deconstruction

We've moved!

2011-03-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's official!  My new identity is done, and the new site is up, which has an integrated blog journal with a bigger, better looking format.  So it's time to shut down Deconstruction I and move on to Deconstruction II.

Huge thanks go out to Lucian and Todd at Cypher13 -- insanely talented designers and collaborators that worked with me from beginning to end. 

And thanks to everyone that checked in and shared their thoughts over the last few years, it has been inspirational to hear from people all over the world.

Here are the new links:

Site: http://jamiekripke.com

Journal:  http://journal.jamiekripke.com

Journal RSS:  http://journal.jamiekripke.com/feed-rss.php?url=jamiekripkeblog
  

Please stay in touch! 

Bill Brown's Pixelated Cameras

2011-03-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Cool piece by Bill Brown.  Check them out in all their retro glory here.

Busy Busy

2011-02-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Wow.  It has been a long time since I've taken time to write.  I'm back in the studio after a crazy January that took me to New York, all over Mexico, and North Carolina (twice).  

I'm definitely feeling the journal neglect guilt, but have been reluctant to write here because I am putting the finishing touches on a sweet new site / blog / identity that should be done sometime next week.  I can't wait to get it done. 

2011 is off to a great start.  Let's hope it continues...

Beautiful Losers = Winners

2011-01-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Watched Beautiful Losers tonight -- a story of the birth, growth, and explosion of an art movement that has now firmly lodged itself into advertising + pop culture.  

Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Thomas Campbell, Ed Templeton, Geoff McFettridge, Margaret Kilgallen, Chris Johansen, Shepard Fairey, etc, etc, etc, are all in there, talking about their beginning with Aaron Rose and The Alleged Gallery in NY. 

I especially liked Geoff McFettridge's take on how he entered the commercial realm on his own terms, while under tremendous amounts of pressure from the agency / client world.

Anyway, I was inspired to follow up with some of these fine creators and see what they're up to now, a few years after the 2008 film. 

Thomas Campbell just had a show at 49 Geary in SF, and shot a strange 60 sec. spot for Fuel TV, as part of their signature series:

TC's film, (#25 in a series of 100 films), puts him in the company of Doug Aitken (#3 of 100): 

as well as personal fave Hunter Gatherer (#22 of 100)

Mike Mills appears to be taking a break, at least based on the lack of new work on his site, but made a film about antidepressants in Japan that looks interesting:

McFetridge is cranking out amazing work for everyone.  And it's 100% his.  Nice....  

Barry McGee is still with Deitch Projects, and doesn't have need his own site.  This painting sold for $50k.

This Chris Johanson painting went for $32k.

Not sure how to describe what Ed Templeton is up to.

Talking about art is like dancing about architecture

2010-12-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a new site, and have been thinking about different ways to present my work, and thinking about artist statements.  Even if you don't end up sharing it with anyone, the exercise of thinking and writing about it can be really helpful, bringing clarity to what you do, and where you want to go.

But do you really have to articulate what your work means?  Is this even possible with words?  As Steve Martin said, "talking about art is like dancing about architecture."

That said, I've been looking around at how other people talk about their work.  I am drawn to statements that sound like a normal person talking.  Like this one from House Hunter Todd Hido, via 20x200:

"People ask me how I find my pictures. I tell them I drive around. I  drive and drive and I mostly don’t find anything that is interesting to  me. But then, something calls out. Something that looks sort of off or  maybe an empty space. Sometimes it’s a sad scene. I like that kind of  stuff. So I take the photos and some are good. And I keep driving and  looking and taking pictures."
 

Does this tell us what the work means?  Not really.  But do we have a deeper understanding of his work?  Sure.  So does this really count as an "artist statement?" 

Who cares? 

It's frustrating to have to pick up a thesaurus to get through a really wordy, esoteric statement.  Getting caught up in layers of "artspeak" seems like a great way to alienate and exclude people from formulating their own ideas about the work.  

Emily Shur (amazing floating donut pic) wrote about this conundrum a while back:

"Why  can't we just take pictures?  I always feel as though there's supposed  to be some deeper meaning behind my pictures, a meaning other than 'Something inside me connected with what I saw in front of me, so I  pulled out my camera and took a picture.'  That does not seem to fly as  an artist statement.  Why, I'm not sure."   

Or as ninja master Garry Winogrand said, in fewer words:

"I photograph to see what the world looks like in photographs."

Enough said. 

Daft Punk vs. Kanye

2010-12-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

KCRW is my go to radio station.  The other day Jason Bentley talked with Joseph Kosinski, director of the new Tron movie about working with Daft Punk, who scored the entire film.  It's an interesting story about creative collaboration, and they play 5 or so tracks from the film too.  Listen here.  

During the interview, Kosinski mentioned a film that Daft Punk wrote and directed in 2006 called Electroma. So I cued it up tonight while working on promos.  The entire 70 minute film is here, which I found to be about 60 minutes too long.   But it's cool to see how two musicians that dress like robots would make a film:  In rural Utah, with a vintage Ferrari, and lots of extra robot helmets.

I made it to the end of Electroma, then jumped over to Kanye's site to see Runaway.  Lots of strange, expensive looking scenes, and plenty of Mr. West's music to keep things lively.  I did think the opening shot of Kanye sprinting down the road was especially beautiful.

In the end, both films are self-indulgent and silly.  But it doesn't matter.  These guys are musicians, not filmmakers.  More power to them for taking the leap and doing something new.   Although if I had to pick one film to shoot, I'd have to go with sad, exploding robots, hands down.

Remember this guy?

2010-11-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

Alex Roman, the guy that made the insanely beautiful architectural piece last year that blew my mind?

 What's he doing now?  Not surprisingly, he is killing it.  Check out this piece he did for Silestone.  I watched it like 10 times:

(And yes, it's CGI.)

Thanks to ISO50 for the find.

Talk to me!

2010-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Rob Haggart posted this interview with Hall of Famer Clint Clemens, which I found to be one of the most thought provoking posts of the year.  A few juicy quotes:

1) "So what’s happening is that you have a world in which the supply of  photography is much, much greater than it ever was. You’ve got the  concept that data, because it’s ones and zeros and it’s not a physical  asset, has less value."

2) "So, how do you build a wall around yourself?  It used to be your ability to focus, process, expose, etc. and that whole wall has completely fallen down.....essentially what we’re seeing is the automation of photography with all these new cameras."

3) "My sense is that the real profit in photography is coming through people that are essentially teaching."

Wow.

I'd like to turn the tables for a minute. 

This blog started as nothing more than my creative journal.  Over time it has transformed, and through it, I've heard from shooters around the world, which has been amazing.  But this is a big, interesting, important conversation that is worth having.

SO.....whether you're a regular or first time reader of this blog, please, please, take 2 seconds to share your thoughts.  And if you want to share a little bit about yourself that would be awesome too.

Talk to me!

Failure

2010-11-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

After seeing Brock Davis' MSCED project the other day, I decided to go make something cool.  I wasn't going to overthink it.  Just let an idea enter my mind, and make it happen, without second guessing or overthinking it.  I'd just let my imagination lead, and my hands would follow.

We've had a beautiful fall here, and it has been amazing to watch the trees slowly change colors.  There was one in particular on my street that was a really nice shade of pink, with big, perfect leaves.

So I decided to do something with leaves.  Then I thought it would be funny to have a pile of leaves that was perfectly square, instead of the low, round piles we're used to seeing.  Where would it be?  In someone's yard?  Too obvious.  In the middle of a field seemed more random and simple.

So I raked up the pink leaves (my neighbors found this to be a little bizarre), glued them to a box, took it to a big field, and made this picture:

Which I have to say is a really stupid, almost embarrassing image.  But the process was a success.  It felt good to just make something for the sake of making something, without getting caught up in trying to understand why you're making it, or what it means.

Cubist leaf pile: check.  On to the next idea.....

Baldessari @ The Met

2010-11-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

In NY a few weeks ago for some meetings, I carved out a few hours one afternoon to get over to the Met to the see new Baldessari show, as well as the final few days of the Starn Bros. Big Bambu.  

The museum is totally overwhelming, both in its size, and in the spectrum of its work.  Museums for me, are like restaurants.   I have to be careful how much I consume -- after a while I start to feel full, and the food loses its flavor.  

I beelined for the Baldessari show, which took me about 20 minutes to locate in the maze of galleries stuffed with Warhols, Closes, DeKoonings, Rothkos, all the heavy hitters.  It's always a strange experience to see a painting up close after having seen it reproduced a million times elsewhere in a million formats.  

The Baldessari show was amazing -- I love the purity of his conceptual approach, and the simplicity of his work.  It was like being in a room full of whimsical, tangible ideas, many of which make you laugh out loud:

JB is still making work at age 80, and has been since the 50's.  So the whole show just oozed dedication and lifelong commitment to his art.  I especially like that he lived in National City, CA for a long time, taking periodic trips to NY / LA to see art, but staying mostly unfiltered by local scenes and influences.

There was an original JB print for sale in the gift shop, which seemed weird.  And it was only $5k or so.  For a second I entertained the thought of slapping it on the MasterCard...

Why I am so enamored with Mr. Baldessari?  Because he's known all along what many people never fully grasp -- that it's all about the idea.

I finally used my 5D...

2010-11-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

And got around to putting something together in FCP.  And I have to say, I liked it... 

Wednesday Morning, Boulder from jamie kripke on Vimeo.

Brock Davis / MSCED

2010-11-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Make Something Cool Every Day.  This approach seems to work for Brock Davis, an artist, musician, and CD at Carmichael Lynch.

This is one of the most inspirational projects I've ever seen.  And as soon as I'm done uploading a few of his beautifully crafted images, I'm going to get the hell away from this monitor and go make something cool.

Seeing songs, hearing images

2010-10-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Photographers and musicians have a lot in common.

Photographers create new images using a variety of tools.  When those images are presented as a portfolio, they should work together.  There needs to be a common thread (other than sharing the same creator) that connects them.

Musicians create new sounds using a variety of tools.  When those sounds are presented as an album, they should work together.  There needs to be a common thread (other than sharing the same creator) that connects them.

I have always relied on music to inspire my work.  And it's helpful when organizing images to think of how they would sound as an album.  Are they quiet or loud, simple or complex?  Do they look like they were made by the same person?  Why do songs / images appear on albums / in portfolios in a particular order? 

Seeing and listening are interchangeable.  Often when I'm working on a project, I'll try to think about making images from a musician's perspecive: What kind of album do I want to shoot?  What kind of portfolio do I want to record?  How do these images sound?

Banksy does the Simpsons

2010-10-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Amazing.

Beercans in a line / square / circle

2010-10-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I've always loved John Baldessari's 1974 piece Throwing four balls in the air to get a square ( best of 36 tries ):

I love the hand, since it tells you he's not alone. And I love how the trees eventually creep into the frame, a little shout out to California, and the loose energy of that art scene in the 70's.

Baldessari is also a total badass.

So I stole borrowed JB's idea and put a modern twist on it, using a more urban backdrop and beercans instead of balls.  We attempted the following combos, and stuck to 36 total attempts for each.  Funny how that number is losing its significance as film slowly vanishes...

3 Heinekens in a Line:

Four Budweisers in a square:

And 5 PBR's in a circle (my favorite of the series):

It was nice to shoot something random, no retouching, no complex lighting, just some beercans, a wall, and one light with a bare head. 

I also think I like the single images more that the series, since there can really only be one "best."  I'm sure JB had his reasons for showing more than one.

Final Art from ESPN / Winnipeg shoot

2010-10-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Composite of Nolan Baumgartner, defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks for ESPN Magazine.  He dresses for some games, then for other games, has to put on a suit and sit in the stands.  This might be frustrating for some players, but for Nolan, he's just happy to be part of the team.   Super cool guy too.

Here is the final composite, which we shot in the locker room at the Winnipeg Manitoba Moose (Mooses, Meese?) home rink:

An outtake from the shoot, showing the post production on his clothes, background, and overall toning and lighting.  Thank you for putting up with my "nit picking" Dan:

And here it is on the newsstand at SFO, which is usually the only place I get to see my stuff in print:

Triathlete Cover / Time Lapse

2010-09-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Got a call a few months ago from Nils Nilsen, photo editor at Triathlete Magazine.  They were wrapping a complete redesign and wanted to create something special for the cover.   The new design was scheduled to launch in the lead up to the Ironman in Kona this October. 

Nils and his crew somehow managed to wrangle 8 of the best triathletes in the world, and brought them together for a shoot on the stage of a beautiful 100 year old theater.  [Click to enlarge]:  

Nils is a Brookie that knows his way around a camera, and was nice enough to shoot and edit a killer time lapse video of the whole shoot:

This was a pretty full day that required many days of planning.  Even then, the shoot itself was only about 20 minutes long.  Goes to show it's all about prepro.....

Thanks to everyone involved for pulling this together, as well as Dan @ Danklife, Wes @ LA Digital Assistant, Dillon, and the whole crew.

24 Hours of Winnipeg

2010-09-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Got a call from ESPN at 10am on Thursday to do a shoot at 10am on Friday.  In Winnipeg.

This is for anyone that thinks traveling for work is really glamorous.

New Yorker Vids

2010-09-14T13:52:00.001-07:00

It's always nice to see video pieces that utilize stills in a way that provides more weight and substance than is possible with motion.  Like this short video piece by Benjamin Lowy for the The New Yorker.  It's a great use of stills, and it's nice to hear the writers voice as well.  This was especially powerful after having read the article:

And this made me laugh. Especially the guy in the neckbrace:

Emily and Me, down in the Valley

2010-09-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Emily Shur is very good at making pictures.   She is also an excellent writer.   I always love catching up on her blog.

Here is an honest post about the difficulties of what we do, and how it can force us into some pretty uncomfortable spots.

The last few years weren't awesome for me either.  I'm not criscrossing the globe with a huge crew in tow, shooting global ad campaigns.   I'm spending a lot of time reading, writing, sketching in my journal, checking my compass, and trying to figure out where I want to go.  It has been hard, and I've been losing sleep, but I am making progress.

It's always nice when someone else has the clarity to put something you've been feeling into words. Especially when it's something that you've been struggling with, and are confused by, but haven't quite put a finger on.

Thanks to Emily for adding some perspective.

Films we love: Sweetgrass

2010-09-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sweetgrass is stunning, wild imagery mixed with rich, interesting sound.  Not too much talking or camera movement.  The life comes from the unique subject.  Each shot tends to last just long enough to make you uncomfortable, at which point you notice a few more things, which leads to a deeper connection with the film.

Scene that's not to be missed: slow pan of a sweeping mountain view while we hear a cowboy sobbing to his mother over his mobile phone.  

But this is just one of many mind blowing scenes.  Overall, it's a completely immersive work of art. 

And it came at a price.  From the producer's statement:  "When Lucien got down from the mountains that fall, he was unrecognizable  – bearded beyond belief, 20 lbs lighter, carrying a ton of footage, and  limping. He would later be diagnosed with trauma‐induced advanced  degenerative arthritis, caused by carrying the equipment day and night,  and need double foot surgery."

Montana

2010-09-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Gear Salad - doing more with less

2010-08-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Vincent Laforet, the ultimate HDSLR gear head, has a new gear page.  Which is awesome if you are really into gear.

I have worked for years to get rid of gear -- to simplify in any way possible.  I find that the more I shoot, the less gear I need, which is nice.  I don't want to rely too much on circuit boards and batteries, because they inevitably die or break.  

The idea of owning all this gear to shoot video just makes me anxious.  I don't want to own it.  I want someone else to own it, so that I can rent it.

The most important piece of gear I own is my head.  And until that breaks, I'll rely on it more than anything else.

Work we love: The Uniqlo Calendar

2010-08-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Uniqlo Calendar has been around for a while, but it never gets old.  The only way to describe it is if you sent Andreas Gursky to Japan with a video camera and a few sheets of acid.  And it changes every season.  Here is a link to an archive of past seasons.

It took me a while to find, but here are partial credits:

Agency: Projector, Inc(Japan)

 Client: Uniqlo

I didn't have any luck finding out the talented individual that shot this, I'd love to know. Anyone?

The price of digital

2010-08-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

There are 20000 messages in my inbox today.

There was a time when a lot of my day was spent going to and from the lab.  Waiting for pushes, pulls, snips, trimming 120 film, chatting with the regulars behind the counter, and catching up with other photogs and assistants.

Now the lab is a Mac.  Everything we do goes in one cable and out another.  And we spend a lot more time in front of our monitors.  

The social aspect of photography has gone digital as well.

I had lunch with a photog friend yesterday, and it seemed like a special occasion.  The personal contact that used to be normal is now novel.  

Face to face is still the best way to communicate, let's not forget how to do it.

Find this photo, I'll send you a print

2010-08-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Please help me find this photo.  It's for a good cause.

My friend saw it in a restaurant, and wanted to buy a print of it to put up in his house.  Now, this is a restaurant where he has hosted numerous large events for his agency clients.  So he is not some guy walking in off the street for a cheeseburger.  He has enabled the dropping of large chunks of cash at this place.

So the manager says "no way."  She won't tell him where they got it, or who shot it, since it is a "unique part of their branding."  The interior designer and the owner wouldn't give it up either.

Chances are that they don't own this photo, or exclusive rights to it.  The photographer that shot this (or his/her gallery or family) has every right to sell this again and again, until someone either buys it out, licenses it exclusively, or the edition runs out.

To make matters worse, they took a perfectly awesome photo and forged their own cheesy oversized signature on it. 

I've looked everywhere I can in an effort to find it, and even went through a friend at Corbis that forwarded it on to the research department.  No luck.

So, for the sake of the photographer, and for the sake of having it printed and framed properly without a big dumb signature on it, help me find this image.  

If you can locate it,  I'll send you a 12" print of your choice from any image on my site.  Signed on the back.

Letter from Lee Friedlander

2010-08-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

It was 2003 and I was going to New York for my first round of meetings with Agencies and Magazines.  My girlfriend's mom lived in Manhattan, and generously offered to write a letter to her friend Lee Friedlander, to ask if he could help me out. 

His reply is awesome for two reasons.  One, that he used the same letter to write his response, by scratching the word "Dear" next to Margaret's name.  And two, that he flat out said no:  

"At age 65 I decided to retire from everything but work.  So I don't do any side things, which I was never good at anyhow.  Wish him the best of luck."

I keep this letter pinned to the wall as a reminder that it's necessary to stay focused on what you're passionate about, that it's ok to say no.  

When I hit 65 I hope to retire from everything but work as well. Thanks Lee.

Work We Love: Dan Winters for Wired

2010-08-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

EPIC Will Ferrell / Future Photo Feature by Dan Winters in this month's Wired.  The Winters / Ferrell / Dadich combination is a winner.  They even shot some short vids to while they were at it, everything is here.  

It's the first I've seen of Mr. Winters' video, but seems like a very natural translation, since his stills are so cinematic and art directed to begin with.  The camera doesn't move much, but there is so much to look at it doesn't matter. 

I'd just like to know whose idea it was to have WF's underwear lines showing through the skin suit. Pure genius.

Failing Harder

2010-08-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just coming off of two awesome days with the stomach flu.  The stress of too much going on finally knocked me down.  I had some time on the couch to read and write and to try to figure out where we are all heading on this crazy photo train.   This is welcome at a time when I am updating my print portfolio, website, marketing materials, and my overall approach to my career.

I'm still as excited as ever to be a photographer, or as some are now calling themselves, a "visual artist."  But lately I've been feeling overwhelmed with the number of choices out there.  Everything just feels so fragmented and uncertain.

Right now I am most interested in pushing my photography to a new place, hopefully a new place that no one has visited yet.  How to go about doing this, I'm not sure.  It all starts with the first step of just getting out there to make something, and as Dan Weiden says, "fail harder."  Doing something exceptionally well is almost easier than doing something really, truly, collossaly, bad.

Of course for all the optimism about the endless possibilities, there are some very real things happening in the world that are not good for photography as we know it.  Newsweek sold the other day for $1.  No that's not a typo.  It sold for 2 quarters, 3 dimes, and 4 nickels.  Signs of the changes to come don't get any clearer than that.

Neil Burgess, the former head of MAGNUM, has declared that photojournalism is dead. 

If we look at the photo world as a big pie, it's pretty clear that the photojournalism slice was pulled out, eaten, thrown away, or just went bad.  Which means less pie to go around.  It's clear that people are working on ways to bake a bigger pie, and even new pies in crazy new dishes.  But none of them have really turned out yet.  It's just a bunch of mad chefs in the kitchen trying a bunch of weird recipes.  (see pics above)

I canceled my NYT subscription a while back, as I was just feeling badly about all the paper that was piling up in the recycling bin each week.  Ink on newsprint just looks so antiquated and inefficient when it's stacked 2 feet high.  Now I check in on the website, which (for now) is free.  The magazine has done a few really beautiful interactive pieces that seem like logical next steps for how photography will live on in the editorial world.  Here are a few of my faves:

Joachim Ladefoged (shooter of VII) made this short while on assignment in the Netherlands for a story on a soccer school.  I love how each shot is less like a video, and more like a moving still.  Carefully composed, without any voice overs or music, or the other stuff that we're "supposed" to cram in there.  It's really beautiful as it is, and adds to the richness and reality of the visual experience.

Another cool example is this still life study of the soccer balls that have been used in the World Cup.  Nicely shot, and assembled in a way that makes it fun to look at.

And this last piece on Mariano Rivera, which is more of a CGI / motion graphics piece, but pretty amazing.  This looks insanely expensive to produce, but it's also really engaging and interesting.

This gives me hope for photography, and for the editorial world.  And the opportunites to collaborate with pros from other parts of the visual world.  But we seem to be stuck in this in-between space right now, where the platforms for the content, and the readers, and the advertisers are not where they need to be in terms of volume or efficiency.

Pictures (whether moving or still) are the new words.  And that the demand for imagery will continue to grow, as will the demand for those images to communicate powerfully and clearly.  

So let's hope that some of these recipes work out, and that someday there will be a bigger, more delicious pie for everyone to enjoy.

Work We Love: VW

2010-07-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

"Don't let your car devalue" 

Gotta love European Advertising. And German dudes on scooters. 

Advertising Agency: DDB, Milan, Italy
Creative Directors: Luca Albanese, Francesco Taddeucci
Copywriter: Elena carella
Art Director: Hugo Gallardo Dominguez
Photographer; Jean Leprini

The Burden of Dreams

2010-07-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is going to be a long one, but a good one, so bear with me.  The payoff is worth it.

I spent Saturday going through the last five years of my work, revisiting old jobs, sifting through personal projects, and thinking about where I'd like to go from here.  

It was an intense experience, traveling through 5 years of work in a single day.  When I arrived at the end I felt uneasy and anxious.  There was no satisfaction or sense of contentment.  Now that it's 2010, all I care about is what I'm going to do in 2011.  

Of course the last 5 years have produced many memories and I've traveled to some amazing places, and spent time with creative, interesting, inspirational people.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  However, just looking at the images from past shoots can't recreate the feeling of going into these shoots, or being behind the camera on set.

I celebrated the end of my editing journey with some chinese food and a cold Tsingtao, then headed home to watch a movie.  I'd just seen Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, which led me to dig a bit deeper into Mr. Herzog's fascinating past, which then led me to a documentary called Burden of Dreams, that chronicles the making Herzog's 1982 film Fitzcarraldo.

The movie is based on the true story of an eccentric rubber baron (yes, rubber baron) that traveled by steam ship far up the Amazon, dismantled his 30 ton ship, and dragged the pieces up and over a hill using ropes and pulleys, then reassembled it in another river on the other side.   

Herzog decides that the only possible way to shoot his film is to go to the Amazon, and actually do this.  Except that instead of dismantling the ship, he insists on keeping it whole.  And his ship is 250 tons, instead of 30.  And he's going to do this in a place where people don't speak english and will shoot you with arrows if you piss them off.  And it's 1980.  And at the time he is only 36 years old.  And he is using a bunch of other peoples' money to do this.

This has to be one of the most insane undertakings in the history of film production.  And it's all documented in one of the best "making of" movies I've seen.  

It's not easy. People are injured and killed in the process, but he eventually does it.  One crew member is bitten by a snake, and is forced to immediately amputate his foot on the spot using a chainsaw.

Herzog should be an inspiration to any artist.  He is a dreamer.  And he believes that when his dream ends, his life ends.  To dream = to live.  Here it is in his words:

I have yet to tow a 250 ton ship up and over a remote hill in the Amazon, but it's such a great metaphor for following through on creative pursuits.  Following through can feel like this -- an enormous weight that must be dragged uphill, through the mud using limited tools.  But Herzog is living proof that it can be done, along with anything else we can dream up.

Herzog actually ate his shoe to prove this point.  He lost a bet with his friend Errol Morris, that Morris would never finish one of his numerous personal projects.  This is also documented in a 20 minute short aptly named Werner Herzog eats his Shoe:

So here's to you Werner, and to pulling 250 ton steamships up and over the hill.

Work We Love / Dodge Challenger

2010-07-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

From the extra talented Weiden + Kennedy, art directed by Jimm Lasser.

Print by old school ambrotype photographer Steven Berkman:

The original, full length commercial:

Behind the scenes video

Tour de France / Epic Battle / Epic Photos

2010-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was glued to my laptop this morning as Andy Schleck prepared to crush Alberto Contador in the climb up the legendary Tourmalet. I have to admit I think Contador is a total ass. Dropping Schleck in stage 15, then doing his stupid little "pistolero" thing on the podium afterwards was sooooooo uncool.

Anyway, it was an epic battle up the hill, with Contador stuck like a leech on Schleck's wheel. The fog was thick and there were crazy naked Euros all over the road as the two slugged it out. I wanted to be there, shooting pictures of the whole scene, which if Schleck had pulled away, would have been one of the best victories in cycling ever.

Regardless of the giant black smudge on Contador's yellow jersey, pics from this day will go down in the cycling photo history books as some of the great ones.

I snapped some pics of the monitor with my iphone. The motion blur and crappy resolution coupled with the fog make them sort of beautiful. Maybe I'll print these huge and sell them for millions ala Richard Prince:
Here is the one (yes, literally one) pic I shot during my visit to the Tour in 2004. A composite of Lance Armstrong passing Ivan Basso on the Alpe D'Huez. That year it was a time trial, and I spent all day sitting on a hillside overlooking the last switchback into the finish, shooting frames on my Hassy. This is made up of about 12 pieces of film, from throughout the day:

Which makes me think of Brent Humphrey's epic project from last year, Le Tour, which is a must see for anyone that loves cycling and photography.

Saturday is Schleck's last chance to catch Contador, he needs to make up 9 seconds to win. I'll be pulling for him to crush the Pistolero...

ESPN shoot / When things fall apart

2010-07-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

A few pics from a recent shoot for Jim Surber at ESPN Magazine.  Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is having a great season -- when we shot him, he was undefeated and his ERA was under 1.00.  I guess that's pretty good.  Jim wanted to try to get a cover image out of the shoot (!!!), an opener for the story, and also something for the table of contents.  We had 20 minutes with Ubaldo, and each setup used at least 4 lights, so we had to work fast.  

I went the day before to scout, and found a great spot in the bullpen.  We cleared it with Rockies' media, and planned to get there a few hours before our 20 minute slot with Ubaldo.   We had to get each lighting setup dialed in and clearly marked so we could move through all three setups quickly.

The day of the shoot, our media contact dropped off the face of the earth.  No one else was there.  So we were left standing outside Coors field as the clock ticked down.  We now have an hour to set up.  I start to sweat.  

45 minutes left to set up.  We finally get into the bullpen, unpack lights, camera, and laptop (shooting tethered) and get our three setups dialed.  Five minutes before Ubaldo is scheduled to show up, the Rockies pitching coach shows up and he is PISSED.  There are stands and lights all over the pitching mound, and he has pitchers to warm up for that day's game.  He wasn't told about the shoot and he wants us OUT.  NOW.

I take a deep breath, put on my Kofi Annan hat, and work out a tenuous deal with him where we scoot a few lights over to make room, then readjust all the lighting we'd set up.  Now I am really sweaty.  Ubaldo shows up, and thankfully he is a pleasure to work with.  We get our three shots, and get out of there as fast as we can.

I don't always have time to scout editorial shoots, but I'm glad I did on this one. Even with the advance planning and scheduling, there was no way to anticipate that our media contact was going to throw us under the bus.

If this had happened to the less experienced me, say five years ago, I might have snapped. Planning ahead, knowing where to shoot, working quickly and efficiently, and dealing with unexpected adversity on set are all acquired skills, and there is no substitute for time spent doing these things (or having them happen to you).

This is especially true in the editorial world where most of the time you are working on the fly, without a producer or any real budget. It's great practice for advertising work, since it teaches you to improvise on set.

Thanks to Wes Ferguson of LA Digital Assistant, who totally hooked me up on this one. And to Ubaldo for being super cool....

John Baldessari: total badass

2010-07-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

So check this out.  In 1970, John Baldessari decided to formally end his career as a painter.  Apparently he was just over it.  So as part of his Cremation Project, he took all the paintings that he had completed before 1966 and BURNED THEM ALL.  Yes, that's him above, overseeing the fiery elimination of his painterly past.

Some of the ashes were preserved in a book-shaped urn.  The rest of the ashes were used to make cookies.  Seriously:

I've studied lots of art history over the years, but this one slipped by me.   And I've discovered it at a time when I am replacing full hard drives, backing up Terabytes of data, and making everything double and triple redundant.  As if losing my past work will erase me from existence.

JB's epic feat makes my hoarding of zeroes and ones seem so ridiculous.  What if I took my precious hard drives and just baked them into a pie?  Or tied a cinderblock to them and threw them in the Hudson?  Would it be liberating?  I'd probably have some sort of identity crisis -- so much of who I am is what I do.  And it would probably be liberating as hell.  Is there really any point in looking backwards?  Is failure and destruction a necessary part of art? 

Here is what the man himself had to say about it:

Hats off to JB for taking one for the team.  

Thanks to Brooklyn Rail, The Huffington Post, and the Daily Serving, from which this was pieced together. 

Dillon O'Kelley: Special Operations

2010-07-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's a big week here at JK Industries.  The one man band is now two part harmony.  Dillon O'Kelley is the newest addition to the crack production crew -- that's him above, sporting a $0.99 poncho during a blustery editorial shoot back in his school days.  

With his shiny new title of "Special Ops" Mr. O'Kelley will be helping with pretty much everything -- photo assisting, marketing, technical support, editing, retouching, creative direction, beer, and whatever else the job requires.  

On that note, Dillon will be running a new weekly post called "weekend update" where we round up a few of our favorites from the week.

The only advice I've given Dillon so far is to watch out for the boss, he can be difficult at times.

Good luck Dillon, welcome to the band!

Yes, all art is still subjective

2010-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

PDN was nice enough to put some of my work up on their site the other day, as part of their Photo of the Day feature.  

A random reader named "Tom" took some time to share his thoughts on each of the images:

1. The back end of a car just sitting there, nothing happening. Aren’t drag cars suppose to be burning rubber and/or moving? What’s with the vertical orientation with the car dead center. Same with the smoke. Center focus point, click.

2. That bright sign is stealing the smokes ‘thunder’. All my eyes are drawn to is the bright signs.

3. Decent detail shot, would go well with a story about drag racing (vignetted why though?).

4. Probably the better of the four but still just doesn’t seem quite there.

Also, it looks like these photos were batched vignetted the exact same way to make them dramatic but the photos themselves lack any action/dramatic events happening. For PDN I would expect better work to be praised.

I just checked out the photographers site and he’s got some nice work (a little heavy on the same post-vignetting), much better than what these photos portray. I would expect much better out of this photographer, especially one who has access to get 5 feet away from the cars.

There was once a time when any sort of criticism of my work would really get to me. Then I went to art school and spent lots of time in small rooms with other artists, where we would tear each others' work to pieces. One teacher actually told us to arrange everyones' work on the wall, from best to worst, then left the room for ten minutes while we got all Lord of the Flies on each other. Eventually, all the fear of rejection just went away.

The truth is, that everything I put out into the world is something that I believe in 100%. Otherwise, it never sees the light of day.

Individuals will always respond to art in their own way, and no one is right or wrong, whether it's Joe the Plumber or Larry Gagosian. The latter, however, has a slightly better understanding of the art market, and stands to make a bit more money from it.

So to Mr. Tom, I tip my hat.

I'd like to propose a toast...

2010-06-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

Alex at ISO50 wrote something that really resonated with me.  He cites an article by Alain de Botton, which in short, says that "our minds need to go on a diet."

I was talking with my friend Drew yesterday about how everything around us seems to be trending toward automated and impersonal, including the consumption of information.

I've been in the same place as Alex lately.  Hundreds of unread items in my RSS reader, like a big stack of guilt sandwiches.    Sometimes I'll scroll through everything way too quickly instead of just hitting the "mark all as read" button, because I don't want to miss anything. 

The fact is, you can never fully catch up.  There will always be more sites to browse, more posts to read, and more ideas to post. 

After a while, everything starts to look and taste the same.

So here's to thinking carefully both about what we consume, as well as taking time to savor each bite. 

FIRE and THUNDER

2010-06-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to shoot some personal work of drag racing, and I was lucky enough to land a couple media passes for a big event at the local strip a few weeks ago.  My friend Steve and I donned green photo vests, doubled up on the ear protection, and hauled the Profoto kit to the starting line to go breathe some nitro fuel vapors, eat tiny bits of rubber, and witness massive amounts of fuel consumption.  (About 30 gallons in 7 seconds for the jet cars)

I've never seen or heard anything like this before, let alone been 5 feet away from some truly terrifying cars.  When the first nitro dragster took off, I nearly threw my camera down and ran away, screaming like a little girl.   I thought I was having a heart attack.

The jet cars are equally ridiculous, and there is no way to really explain the sheer insanity of strapping four wheels and a set to a JET ENGINE.  

Here are a few of my favorites from the evening:

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but now that I've spent some time, I'd love to go back and try to do something more produced -- that is if they'll have me.  I've always loved these Gursky pics of F1 pit crews:

More handmade goodness

2010-06-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

I love legos, I love surfing, therefore I love this film:

I also love that this guy is married.

Mossless

2010-05-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Just got word that I made a Best Of list at Mossless, a cool site run by Romke Hoogwaerts, a cool guy with an even cooler name.  Thanks Romke!

On another note the phone is ringing off the hook, I am about to get stupid busy. It has been a while, so I'm feeling very fortunate, hopeful, and happy.

Thank you, Loni

2010-05-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

I think it was 1997 in the Cayman Islands.  I was working as a photo assistant for Dave Stoecklein.  We were there for 10 days to make pictures for the department of tourism.  Loni Weholt was our producer, and the days were long, but the shoot was amazing -- early mornings, late nights, and lots of incredible beaches and sunsets. 

On a ten day shoot, you really get to know everyone on the crew, and I remember always wanting to sit next to Loni at dinner, to hear her stories of expensive, complicated shoots she had worked on over the years, for all the big names whose work I pretty much worshiped at the time.

One night at dinner, an interesting question came up:  If you had to give up every sense but one, which would you keep?  Everyone chose sight, except Loni.  Without hesitation, Loni said she would keep her sense of smell.  Then she told me about all the smells she could pick up from our seat in the restaurant.  Fascinating.

One particular production story involved wrangling a massive herd of reindeer to some dark, remote location in Norway.  Loni made impossible things happen in impossible places.  It all sounded so interesting and satisfying and glamorous.  

So when it came time to leave Idaho, I decided to move to San Francisco ultimately because of this fascinating person with the contagious, explosive laugh that wrangled reindeer and smelled everything. 

Loni died last month after a short, horrible battle with cancer.  I never thanked her for helping me discover my life as a photographer.  It's hard to believe that she is gone.

So, thank you Loni -- I'm here because of you.

Full speed ahead

2010-05-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Wrapping 2 jobs for Fast Company, 1 for Entrepreneur, bidding 3 more ad jobs, planning for my first video shoot, shooting some drag racing on Saturday, and going to Mexico on Sunday for a few days of warm water surf.  Unfortunately I had to pass on an opportunity to shoot a metal band named "Gauntlet Hair." 

Things are good for now.

I have a huge backlog of things I really want to spend some time writing about here, but haven't had the time to sit down and do them right. Also, some exciting changes taking place here at JK industries, more to come once things mellow out a bit. Adios....

Think Positive

2010-05-12T09:28:00.001-07:00

Busy Busy

2010-05-11T09:49:00.001-07:00

Scrambling this week to get a bunch of shoots done, I like being busy again. 

How to get into the American Photography Annual...

2010-05-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

...or at least how it worked out for me.  

Apparently American Photography liked the pic I did for Esquire.  And apparently I missed the notification email that they sent back in March.  I'm fortunate that they followed up.

This is a bit of a milestone for me, since I've had stuff appear on the AP Chosen website, but never in the printed book.

I've always loved the work that appears in the AP annual, and remember looking at it for the first time at the SFMOMA bookstore back when I was just starting as an assistant. The work was always inspirational, but seemed so intangibly good -- so rich and impossible for me to ever attain, that I never really expected to get in.

Enter luck and circumstance. Mike Norseng from Esquire called needing a last second image. I had been to visit him in NY several times. He liked my follow-up promos. To his credit, I can say that he matched me to the assignment almost perfectly -- the shoot felt natural to me, and I was really excited about it from beginning to end. Although it was a bit stressful.

In addition, the finished article is beautifully written, and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for best feature of 2009.

So, had I not gone to NY, and had Mr. Norseng not received my follow-up promo at the time that he needed someone for this job, and had I not been available to shoot it, and had Dr. Hern not wanted to have his picture taken in the front window, my guess is that I wouldn't be writing this post.

So while it is actually possible to make your own luck, having everything else line up can be tricky.

Sagmeister the Type Meister

2010-04-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Stefan Sagmeister has vision.  Enough vision for a bank to fly him and a film crew around the world to make an incredibly beautiful, expensive, hand crafted commercial based on the concept of his environmental typography.  

This is encouraging stuff.  I like when big companies go the extra mile to make something beautiful.  Enough words, here are some picrtures:

And here is the man himself, talking process and craft, along with a look (you guessed it) behind the scenes:

There's a ton more BTS stuff over here.  Thanks to PFSK for the find...

Office Death!

2010-04-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

"The next time you are on a vacation, or picnic -- relax....smile.  And have a friend take your picture.  Put this picture on your desk at work, and the next time you start to feel stressed out, look at this photo, and relax."

Banksy film opens this Friday

2010-04-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Banksy's new film Exit Through the Gift Shop opens this Friday.  The NYT did a piece on it that captures the hilarious irony and subversiveness of his work.   

No one seems to know if this film is "real" or not, which is pretty amazing. Not to mention that Banksy is using money from the art world to poke fun at it. Even more amazing.

Stills to Film -- One great way to do it

2010-04-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Finally saw Up In the Air, which was great.  But the opening credits totally blew me away:

Stunning photography of a simple concept, beautifully designed and edited, with just enough movement to keep it interesting.  This is the kind of motion work I'd love to do.  Awesome!!!

Luxury 2.0

2010-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

Saw this post on Seth Godin's blog about how the idea of luxury is being redefined.  People that have a lot of money to spend are now less interested in the biggest / fastest / shiniest, and more interested in things that are made by hand, one at a time, requiring a massive amount of time and skill to complete.  

I like the idea of people buying things that are unique and will last a long time.  Yvon Chouinard advocated this philosophy in his book Let My People go Surfing: Buy the best quality products you can afford so that they will last as long as possible, hopefully the rest of your life.

On a related note, I just finished a shoot at the Moots factory in Steamboat Springs.  They make some of the best handmade titanium bikes in the world, and they sell for north of $3000 (frame only).  They make less than 1000 frames per year.  After taking a tour of the factory (and asking a million questions) I was truly inspired. 

I've been trying to think of my work in a similar way.  I want to do more work that is collaborative in nature, and is focused on crafting, revising, and perfecting a single image, taking it to a level that is really unique and difficult for others to replicate.   Mark Zibert is really, really good at this. 

This top 1% of the craft is where the real value is, and will increasingly be in commercial photography.  Nowadays the other 99% can be done by almost anyone.  

How to Land Assignment Work***

2010-04-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

 *** Or at least how it seems to work for me.

I just shot my first job for Mens' Journal.  I have been trying to get work with MJ for a long time, and it's always a great feeling when the phone rings and the marketing efforts have paid off.

Here is a rough idea of what went into getting that one job (which is for a single page, btw, not a feature):

3 visits to NY over 3 years to meet one-on-one with the Photo Editor.

2 stock submissions for possible usage (neither were used)

3-4 years worth of Modern Postcard mailers, 3-4 times year.

4 hand typed, one of a kind cards with custom prints, mailed to her attention.

A bunch of email promos, expensive ads in Archive, AtEdge, etc, etc, etc.

Then I sent her a short email with some jpegs from my recent trip to Spain, and she emails back to see if I'm available to shoot that week.

After years of pursuing work, I've learned that there is no silver bullet.  Marketing is one part Chinese Water Torture, one part Manners, one part Timing, and one or two parts Luck.  The first three you can control, but the fourth is tricky. 

The ultimate goal is to have your promo land on the desk of the photo editor / AD / AB / GD at the exact moment that they need someone with the skills you are presenting.  It takes a lot of work before these intersections start to happen.

The good thing is, once you have the job, you can control the quality of the product you deliver, and the service you provide.  If you do a kick ass job on the first one, the next one should come more easily.  Then you just hope they call back again and again so you can begin to pay for all the marketing it took to get you there.

4444 X 55555

2010-04-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my photog friend Matthew Turley a few months back about 4x5 cameras.  He is a master of the format, and makes big, beautiful, pictures that I wish I had made.  I've never owned a 4x5, but am getting more interested in them as the digital workflow accelerates and becomes closer to real time.  It just seems like a great compliment to shooting everything digitally.   Slow, crafty, thoughtful vs. fast, instant, loose.

At some point in our conversation I recall saying how much I'd love to hit the road with a 4x5 and shoot landscapes, one sheet at a time, but that my life just feels too hectic for that to be a reality, with two young kids, a house remodel, and trying to stay afloat in the current economy.

A week later a plain brown box shows up on my doorstep.  Inside is a Graflex SpeedGraphic 4x5 camera and 10 sheets of neg film, along with detailed, hand-drawn directions on how to run the thing:

I spend literally 30 minutes just looking at it -- and trying to locate the secret button that opens it.  Eventually I find it and the inner workings of the SpeedGraphic are revealed.  It's a hand held camera with a focal plane shutter (up to 1/1000 sec!) rangefinder focusing, and a big piece of beautiful ground glass on the back.  

To be honest it's a bit intimidating, as if an amazing camera deserves an amazing subject.  The first thing I thought to do was take a picture of it (above) b/c it was just so cool looking.

I took it along on a recent editorial shoot, but it was sleeting sideways, so it never came out.  This morning, I shot two sheets at an empty car dealership by my studio.  I love the handicraft and how precious the film feels.  I found myself really taking extra time to study the compostion and fine tune everything.   We'll see how it turns out, or if it even turns out at all.

Thanks Matthew, that was very cool of you, and some much needed medicine....

The (New York) Time is Now

2010-03-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

Picked up the NYT to catch up on some news last night, which I've actually been reading on my iphone since we cancelled our Sunday subscription.  I still wonder if I will pay for it once they start charging for the online version.  (Btw, why no photo credits or captions on the iphone version?)

On the front page:  Subway bombing in Moscow.  Horrible.  Not what I want to read about.  Moving down the page, a depressing article about how photographers are struggling.  Not really news to me.  Further down, an editor from House and Garden slides into a life of despair, emptiness and compulsive eating after she is laid off.  (image above by Tanyth Berkeley.)  Ok, head to sports for something lighter.  The lucrative bubble of professional golf has burst, thanks to Tiger's romantic exploits.  Even golf is in a state of turmoil. 

Enough!

This morning, I met a guy whose life was changed forever by a rock.  A rock that fell off a cliff, hit him on the head, and nearly killed him.   That rock was destined for his skull, and it changed him forever.  He quit his job as a real estate broker and focused instead on leaving a legacy.  He now works to inspire others to live in the moment, and create positive change in the world.

Went back to the NYT this morning, and read about a new supercollider that was fired up on Tuesday.  It's the biggest, fastest, most expensive collider in the world, and physicists are pee-in-their-pants excited about the secrets it may unlock.  I love when scientists get really excited:

Photo by Fabrice Coffrini.

Physicist Micheal Barnett says, “We are on this planet and in this universe a short time. The dreams of a lifetime are waiting, and hopefully  not much longer.” 

Amen!

Museum Visit: The Prado

2010-03-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

I visited the Prado 15 years ago with my sister, and have wanted to return since.  I think it might be my favorite museum I've ever been to, with the Guggenheim Bilbao a close second.

The level of craftsmanship here is MIND BLOWING: paintings that took 20 years to complete.  Handcarved wood frames the size of a city bus.  Not to mention the painters' exquisite understanding of composition and light.  Any photographer can learn a ton from the work of Velasquez, El Greco, Titian, Rubens, and Goya.  These guys had it down cold.

I loved these works by Velazquez not just for their mastery, but for the subjects.  He was like an 18th century Diane Arbus, finding the strange ones on the fringe of society.  Who doesn't like obese naked midgets with metal hair and moustaches?

Apparently this work by V is the most popular work in the Prado.  I love the composition, and all the negative space he included:

Also, lots of paintings of important people on horses.  I thought these were especially cool -- seeing how they paint the muscle tone and hair on the horse, and how the clothes are insanely reflective and intricately embroidered.  What a pain the ass to paint!  I would love to make a photo that looks like this:

Since my last visit, I read Robert Hughes' biography of Francisco Goya.  Goya had an extraordinary life as an artist, painting mainly for Spanish royalty, and doing it long enough that he eventually got ballsy enough to paint people (kings! queens!) as he saw them, not how they saw themselves.  Check out this goofy bastard:

And check out how modern this composition is.  Dude was waaaaay ahead of his time:

Goya lived to be 82 years old, which was quite an achievement in the 18th century.  Although toward the end of his life, he suffered from mental illness, nervous breakdowns, and eventually went deaf, possibly from the lead in the pigments that he worked with for 68+ years.  Let's hope that Photoshop doesn't have the same effect.

Goya's paintings grew darker and more sinister as his attitude and health deteriorated.  But this resulted in some of the most intensely beautiful paintings ever done, and in some ways gave birth to the expressionist movement.

Ok this is a dark subject, but it's still colorful.  Look at his killer (sorry) use of light here:

But it gets way darker from here, as Goya slowly goes insane and deaf.  Nothing like a scene from an 18th century insane asylum to cheer you up:

Or how about Saturn devouring his son?  Good times!

And finally, this terrifying masterpiece, which will be forever burned into my poor brain:

Goya's Black Paintings are tucked away in the back of the Prado, in a beautiful gallery with soft light and black trim throughout.  It is hands down the most powerful art space I've ever seen.  Here is a shot of the above painting before the guard busted me:

Ok, this is a long post.  Now I need to get back to work slowly driving myself insane as I continue my lifelong pursuit of photographic truth.....

¡España!

2010-03-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Finally had a sec to put together some work from the Slipstream Sports shoot in Calpe, Spain.  Photog friend Justin Walker was nice enough to leave sunny Brooklyn in January and join me for a week of making cycling pics, and consuming copious amounts of ham and coffee.

This was my first training camp with a pro cycling team.  I wasn't prepared for the size of the operation, and the rock star status that these guys enjoy outside the US.  Physiologists, massage therapists, nutrition experts, directors, riders, staff, mechanics, drivers, it all adds up to a huge, expensive production that somehow travels the world from race to race, like a well oiled machine (bicycle?)

The first few days were spent in the conference room of our hotel, shooting portraits of the whole crew.  The beachfront location with floor to ceiling glass was pretty nice.  If I ever have a beachfront studio, this is how I'll do it:

After a few wet days, we got out to shoot some action -- so we loaded up the Peugeot minivan with our 7B's and hit the road.  The first day was a time trial, so we were able to shoot a few locations as they did multiple laps on the same route.  Here is my fave from that day:

These guys were hammering close to 40mph, and I was able to freeze them at 1/2500 sec using the offset sync made possible by new pocket wizard mini TT1, my new favorite gizmo for shooting action. 

The next day we headed up into the hills for a race simulation.  By the time the team arrived at our spot, they had broken up into small groups, but I love the dry, desolate feel of the landscape.  Also shot with 7B's and high speed sync:

Later in the camp, we did a group shot with the riders standing on the beach in Calpe.  They have this crazy rock formation that looks like Devil's Tower, but it's right on the water.  This was shot right at dusk with a softbox for a little fill:

But a funny thing happened with this shot.  After I returned to the states, but before I'd even begun work on this shot, I ran into a friend of mine at the bar.  After I told him I'd just been in Calpe making pics with the Slipstream guys, he said that he'd already seen the images online.  This was confusing to me, since the images were still on my CF card.  

The next day I did some digging, and discovered that some guy was shooting over my shoulder the whole time.  He probably posted the pics online the same day.  It's funny how things are happening more and more in real time these days.

After we wrapped at the camp, Justin and I hit the road for some photo exploration, en route to Madrid.  There are these cool looking bulls scattered across the countryside, and we pulled over to shoot a few:

Then we headed to Madrid for a trip to the Prado, which was mind blowing (more on that later), and a night out on the town.  All the buildings and cafes in Madrid are ancient and beautiful and have more character than your average american watering hole.   Each one is worthy of an entire shoot, from the people behind the bar, to the food they serve, to the patina on the floors and walls:

This place not only serves ham, but serves beer out of a tap shaped like a ham:

5am cafe con leche on the way to the airport: 

Buenos dias España, gracias por su hospitalidad.....

old cars, old ads, new awesomeness

2010-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

There is a gold mine of old car ads over at Old Car Brochures.  I love shitty old American cars, and now I get to love all the shitty old ads too.  

There is something so honest about these ads.  They're simply not pretending to be anything else.  They really just want to sell you a car, plain and simple.  How much fun did some copywriter have coming up with the lines "husky drum brakes" and "Luster Gard?"  How much fun did the AD have putting those people on the balcony for the apres ski scene or getting a woman to gaze longingly at an AMC Pacer?  

It's all so contrived, and so awesome.  

I'd love to know who shot these.  And I'd really love to see a behind the scenes from the Pinto shoot.  I can only imagine the size of the moustaches on that set.  

Thanks to Scott at ISO50 for  the find.

yet more handmade goodness

2010-03-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

It seems like the whole handmade movement has suddenly launched into warp speed.  Like this piece below from Nobody Beats the Drum. I love the juxtaposition between the mechanical music, symmetrical forms, and the inherent imperfections of something made by hand.  You just can't fake it.  Yet.

Crank up the headphones and watch in fullscreen to fully appreciate the craftsmanship:

It goes to show that if you have a LOT of time and a clear creative vision, then you don't need a lot of money and a fancy camera or computer to make something really awesome.

Thanks to my neighbors at Cypher 13 / Joyengine for the find....

Ok Go: Keeping it Real!

2010-03-03T08:30:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Jeff at BOOOOOOOM!

Anvil: The Story of Epic Creative Fortitude

2010-03-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

Finally watched Anvil! The Story of Anvil, an unfathomable story about two (Jewish! Canadian!) guys that spend 30+ years trying to make it as a metal band.  They are respected by all their peers, many of whom have gone on to sell millions of albums.  But since Anvil's start in the 1980's, success has inexplicably eluded them.  At the start of the film, lead singer Steve "Lips" Kudlow is still working a crap job delivering school lunches to pay the bills.  

This film goes way beyond music and metal.  It's about having a strong creative vision, and following through.  It's also about luck and circumstance, and the undeniable roles they play in tipping one's career towards explosive success or epic failure.  It's about not listening to the market, and doing what feels right. 

Lips talks about selling out as being the "Fuel of Failure."  Which is something that we are all faced with as creative professionals -- to what degree will we compromise our creative vision in order to sell it?  

The True Story of Anvil - Billboard Q&A from Hanon ~ hanonr@gmail.com on Vimeo.

Anvil stuck to their guns, way, way, way longer than most people do, and ultimately it paid off.  Now they have the best of all worlds -- doing what they love and getting paid.  Let's just hope that appearing on Conan O'Brien and cameos in Michel Gondry films doesn't go to their (metal) heads.

farewell, sweetheart

2010-02-23T16:07:00.000-08:00

I just sold my Canon 1DS Mark II to some guy in Hong Kong.  Bought it new around 2005, and pretty much stopped shooting film through my Hasselblad once I could shoot huge, clean, digital files and deliver them to clients the same day.  Learned a lot more about working with strobes.  Shot way more than ever before.  It really enabled me to grow in so many ways.  

When I started assisting and getting into photography, I drove a red Toyota pickup truck all over the West, sleeping in the back on a crappy foam mattress next to my camera pack and tripod.  When I sold the truck on Craigslist years later to a "farmer" from Mendocino, I found myself flooded with years of memories, and totally broke down and cried as the buyer handed over a messy wad of $100 bills.  I loved that truck, and the life experience that it represented. 

So as I arranged the body and all the accessories for this classic eBay picture, I found myself tearing up again, as I recalled all the adventures that this rugged little camera and I shared over the last five years.  Sunrises, sunsets, rain, snow, sun, laughter, frustration, anxiety, relief, wonder, people, places, adventures, experiences, and lots of creative growth all being funneled through that tiny little eyepiece, piling up in my mind in the form of what I guess you could simply call "life."

You may be a hunk of metal and circuits wrapped in plastic, but I will miss you.  Thanks for the good times.  

XOX,

J

Larry Ellison: The James Cameron of the Sea

2010-02-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

I don't really follow sailing at all, but I am totally fascinated with Larry Ellison's (his Bio is pretty amazing) fancy boat that just won the America's Cup.  It is a technological masterpiece, and takes sailing to an entirely new place.  In fact, it doesn't even really look like sailing anymore.

The 187 foot carbon fiber mast doesn't hold a fabric sail, instead there is a rigid wing.  There are 250 sensors providing 26,000 data points per second.  And you know those guys, also knows as "grinders" that we used to see frantically cranking on the winches in any race footage?  They're gone.  Replaced by motors.  Guess what they're doing now?  Writing software for the computers that took their jobs.

The NYT did a piece on these guys, grinders made obsolete by machines. 

There is something about this that makes me think of James Cameron and Avatar.  A craft once done manually, using professionally trained hands and eyes, taken over by computers and machines.  Some might say that what Cameron does isn't really filmmaking, and what Ellison does isn't really sailing. 

I remember the days of taking film to the New Lab in SF (click the link to see where they are now).  The bumpy drive down a pee-soaked alley to an enclosed parking area, shared with an auto repair shop.  I'd park by the barbed wire fence, and go through the back door, down the long space, seeing familiar faces on both sides of the counter.

At the time, it seemed kind of tedious -- driving to/from the lab at least twice for each shoot, editing thick rolls of 120 film at the various light tables there, checking the bulletin board on the way out for deals on used lighting and camera gear.  But now that human component of the process is gone -- replaced by digital sensors, microprocessors, and Adorama.  Yes, film is slower,  more complicated, and expensive, but it's more human.  And I miss it. 

Futurist Ray Kurzweil says in a recent Esquire piece by Steven Poole, that by 2045, $1,000 will buy a computer a billion times more powerful than the human brain.  And this isn't a stab in the dark.  It's based on Moore's Law, which says that computing power doubles roughly every 18 months.  What will our cameras look like in 2045?

And if Larry Ellison is currently the James Cameron of the Sea, who is the James Cameron of the Still Image?

Wyoming Hunting Trip

2010-02-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Last month I drove to Jackson WY, for a portrait shoot, which is 10 - 12 hours depending upon weather (the drive, not the shoot), and took some time going to and from to shoot some personal work.  I really enjoy this kind of photography, exploring side roads, taking my time, driving slowly, and discovering things along the way.  

I call it "hunting + gathering" and it has been a staple of my personal work since I started shooting.  I spent an entire summer in Europe hunting and gathering while living in a VW van, and couldn't have been happier.

On this particular trip, I listened to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" which is the darkest, most depressing story I've ever heard.  It actually made me not want to see the movie, because I can already imagine what it will look like.  However, it made for a great soundtrack as I cruised cow towns with names like La Barge, Big Piney, and Bronx. 

In my experience, the stuff that I am drawn to tends to exist around the edges.   Whether it's the edge of a town, the edge of a field, or the edge of a lake or shopping mall, I usually find what I am looking for when I get away from the center.   

The nice thing about hunting and gathering is that your success is really at the mercy of luck and timing.  But it also helps you to understand how to maximize, then be prepared for luck and timing.  Every once in a while, things just come together on their own, and it feels great when you happen to be standing there with a camera. 

Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss

2010-02-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Spain, and had a blast on a great shoot, many new things to think + write about.  I'm severely jet lagged, moving into a new house, and have a massive giga-pile of images to work through, so as a friend of mine likes to say,  I'm "busier than a one-armed bartender at happy hour."

On the flight back from Madrid, picked up a copy of Esquire, which had a great profile of Ron Dennis of McLaren Group (19 Formula One World Championships).  He said something that has been sticking in my head for a few days:

In talking about working closely with top F1 drivers: "If you are the best at something in the world, you have achieved it through sacrifice, and that sacrifice has impacted on your character.  Normally that impact is negative, not positive."

Some odd tasting food for thought.

Voy a España!

2010-01-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

 Heading to Spain for a week to make some pictures for Slipstream Cycling.  Me gusta Espana, y me gusta jamon y queso.  The last time I was there was in 2004 when the VW van I was living in for the summer decided to explode somewhere near Portugal.

Ryan McGinley does it again (and again)

2010-01-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

Ryan McGinley seems to have found his niche. Here is another project for another clothing company with more pictures of grass, trees, caves, waves, etc...

Banksy is funny

2010-01-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently Banksy is coming out with a new film. The trailer makes it look like a subversively urban cross between Lost in La Mancha and Jackass:

Banksy pulls off some hilarious stuff.  Last year in NY, I visited his installation called the Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill.  Kind of hard to describe, but basically it was a pet store with animatronic animals and processed meat foods (also animatronic). Amazing:

And one of my favorite stunts:  At Bristol Zoo, he left the message 'I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring.' in the elephant enclosure.

A few more gems from Mr. Banksy:

It's Contest Time....

2010-01-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

This is always an interesting time of year for me, as I spend hours, sometimes days sifting through all the jobs in an effort to find the real gems to submit to the different contests.  For me -- Communication Arts, PDN, and AP are the places I want to be.

Some years the editing process is rewarding, as I look back at personal projects or interesting assignments, and feel like I've taken a few steps forward.  Other years it can be disappointing, as I wonder where the year went.   

There is a random component, especially with the commercial work.  To get jobs that are fun to shoot AND win awards requires a perfect storm of sorts.  But when it happens, it feels good, and makes the whole struggle worthwhile.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite images from 2009, some personal, some work, all of which will be uploaded into the interwebs, along with a big entry fee and a little prayer.....

Help Haiti

2010-01-18T14:14:00.001-08:00

It takes 2 seconds, and it feels good: 

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Jack White knows where we're headed, and we've been there before.

2010-01-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Rob Haggart posted an email correspondence we had last week on APE.  Lots of interesting feedback from a very wide range of perspectives.  I'd been wrestling with what to make of the whole CGI thing, and how I think it will change photography.

  

That is, until I heard a certain White Stripes tune this weekend, which summed it up perfectly.  So I'll just let Jack White say it:

"Um, I make stuff"

2010-01-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

"Well, I am not a huge fan of using words to describe art and every time I am asked to write an artist statement my gut instinct is just to say 'Um, I make stuff."
- Thomas Campbell

T. Moeski is one of my favorites. He does it all: painting, photography, sculpture, and as if that's not enough, he also shoots intensely beautiful surf films, all in 16mm.

As much as I enjoy his individual pieces, I am equally inspired by images of his workspaces -- there is just so much raw, creative energy. When your studio looks like this, you know you are doing something right:

Photo credits: T. Muckluck, Andrew Paynter, Jeff Goldberg, Tiffany Campbell, Klaus Tummers, Nolan Hall, Alex Kopps

Alex Roman - The Third and The Seventh

2010-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Un_fucking_believable.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

(this is ALL CGI done by one guy on his PC)

Wisdom from the Great One

2010-01-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Solid working advice from Mr. Gretzky:

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

Polaroid by Andy Warhol.

Avatar: the new Star Wars

2010-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Had a chance to see Avatar over the holidays, and was completely blown away. Mr. Cameron has not only hit this one out of the park, grossing over 1 BILLION DOLLARS in 17 DAYS, but he has redefined cinema in the process.

From the beginning of the film, I was waiting to be disappointed, and sure, there were a few moments where my eye was telling me that something wasn't quite right. But about 20 minutes in, that went away, and I was fully immersed in the incredible world that required $300 million and 800 people working around the clock for 6 months to create.

Look at this chase scene. Towering trees + plants, rushing water, angry furry animals, streaming sunlight, or even just someone running -- all these organic components that until now have defied CGI, because our eyes are just too smart. When it's off by a millimeter, or millisecond, our eyes know it.

It's the first CGI feature I've seen that looked and felt real. And I walked out of the theater just speechless. Avatar is the first film to get CGI right. And from here on out, it's only going to get more believable, and more common. We are at the beginning of an amazing era in image creation, where literally anything (ANYTHING) is possible.

Some may think that this is the beginning of the end for us image makers, as we are slowly replaced by software, but I think otherwise. There was an interesting interview with JC and Peter Jackson in Newsweek, where they discuss the future of CGI and cinema. As Cameron says:

"Computers don't create beautiful images. People do."

Amen.

Back on the Freemason Train

2010-01-06T15:46:00.001-08:00

Bill Owens: not what I expected

2009-12-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

Just received the latest issue of the ANP Quarterly in the mail, and was excited to see that it included an Ed Templeton interview with Bill Owens.

I remember seeing Owens' classic book Suburbia for the first time. Changed my life. My signed copy of Leisure is one of my all time favorite photo books. His work inspired my own in many ways for many years. Still does.

But it's a bummer when the people whose work you look to for inspiration are not very inspirational in person. This interview really bums me out -- he is cynical, jaded, and full of stereotypes and contradictions. Not quite what I expected, or what I aspire to be when I am 71, with 50 years of photography behind me.

The interview is not available online, but here are a few choice quotes:

"I've had a rich life, unlike a lot of people, who just kinda have a job."

"... all the things I've set out to do in life mostly have failed."

"What's $200 to me? That's my bar tab. I drink that much at a local bar, you know?"

"I've been photographing food for the last three or four years. I have 14 DVDs full of food images. I can't find a publisher..."

"I'm a photographer's photographer. I do this on my own, with my own money. I am not beholden to anyone when I'm out doing photographs. When you start working for a client, you've gotta do what the art director says or you're dead."

"I've been turned down by a lot of people because I'm too cynical. I just say 'I'm realistic'"

"...for a photographer coming through the system, there is no work. Why would you go to photography school? There's not a job for you out there."

"My time was a special time where I could work one day a week for a year. I shot Suburbia in 52 days....I took a year to plan it, a year to shoot it, and a year to get a publisher."

"I don't follow music. Those guys come and go. They abuse their wives. They take drugs. Screw them. I'm not interested in those guys who make millions and millions of dollars and have a drug habit."

"...You have fat assed people drinking a Coke. I think the average person in America drinks a Coke a day. You know, it's like 16 teaspoons of sugar. No wonder we have health problems."

"I'm 71 and very healthy. I don't eat very much meat now, but I do have gout, from the rich life of alcohol. Alcohol drinking will give you gout."

"I'm one of those rare people who have a sense of humor. My films, you laugh your ass off."

"And in the movie industry, I'm sure those guys are driven by some kind of demons, to get sex from beautiful women -- to live up to the expectations of their parents or their successful brother..."

"If you have a degree in art from a college, you'll just simply starve to death. There are no jobs for artists. Sorry. Go on Craigslist, put in there: 'I'm an artist. Give me a job.' See if anybody calls you. I don't think anybody will call you to come make a drawing."

"Looking back, I'm one of the few people out of my high school or college that is successful."

Are you, Bill?

Other Blogs I'm Reading Right Now (OBIRRN)

2009-12-11T14:39:00.001-08:00

And still absolutely loving Google Reader.

2009 PDN PIX - Made it!

2009-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Hanukkah! I had a few images chosen for the 2009 PDN PIX Contest, which I am pretty happy about, especially since they were both for jobs.

Although this contest is getting a little unclear -- PIX is supposed to be the best in digital imaging. Isn't pretty much everything digital these days? Not that everything is shot with a digital camera, but eventually it gets scanned. I also find it kind of strange that you can't yet look at the PIX winners online. I guess if you want to look at the "best in digital imaging" you'll have to do it on paper.

Anyway, here are some very poorly shot digital pics of the issue. I am sandwiched snugly between Jill "The Manipulator" Greenberg and Misha Gravenor, which is ok with me...

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS

2009-12-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure what to make of this Nikon Festival. They are going to give $100,000 to someone that makes a 2 minute video. This video, by Matt Hill is the first one to get any real attention in the photo community:

Is this video worthy of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS? For that matter, is any video?

I find it a bit obnoxious for Nikon to dangle this much money in front of people when there is so little work to go around. 5k, 10k, sure, but $100k? I don't get it.

Here is an idea for a film:

Find a single person that has dedicated their entire life to some sort of charity or philanthropy. Follow them with a video camera for one day, as they give away $100k of their own money in pursuit of their cause. Edit it to 140 seconds, done.

Or maybe they should just give it to some guy that rode a train to New York to drink beers and play pool?

The Head Shot

2009-12-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

There is an amazing gallery of images at The New Yorker, a body of work by Platon, shots of Politicians, with a brief commentary with each image, where he talks a bit about the shoot, about the subject. It's also a very well designed, intuitive way to look at work.

The pressure that comes with executing a shoot like this (over 5 days in NY) has got to be incredibly intense. It's minimal on the gear and lighting, but to stay focused for that long with this many powerful peeps takes a massive amount of creative fortitude and focus. Which is where Platon shines. At this level, portraiture is less about the science and more about the art. Specifically the art of connection.

If you haven't seen Platon talking about his portrait shoot with Putin, it's not to be missed. It's listed under the 2008 interviews from the World Press Photo site. Talk about intense! Most humans would crumble under these circumstances.

The cool thing about these shots, though, is that all you need to do them is a camera, (maybe) a light, a wall, and a subject. Anyone can produce a shoot like this, but the real challenge comes with finding interesting subjects, then connecting with those subjects in an interesting way.

I was back on Nadav's site (yes, again) recently and found a few images that fit into this formula. I'm looking for ways to shoot people that I can do anywhere, with or without an assistant, with a minimal amount of gear. It's probably the hardest thing to do in an interesting way, and a great challenge. The solutions are simple, elegant, and really, really hard to find. Check out these beauts from Mr. Kander:

Photography is EASY, right?

video nightmare

2009-11-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

My dream last night: I was in Chem 140, a lecture hall from back in the University days, to show a film I had just shot. Projected on the screen was a live shot of my desktop. Chem 140 was full, the lights came down, and everyone watched the screen while I searched frantically for my film. I just kept clicking through empty folders, opening windows, and never getting anywhere.

I never find the film -- it just goes on like this indefinitely -- clicking away to nowhere. I start to panic, and eventually wake up....

???

How to Compose a Photo?

2009-11-12T07:29:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking more about composition, after some interesting and varied feedback from a previous post. And there is a good chance that this will get a bit messy, so apologies up front. I like to believe that art is subjective, so from one person to another, there is no "correct" way to compose an image. I only know the way that I do it. but I want to understand it better, because I think there is an underlying system of rules that apply.

However, I am starting to wonder if art really is entirely subjective, or if part of it adheres to a set of ancient laws hardwired into our genes. How each person interprets a work of art is subjective, but what about its physical properties? The lines, colors, shapes, forms -- that stuff can be measured and described by ratios and equations. It's mathematical.

People have been attempting to understand exactly what makes things visually appealing for thousands of years, going back to the Golden Ratio. Some claim that the Parthenon was built using the magic 1 to 1.61803 number. LeCorbusier was a fan of the Ratio, and incorporated it into his work. He even went so far as to develop his own system of ratios, also based on the Fibonacci Numbers, and DaVinci's Vitruvian Man, called the Modulor, which he described as "range of harmonious measurements to suit the human scale, universally applicable to architecture and to mechanical things." Sounds nice.

Here is what all of these ratio studies look like on paper:
There is something beautiful and soothing about all of these. The proportions just feel right. And they bring order to a world of visual chaos. I guess part of composing images is learning to either see or create these ratios then capture them in a way that maintains their balance.

When I look at a building by Corbu, it makes me happy:

The first photographer that comes to mind as being very, very good at this: Stephen Shore. He is the 14th Degree Black Belt Ninja Master of composition. Take this classic Shore image for instance:

I'm pretty sure this thing is chock full o' Golden Ratios, Pentagrams, Fibonacci numbers, and each car has a Vitruvian Man behind the wheel. Again, it just feels right. Then again, that Chevron sign that's just a bit off center is uncomfortably close to the top edge of the frame, but you are saved by the giant double arrow which pushes you back to the middle of the image. Back in the middle, you are slowly sucked into the background through layers of vintage Americana, which thanks to his 8x10 is in complete focus. If you haven't seen a SS print up close, it's worth the trip to your nearest museum or gallery.

It's a scrumptuous visual feast of composition. But it's not perfectly composed. Although it sort of bends and dances around within the rules. Not to mention the image doesn't really have any particular meaning, which is what Shore is about. He is simply a hunter, gatherer, and curator of ratios, triangles, and fibonacci numbers.

Here is another tasty Signature Shore dish, with several pounds of juicy golden triangles baked right in: This image resonates with me in a deep, neurological way. Why? I'm not exactly sure. It just does.

Here is another one from Mr. Kander. Why does this work?

Does it work? Yes. Why? No idea.

I love knowing that images are inherently multilingual. They can speak to us in very literal, visual terms, or they can speak in these more complex, cryptic, underlying whispers. So, circling back to my previous post about Places to Drink Beer, and composition, which shot do I like? Although I feel weird putting this image right after Stephen Shore and Nadav Kander, it's this one, hands down:

The balance of the amounts of brick to sidewalk and window feels right. The sun and the orange stripe on the window cut through the middle of the frame, and connect the beer to the trash can. The crack in the sidewalk with the line of brick creates an arrow (golden triangle?) that takes me to the trash can. The wall angles away, which provides some depth and keeps the photo from being too flat, which also makes just enough room to fit an imaginary person, drinking a beer.

Another thing I like about this shot is the tension between the trash can and the beer can. My eyes want to pick up the beer can and throw it away. This is simply the end of a story, where the beginning and middle are open to interpretation. The composition provides a few clues about how that story may look.

This composition stuff is fascinating. Is it really hardwired in our genes? Is this a universal language that deep down all humans (and animals) know? If so, what does that mean for the future of photography? As more and more images are shared around the world, will we become more fluent in this complex, intuitive language?

Hurts so Good: Mark Zibert

2009-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Mr. Zibert is on a roll. Great post on HMAb about 10 sources of his inspiration.

Every once in a while I'll see an image that is so good it actually causes me physical pain. Case in point, this recent shot by Zibert of Daft Punk for DJ Hero:

It is exquisitely composed, beautifully lit, and technically very difficult to pull off. This is the kind of work I want to do, right here.

I used to keep a big corkboard in my office. On the right side, I would post kick ass work from other people that I liked. On the left side, I would post images that I had done myself. Standing and looking at both sides of the board helps me figure out how to build a bridge from where I am creatively to where I want to be. This blog has effectively taken the place of the board -- it's hard to tack a video or a website to a board.

It's a never ending process, studying the space between where you are, and where you want to be, and slowly building this creative bridge. Sometimes it feels like Philip Seymour Hoffman in Synechdoche, New York. Once you feel like you have built the bridge, and are ready to cross, it's time to tear apart the foundation and make it taller, wider, stronger, and paint it a new color.

Right now, I'm feeling like I want to change the way I work. I want each image I shoot to be one of a kind. I want to spend a week, a month, a year, working on a single image. I want my work to be so good that it actually causes other photographers pain....

Hanging with Afro Leg

2009-11-04T15:54:00.001-08:00

On a recent shoot at a beautiful old cabin near a small lake in a remote part of Alabama. The owner's son, about 15 years old, was hanging around the set. He was really shy, and just kind of stood there watching for most of the morning.

Later that day, he brought some of his drawings over to show us. They were amazing illustrations, especially for a high school freshman. This one was my favorite:

Who / what is that, one may ask? Oh, that's AfroLeg. I love AfroLeg. I asked the kid how he came up with the idea, and he said "well I started drawing a leg, then thought that it would be good to have an afro on top of it." I concur 100%.

Unfiltered, untainted, unjaded, and totally confusing creativity is amazing stuff.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

IT'S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS.

40 Places to Drink Beer: Composition Study

2009-10-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

1 new place to drink beer, shot 3 different ways. Has me thinking about how little changes in camera position equal big changes in composition. I know which one I like, but I'm curious to know which image other people would pick as the strongest:

Creative Inspiration: Mark Zibert

2009-10-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Saw a post on HMAb about Mark Zibert, and was reminded of his kick ass work. So I checked in to see the latest from the talented Mr. Z, who can apparently do it all - studio, location, simple, complex, dark, light, etc:

Not to mention he is kicking equal amounts of ass in motion:

Review: Vincent Laforet workshop at PDN Expo

2009-10-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

After a few days of advertising + editorial meetings in NY, I wrapped up the week with a visit to the PDN Expo to hear a 3 hour Vincent Laforet talk about "Cinematography with a DSLR". The talk dovetailed nicely with the project I worked on a few weeks ago, shooting stills with a documentary crew using two RED Cameras (which will be detailed in a separate post.)

One of the main takeaways from this workshop is that shooting motion is a totally different animal than shooting stills. The gear, ways of seeing, workflow, software, lighting, formats, output, are ALL COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. The common denominator is the camera body - which in this case is a Canon 5d Mark II. But the similarity ends there -- once you decide to shoot video with your DSLR, and have any sort of production value, you are committing to a completely new way of working.

And other people in the video / film worlds have been working at this a lot longer than us still photographers. We do not just pick up a 5D and become a DP, (ASC). Like anything, it takes time, and there is a steep learning curve. Especially now, since many lenses, cables, formats are not compatible. Laforet's Frankencamera, with gear from Red Rock Micro, looks like a risky, technical nightmare. And this one isn't even rigged with a monitor (or two):

Why go through the trouble of making a 5D work? Because it has a huge sensor. It gives a different look that you can only get with big, expensive film cameras + lenses -- shallow depth of field in crispy HD. "Cinematic" is one way to describe it. But the body only weighs a few pounds, versus 100+ pounds for a big ass Arri, Panavision, or even a RED (which is a total hog too -- don't be misled, it takes a big strong person with a good back to move a RED.)

Rock star DP Shane Hurlbut (ASC, mind you) who has shot huge Hollywood features (including Terminator Salvation most recently) is apparently obsessed with the 5D. His blog has a TON of info. Too much to cover here. Anyway, here is another Frankencamera, a Panavision Prime with his 5DMkII:

Ok so after attending this talk, how do I feel about entering the foreign, shifting, messy world of video? I feel like I am starting to understand how I'd like to approach it.

First, Laforet is a massive gear head. He has to be in order to enjoy what he does. He is constantly buying, renting, testing, reviewing new kinds of crazy looking video gear. Camera rigs, remote control helicopters, gyro stabilizers, portable sound recorders, monitors, cable converters, etc. The thought of managing, let alone owning all this stuff makes me cringe. I've spent years honing my gear down to a few lenses and a couple lights with which I can shoot a ton of stuff. The thought of going the other direction is very uanappealing. Especially when just a decent fluid head is $2k+.

One comment he made that has been bothering me was in regard to shooting video by moving the camera (using a dolly, handheld rig, steadicam, frankencam, etc) vs. keeping it still (locked on a tripod.) And that the moving shots are what "separate the men from the boys" and that video shots where the camera doesn't move are "boring."

Of course, this is his opinion. And yes moving shots are cool. But shots where the camera is locked down can be killer too. Check out the work by director Henrik Hansen. The camera never moves. And it's absolutely beautiful. So, Sorry Vincent, I have to disagree with you on that one.

Also, it's important to put all this in perspective w/r/t to what you are shooting for. If I were hired to shoot stills and video on an advertising shoot, I would never try to tackle this on my own with a still crew. It would be career seppuku. Especially if you are working with an AD that is accustomed to working on broadcast. In order to make it work, I'd surround myself with the best people possible, specifically Camera Operators, Gaffers, Grips, etc. When you HAVE to deliver, it's not worth the risk.

Personal work, small editorial jobs, sure -- fire up the HD SLR and shoot away. But be prepared to clear some technical hurdles (sound, constant light sources) along the way, even with a simple setup.

That said, once the Canon 1D Mark IV is available, I will get in line with every other photographer in the world -- not just for the HD Video capability, but for the high ISO and 16mp stills.

In NY this week

2009-10-19T14:21:00.001-07:00

After an amazing week in Alabama with a film crew. More to follow on that project later.

Heading to the Lucies tonight, then AtEdge face to face tomorrow night, meetings, meetings, meetings....

Saw the latest issue of ESPN at the newsstand. Amazing issue with a ton of beautifully produced photography. Don't miss it:

busy busy

2009-10-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've found a new studio, and have been busy getting things moved into the new space. Although it's more of a storefront and less a proper studio. But who cares, it's a great space and it's going to be awesome:

Also got a call to shoot stills for an interesting documentary taking place in Alabama over the next year or so. Looks like I need to fly out Saturday and spend next week in a remote corner of Sweet Home. Then it's back on Friday to do another shot for GoLite, then off to NY on Monday for meetings until Thursday (and a short video workshop with Vincent Laforet, for the sake of due diligence....)

Hoping to complete said travel without contracting H1N1.

personal project: 40 places to drink beer

2009-10-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was feeling a bit down the other day, and needed to get away from my desk. So I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car and drove out to a dirt road in the hills to drink a beer.

I finished the beer and set it down on the ground, which was kind of funny. I thought about all the empty beer cans sitting on the ground all over the world. And how each of them tells a story about a person who for one reason or another, needed to just sit, relax, and have a cold beer.

I shot a few pictures of the can on the ground, then started moving it around, looking for new places and stories. The washed out color pallette in these images is derived from the way a beer can fades after sitting in the sun.

I like the simplicity of this project. And I like how it relates to our current economy. Lots of people (photographers included) are sitting around drinking beer, contemplating the future. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.