I’ve had the privilege of working on several cover photos for Kentucky Living Magazine since my first one in 1992. 

For those of you who don’t receive the magazine in the mail, Kentucky Living is published for the state’s 26 electric cooperatives. It reaches over 500,000 households. My all-time favorite cover shot came on the front of this month’s edition. It commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, that left Kentucky divided, brother against brother, in the war against the states.

But I can only claim half of this cover. Kentucky Living graphic designer Jim Battles did a fabulous job of combining several photos, that portrayed Civil War re-enactor Chad Greene of Perryville, as both a Federal officer and a Confederate private.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos that we did at the Perryville Battlefield in rural Boyle County.

Some of the co-ops chose to run a cover photo from June’s Washington Youth Tour. So not everyone got to see this cover. Jim combined several photos from our shoot with Chad Greene to create this cover shot. I photographed the barn wood, that’s in the background, on my family farm on McGlone Creek in Carter County.

Jim and I took time out to get in on the action! I don’t always get to have an art director with me on photo shoots, but I requested Jim on this one, because the cover was his concept. Sometimes it’s hard to carry out someone else’s artistic concept. But, as always, Jim and I made a good team and we both came up with different angles and ideas.

Chad was a hoot! And a pleasure to work with.

Here a few light-hearted moments from the shoot.