also want something that will be very functional for me and my impending family. I’ve decided that I want a 1995-2000 Chevrolet/GMC 3500 crew-cab dually, a big truck that I can’t wait to buy. Pictured is my buddy Erik’s ’94 model, which sits on the frame on a 22-inch semi wheel. It was built by my good friend Todd at Lowboy Motorsports, and when I pick one up, eventually it will be a good four inches lower.

My plan is to build a truck that’s functional but looks good as well. I want to paint it a dark gray color and put the company logo on the sides as well as the tailgate, so that it’s tasteful but looks modern at the same time. Inside, I want to make it a mobile command center for the business, with a laptop mount, backup drive and everything else I’d need to take the truck across the country and process shoots on the road. Out back, I want to fabricate a removable mount for driving shots, and then a tool box that can securely hold my camera equipment with no fear of getting stolen. I’m even looking into mobile internet and TV, which would top it off.

Why something so big?

I love duallies. In fact, in the background of the picture above is my old dually, an ’87 squarebody Chevy which I sold to Erik around the time of this picture. They’re big, roomy, and can pull a house off the foundation, which is good enough for me. My ’95 project will be going to paint in New Mexico sometime this year, and having something to pull it with would make my life a lot easier. It also means that I can take my family anywhere I go, with room for the baby and all of our stuff. But since it has a bed, it’s great for photo shoots as well. For me, it’s the perfect vehicle. Now I just have to find something in my price range with low miles – not a small feat.

Keep on the lookout for some new pages in the coming days, with my portfolio being updated, as well as the project pics. And now that things are a bit more modern, I can post from the road as well, so I’m hoping to show you a different side of the photography world. There’s a lot of stuff going on here, so be patient, it will happen soon.