Adding cinema/motion/video to my base skill set as originally a still-only photographer has been a big, fun challenge for me. Creatively, professionally, and technically. It's also been good for business. I've noticed that, like anything engaging, it's an ever-evolving, never-satisfied skill set that can be grown quickly by learning from--and with--others. That's precisely why the fine folks at creativeLIVE.com have brought back one of the top HdDSLR instructors in the world, a good friend of... read more ›
Feb
18
Feb
17
[Howdy, Scott here again. This is the third of a three part series on the steps I take when location scouting as Chase's lead assistant. In the first two posts we discussed virtual scouting and weather. Now we've done everything that we can do from a desk and it's time to put the rubber to the road. Good old fashioned Location Scouting.] Let's assume we have decided on a region we think will have the... read more ›
Feb
16
Whoa. Again, love how opinionated we all are. Over 1000 opinions in 18 hours. Love love it. If you happened to miss yesterday's post, we asked for your help in choosing between two images during an edit. And, just as in previous A vs. B posts, I promised to follow up with MY preference of images and a discussion about the comparison. So here are my thoughts....(hit 'continue reading') Continue reading
Feb
15
Alrighty. Regardless of the fact that this A or B series (here, here, and here) has been really interesting for us, helpful, and popular with you (the last such post received over 1000 comments in 24 hours)... This time it is of even greater interest for us. You see, we're doing some image editing around here and we've stumbled into a little internal debate about which one of these two images is actually better, A... read more ›
Feb
14
I've been enamored with projection (onto art, buildings, cars, what have you...) for some time. But few people have made flat surfaces come to life like Davy & Kristin McGuire. I think this is simple, stunning and beautiful. And if you think creativity requires a lot of gear, think again. The visuals above were created simply using paper cut outs, a 5d Mark ii, a projector, an old Macbook with After Effects, some builders lights... read more ›
Feb
11
Hey there y'all, Dartanyon here making a guest post appearance... In this installment of [my] Essential Gear, I'd like to talk about something I don't leave home without: my travel drive. A travel drive is an external hard drive filled to the brim with the software, tools, and settings, that are so often overlooked as part of location computer setups. There are several scenarios where you may need to carry one of these, perhaps you're traveling without... read more ›
Feb
10
Stealing digital photos has long been a pasttime for some web junkies, and we as photographers have always dealt with it. Sign of the times. But this week’s theft of Jason Lee’s Polaroid portrait of actor Dennis Hopper is straight-up bull shittake. The art collective ThisLosAngeles last week reported that, after a gallery opening called These Friends, they agreed to let a patron use the restroom just before closing. Turns out that this particular patron... read more ›
Feb
09
[Scott here...and welcome to the second post in a series of three discussing the steps we take in selecting and scouting locations for our most important photo and video shoots. In the first post in this series we discussed the process of narrowing in on your locations with computers...."virtual scouting". Now we'll tackle something a bit less concrete...that great mystery in the sky...no I'm not talking about God, I'm talking about the WEATHER.] The weather... read more ›
Feb
08
Hey yall. Wanted to share some recent work I did for the awesome outdoor company, REI. Above and below are two videos in a series of 5 that I created for their online holiday campaign. Commercials ran in lots of places... Both vids in this post were shot in the lovely town of Telluride, Colorado last spring. And Both feature a friend of mine, Marni Yamada. She's a dual sport (snowboard and ski)... read more ›
Feb
07
Whenever I give a talk or host a show, I've heard from this community time and again that one of the most valuable things is the Q&A wrap up. Straight up. You asking questions and me doing my best to answer them. And not just the "how'd you get started in photography" questions.... we're talking the hard questions, landing clients, hiring staff, working with challenging clients, legal questions, gear questions, portfolio questions, whatever you can... read more ›
