Ed King’s Flame Guitar and a Dirt Road Sunset

A few days before the shoot, Ed King emailed me with a specific idea—an image he’d been carrying around in his head that he felt could capture the spirit of his music. It was bold, a little theatrical, and totally him. I was in.

One of the things I do regularly is scout locations. For Ed’s concept, we needed somewhere quiet, somewhere we could work without much traffic, and somewhere we could shoot at that magic moment—just as the sun dipped and the ambient light matched my strobes. I thought of a spot off a road that runs along the Mohawk River, just south of the Twin Bridges. I hadn’t been there in a while, so I got there early to make sure it still had the kind of gritty character we were after.

Once I had confirmed the main setup would work, I walked around and found a few other spots nearby—places where we could make images that felt a little more natural, more grounded. Ed’s a working musician in the truest sense of the phrase. One night he’s playing solo, the next with his blues project, and the next hosting an open mic. He’s in it because he loves it, and that love comes through whether he’s sitting in a field with his guitar or lighting up a flame-painted axe in front of his Audi.

When Ed arrived, I had the lighting ready to go. We shot through a few variations in the woods—him standing, sitting, lost in a riff or looking directly into the camera like he already knew what the final image would be. But we were really waiting for the right moment.

As dusk settled in, Ed flipped on the headlights. He stood in front of them, flame guitar in hand, and gave me the version of himself he wanted the world to see. And that’s what I love about this kind of work—when someone shows up not just to be photographed, but to co-create. We made the shot.

You can find Ed’s music and art on Instagram at @edwardkingmusicandart. Go check him out. He’s got something to say, and he’s saying it one song, one night, one blazing guitar solo at a time.