I was very excited to hear that Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine received four Pearl awards from the Custom Publishing Council for their June issue on former Marine Corps medic Jacob Hyde and his service dog Mya. I had the incredible opportunity to spend time with Jacob and Mya and photograph them for the touching piece “How Mya Saved Jacob.” The feature, written by Kate Silver, tells of Jacob’s harrowing tour of duty in Iraq, his struggles with post traumatic stress disorder, and the prisoner-trained service dog that has helped him heal.
The magazine won a gold award for best cover and best feature article (for another article in the issue) and silver for the feature article “How Mya Saved Jacob.” The issue also won a bronze award for best overall design award. The CPC created the award to honor excellence and success of custom publishers, namely magazines, web publishers and newsletters.
Many congrats to Spirit Magazine and to writer Kate Silver for her excellent piece on Jacob and Mya on their Pearl awards.
For the cover image in St. George, Utah, I shot the scene against a backlit hillside, using a Hensel Lithium Porty 12 strobe and Westcott Octobank for fill on the right side. The photo was taken with the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, and was shot at 1/200th sec at f/5.6, and an ISO 200.
One of Canon’s prestigious Explorers of Light, Tyler’s creative passion is using lenses to tell heartfelt stories. Apple, Adidas, The North Face, Patagonia, Wrangler, Timberland, Cabela’s, Stetson, and dozens more have hired him to shoot provocative commercials with wide-angle footage that transports viewers into every scene. Using dynamic lighting and handheld camera work to charge his projects with emotion, Tyler has become one of the most sought-after commercial directors, photographers, and multimedia lecturers in the nation