Southern Soul BBQ Makes Us Proud

From a small smoker and a couple of butts back in 2006, all the way to nationally recognized BBQ and, just recently, the Best BBQ sauce in Georgia, Southern Soul BBQ here on St. Simons Island sure does make us proud. We'd like to say it's all because of the marketing, but who are we fooling? One bite of their pulled-pork and you'll find the Lord real quick.

h2o has been fortunate to be the marketing agency for Southern Soul since day one; from photography and graphic design, to web and videography. It sure is wonderful to see one of our own excel so well. So a big cheers to Griffin and Harrison!

Below are a couple of photos from the original SSBBQ location, back when it was located at Palm Coast Coffee shop in the village on St. Simons. Man that was a small kitchen! GO BUY THE AWARD-WINNING SAUCE NOW.

The Venetian Hotel, photographed by Harlan Hambright

The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas has two other hotels on-property–The Palazzo and The Venezia. They are connected by the Grand Canal with a major shopping center on one level and casinos and more shopping on another level. Combined, this is the largest 5 diamond resort in the world with nearly 8000 rooms. In anticipation of a proposed round of upgrades, H2O's Harlan Hambright was hired to photograph the entire property earlier in February. For five solid days and nights, with occasional stops to sleep and eat, he wandered the huge development photographing all aspects of the project. The five day assignment allowed ample time to make sure every angle was shot at the appropriate time of day to take full advantage of sun angles and other lighting conditions. He even shipped the 50' tall mast out to get interesting low level aerial shots. "Having been to the actual Venice, I was much impressed with the level of detail and architectural authenticity they incorporated into this place," he observed. Here are a few highlight images from the endeavor. Enjoy.

One of our clients, Southport Academy is offering Basic Self Defense class for kids!

Southport Academy, a Private Christian Preschool in Brunswick is hosting a Kids Self Defense Class at the school, 314 Southport Parkway adjacent to Satilla Marsh Elementary School, THIS SATURDAY February 25th...2 sessions. At 10am and again at 1pm. Classes will accept kids ages 3 and up and will teach basic self defense techniques to be able to protect themselves in a potential abduction scenario. Classes are taught by a trained Police officer and have been met with huge success. A small registration fee required and includes child's fingerprint kit. All children must be accompanied by an adult... For more information call Southport Academy @ 912-264-5554.

Friday Foto: Shrimp and Grits

As if award-winning photography, design, marketing, web and videography weren't enough, we at h2o are also chefs. From slow-smoked meats, to fire-roasted oysters, to our photo today; award-winning local shrimp and grits.

h2o patriarch Harlan Hambright created this recipe using ingredients entirely from Georgia, a plan no doubt in line with his recent book, The Idiat and The Odd-yssey. Harlan took his recipe to Jekyll Island's Shrimp and Grits Festival in 2011 and won! Last night he demoed his delights at Viola's Market, on St. Simons Island.

Our featured photo for the day, comes from said event. Two young and inspiring chefs look on as Harlan prepares.

Below are two more for your viewing pleasure.

Friday Foto: Celebrity Fashion

Well, local celebrities anyway...

h2o is currently doing the marketing for the local Goodwill's First Annual Celebrity Fundraiser (more to come on this!), and today's photo comes straight from that project. The idea was to photograph prominent members of society, in a high-fashion style, completely decked out in clothing/accessories from our local Goodwill. Not only will the photos themselves promote our Goodwill, they will also be used to market the actual fashion show this March.

Today's photo was shot in very low light at  Bennie's Red Barn with a very shallow depth of field (f1.8!). Small flash was used, bounced off the window towards where Beth is looking, to enhance the feeling of natural window light. The photo was then purposely over-processed to give it that high-fashion feel.

Stay tuned for more on the Goodwill Fashion Show!

Wednesday words of wisdom by Harlan Hambright

This is a Saul Steinberg cartoon from the late 1940s. The fellow was a genius. I used to study his cartoons in the New Yorker when I was but a youth, This vignette serves as an example of how a modest illustration can communicate complex ideas with simple techniques. In art (and advertising), the idea or message is the point. Getting that concept across to the audience is always the assignment. Calling Steinberg's work "cartoons" may seem to demean the importance of his art, but he was an efficient communicator of very subtle concepts and observations. His work should be considered by folks in the visual communication business.

Friday Foto: A Transferred Tradition

I've been blogging since 2004 and almost since then have been publishing weekly a 'Friday Foto'. Things got busy and it died down, but now it's coming back... Are you ready?

Today's photo is fresh out of the camera. Shot just this morning, right behind the old Spankies Marshide off of 17. This a is a single image, with only minor lighting adjustments made. I love old docks.

Stay tuned next week for the another addition of the Friday Foto.