Sheri O'neal Photographer

I recently had an opportunity to shoot a few images at Gruhn Guitars, a downtown Nashville staple that was established in 1970. Owner, George Gruhn allowed me to look through the store and shoot what ever I wanted. It was overwhelming how many instruments he had in his inventory so I avoided the temptation of staying all day and focused on the private areas of the building in the different rooms above the showroom.

George has 25 employees, these include sales, staff and repair positions. As George walked me through a tour of the upstairs he shared with me that music was always a love but he went to college to be a Zoologist. His undergraduate studies were in animal behavior at the University of Chicago. He graduated from Duke with a degree in Zoology and did further studies in animal behavior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  His love of animals is evident with the fifteen snakes and the African grey parrot named Boid that reside in his office. At home he has two African serval cat’s, three Felis chaus cats and one plain ole cat I am sure feels a bit normal! When I asked him how he ended up in the guitar industry he said it was a hobby that turned into a lucrative business.

I started my moorning wanting to shoot from a journalistic prospective offering the viewer a vision of George, what goes on behind the scenes and showcasing some of my favorite instruments. Here are a few images from my brief visit…

(above) Fiddle peghead….

(above) Scott Kinsey repairing a 1930′s Martin acoustic.

(above) George Gruhn playing a 1970′s Martin OM-45 guitar.

(above) Greg Voros repairing a L-5 CES Gibson

(above) George with his parrot “Boid” who he has had since 1993 when she was 12 weeks old.

(above) Epiphone 1930 banjo…a very rare item.

(above) George with his bull snake, one of fifteen snakes that are kept safely  in aquariums in his office.

Although I am not much of a musician, I love music and I have a great appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into the creation and repair of vintage and high end instruments. I enjoyed my visit with George and his staff. In the end I can see the relationship of Zoology to the tracking, history and specific details of each item in George’s store! If you would like to stop in and visit George at  Gruhn Guitars (615-256-2033) the store is located in downtown Nashville at 400 Broadway and there is free parking behind the building.

Over the years I often have clients who continue to come back to update their photos. As a photographer this is the most rewarding thing about being in business. These days I realize there are more photographers available than ever in the past and most are willing to do the job cheaper if it means they can get the job. I have spent almost half of my life trying to make a career out of creativity and personally I believe that can’t be defined by a price tag but by a unique vision. I still work very hard to learn new techniques, to see things in different ways and in turn to create a unique image that can stand the test of time. Most importantly I work hard to make my clients feel appreciated by offering them the ability to speak openly about what they do and don’t like which helps me to be sure they are satisfied with the final results. Truthfully, I want them to feel less like a client and more like a friend. I am truly grateful for all of my clients, I am passionate about what I do and can’t imagine doing anything other that being a visual storyteller.

Erich Mahnke, Carlie Mahnke, and Melissa Peirce have come back for photos for several years. I shoot family images and PR images of them each time so it has been fun watching Erich’s daughter grow into a young lady.

I recently shot some images for a new client and now friend George (PORK) McElhinny. When I met him I was a little taken by the fact that he goes by the name PORK! Imagine talking on the phone to someone who goes by the name Pork not knowing what they look like, wondering if he might be a BIG guy and having to pre-visualizing shooting their pr images. To my surprise PORK is a good looking healthy guy, the shoot went great in my small studio and he can really play the guitar! I made him work hard for the right look on camera, there is no faking an intense guitar playing face! Here are a few images from the shoot and click here to see what Pork is all about. He is an awesome performer and you need to catch one of his shows! As you can see by the show announcement below he is playing with Travis Meadows, a great friend and awesome singer-songwriter whom I featured in my last blog post! One final note…PORK lives on Possum Trot Road, and no I am NOT making that part up!

On Friday June 25 I made a visit to Joe Glaser’s instrument repair company to pick up some gear he wanted to donate to my ReTune Nashville project.  Joe’s expertise has been said to be the best around and after visiting his facility he certainly has the volume of work to support the claim.  Loving the ability to turn any experience into a photo opportunity, I took along my camera just in case.  Joe started by taking me through his entire facility pointing out the flood damaged gear he was currently working on by such names as Keb Mo, Vince Gill, John Fogerty and so many others.  I asked if I could take some pictures and he allowed me to do so although some items were off limits to photos. What a great hour of learning about musical instruments and what his business does to fix many of these damaged and broken items.  I love shooting documentary style and would love to go back and cover Joe’s business from an editorial point of view, I enjoyed my visit and I walked away with some great pictures!  Joe graciously donated 8 guitars to ReTune Nashville (read previous post) from prominent artist that were not worth fixing, all of these items were stored at Soundcheck, a facility  that house’s most of  Nashville’s prominent musician’s gear.  I was blown away by what he shared with me and so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet this talented man in person!  Below are some of the photos I shot on Friday…enjoy!

This guitar was estimated to be worth a hundred thousand dollars and Joe believes it can be restored to it’s original look and sound.  He has a special machine that can grind the fret board down eliminating any warping that occurred from water damage, the other repairs are all done by hand.  It is amazing to think of the talent these guys have to bring items like this back after such destruction.

Scott Holyfield works on a vintage guitar (bellow) that was damaged in the May 2010 Nashville flood while in a storage shed at the Soundcheck facility.  The Cumberland River crested over 50 feet and flooded the facility damaging millions of dollars worth of musical gear.

Thank you for visiting and I hope that you enjoyed reading about Joe!  If you need a photographer I can guarantee you will be happy with both the experience and with the outcome so please keep Sheri O’Neal Photography in mind for all of your photo needs .  Give me a call or drop me an email and lets do business!

In my business I work hard to keep my clients coming back and their happiness is my number one priority!  I want them comfortable during the process and I want them happy with the outcome.  A happy client tells his friends and associates about your work and you begin to build relationships which is key to a prosperous business.  I make it priority to be sure my clients like the images we are getting while working so that in the end they will have no reason to be unhappy with the final result.  My track record is around 98% when it comes to “happy” but every once in a while there is that one shoot where the client may not be as satisfied as I had hoped.  When that happens it affects me deeply on both a professional and a personal level.  My work is a reflection on me as an individual and as a business owner so if the client is unhappy I do what ever I can within my power to fix the issue.   It feels great when you get praise for a good job but you always remember the unhappy client no mater what the situation.

Joe West of Gasoline Productions Inc. is the ideal happy client and a great example of one that I want to keep.  West is a producer and writer with multiple cuts for artist like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Jimmy Wayne, Julianne Hough, Emily West, and Danielle Peck (among others).  After sending his artist Sarah Marince to me for a shoot in 2008 he felt confident enough with my work to send Joe Zelek my way earlier this month.  Zelek and I talked over the phone about what he wanted, negotiated a price that fit his budget and his needs on an upcoming music project he is working on with West.  Zelek spends his time between Ohio and Tennessee working on music and wanted something fresh and different shot outside with a lens flare affect.  West has a great piece of land out in Franklin, TN where we met to do the shoot one sunny March afternoon.  What I didn’t expect was the incredible shooting opportunity I had in the old house located on the property that is planned to be torn down soon and Zelek was open to all the additional ideas I had regarding backdrops throughout the house.  Zelek, West and I had a great time shooting that afternoon and I became a new fan of Joe Zelek’s music!  West shot some great behind the scenes images that are included in this post.

As I leave you I have to admit that loving what I do makes me often feel like I am cheating when referring to this career as a business.  I do know however, that it is a business and as long as I keep the client happy, knowing their needs come first, I believe I will continue to do what I love. If you need a photographer I can 98% guarantee you will be happy with both the experience and with the outcome so let me make you a “happy” client!  Give me a call or drop me an email and lets do business!