Michael, the nine-year-old boy next door, has always refused to wear shoes while playing outside. He would run around wearing sandals or go barefoot.
Now he insists on wearing bright green neon Nike high top basketball shoes. Michael wears them so proud as he shoots under the hoop in his driveway. He loves them so much his grandfather bought him three pairs. I wondered what made him change.
Recently, while photographing the Miami Heat’s NBA star athlete, LeBron James, I spotted his flashy green shoes streaking across the basketball court. I got my answer. I witnessed the power of influence on our children by professional athletes.
Brian Smith photographed the Miami Mermaids on Miami Beach for Sony's Chain Reaction: A Story in Four Images.
Also creating their own images for the project are Sony Artisans Matthew Jordan Smith, Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier and David McLain using Sony cameras. Brian used two mermaid models for the shoot, Misty and Medina. The blonde fish seen at right is my beautiful wife Cindy Seip who is a photographer herself. You can see her images at SplashFoto.com
"We definitely turned a few heads when we photographed the Miami Mermaids Sony's make.believe Chain Reaction project and that's not easy to do on South Beach where beach-goers have seen it all...or so they thought" Brian Smith
