orlando
i’m headed out to Orlando today to shoot some I Am Second stuff and feeling rather tropico, tropico. i’m hoping for at least one beverage with an umbrella in it. maybe i can do a travel diary while i’m away… it’s been a while.
new ROCC images
here’s some new work from the country club renovation project:
we’re about at the halfway mark; i’m 6 months in and it’s amazing to me that i can see anything new or find new ways to see the things i’ve seen a hundred times. this job has been an incredible exercise in learning to look harder. i’m rather happy with my latest effort on that project.
one year later
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts – to make artistic designs… and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”
-Exodus 31:1-5
tomorrow marks one year of my involvement with I Am Second and the first person i shot for the campaign was Jason Castro. i remember being pretty nervous.
i had pitched the idea of shooting production stills to use as additional content on iamsecond.com, but the folks at E3 knew they would need studio portraits for the print & outdoor efforts, so they asked me to try my hand at those as well. at the time, studio photography wasn’t something that i had a ton of experience with – which was the root cause of 97% of my nervousness.
here’s that first image:
Lens
My RSS feeds are many & varied… but one of my favorites is a new visual journalism blog that the New York Times runs called LENS. It’s special for many reasons, like big images in a simple, unobtrusive design, a straightforward navigational structure that doesn’t feel tired or boring and quality, original content like images from the Archives, they publish timely and striking photojournalism every day, showcase photographers, talk shop and on and on. But, more than anything else, I think LENS is special because of the access it gives a viewer into the story behind the story.
Take, for example, the story that came up Tuesday – Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen, which digs into the iconic image from the 1989 protest on Tiananmen Square in China. It happend on June 5th, 1989 – I was eleven years old, but the image was seared into my brain. It may be the single most memorable image of my generation – and there are four versions. Who knew, right?
photo by Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos
LENS takes you behind the scenes of one of recent histories most famous photographs and relates the story in the voice of the four men who shot the image – four photographers, four perspectives, four separate creative choices and four striking images. That’s why it’s one of my first stops every morning.
EDIT** Apparently the feature that ran Tuesday on LENS brought out a new, never before seen image of Tank Man shot by Terril Jones at street level. Jones’ story shows that timing is everying in journalism and is a great example of how a single image can define a story and the result that has on other images.
2009 PDN annual
“There will be an emergence of “social thinking” and I think that this would be a great start in the right direction. Photography will play a very big part — as it has done so powerfully in the past — in the presentation of truth and the transformation of social and historical consciousness.
My intention as a photographer is to be a participant in this process.”
- Jeff Riedel
the new PDN photo annual is out. and it’s available online. and it’s superb.
photo by Dan Winters
the best photographs of the last year, from every imaginable discipline – advertising, editorial, photojournalism, sports, corporate and student work – as well as top portfolio sites, all in one place. it’s an inspirational goldmine. i found myself completely sucked in by the images in the editorial section – especially the work of Dan Winters, who I freaking love. I’m not sure there is a better editorial portrait photographer working today.
heroes
David Hume | children’s ministry volunteer at Irving Bible Church
I recently shot a series of conceptual portraits for Irving Bible Church. They are in constant need of volunteers to help out with their kids programs and we came up with this idea of everyday heroes. I think the push to recruit new volunteers begins next month and I’m excited to see what they end up doing from a copy and layout perspective. You can see the whole series here.
Selena Gomez
i mentioned, back in January, a photo shoot i did with Selena Gomez for Borden milk. the campaign launched recently and i just received some of the final artwork.
Local, Fresh, Delecious
Agency: Marchman Associates
Creative: Sam Ditore, Scott Mayo, Kevin Shivers & Taryn Owen
construction
i’ve learned one very valuable lesson while documenting the renovation of Royal Oaks Country Club, construction is messy. very, very messy.
workers put the finishing touches on the pool area at Royal Oaks, which opened memorial day weekend.
as i mentioned when i last wrote, which seems like eons ago, i’ve been hard at work finalizing the redesign of my website in-between various shooting assignments. i’m happy to report that my good friend and Dallas most talented interactive marketer has begun the blah, blah that is required to turn photoshop files into web wonderment. and i’m really excited. but i also know that the road ahead will be messy, full of unexpected disasters creative challenges and will probably take me right up to the wire (i have a loose & self imposed late summer, like, late August, early September) goal.
fingers crossed.
i should be blogging more. i have a ton of new work to show, recently launched two personal projects and have written an article for COLLIDE that should be going to print soon. so check back soon & often.
My Book
I’ve been hard at work finishing up all my promotional materials, including doing all the initial design work on the redesign of my new website – which I hope is getting close. It’s been a great experience to dream about where I want to go as a photographer and think, in practical terms, about the best way to get there.
One of the items I’ve really put a ton of time and energy behind is my book. I don’t feel like my current portfolio really does a good enough job of showcasing my storytelling abilities. And since that is where I see myself heading, I really wanted a tangible something to put in people’s hands (or inboxes) that showed that side of my work.
When it came to layout & the purpose behind the piece, I set a few pretty straightforward goals for myself:
Let the images do all the work. No sense trying to be a visual communicator if you can’t say what needs to be said without words. Turns out this is hard for a person who spent the first two-thirds of his life dreaming about being a writer.
Include a few story lines. If you’re going to say “I’m a storyteller” you have to have a few stories to tell. So, this goal was as much about mining my work for the strongest examples of story as it was about not overdoing it.
Make story-like connections between unrelated things. This is one of those ideas that I’ve been obsessed with for quite a long time. I like finding commonality in seemingly unrelated scenes. It’s really fun to put a couple of images together and see what happens.
You can download my book by clicking on one of the follow links: choose the large version if you want something big, but if you’re on a slow internet connection or want to email it to someone, choose the small version.
There are a few spreads from the book after the jump.
Denver & Ron
“The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or something in between, this earth ain’t no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless – just workin our way toward home.”
- Denver Moore
Denver & Ron
for the last 53 weeks, same kind of different as me has been on the NYT bestseller list (holding down the 12 spot at this writing). earlier today, i had the great privilege of making portraits of the book’s authors – Ron Hall & Denver Moore. their story is worth reading and i hope it changes the way you see (and live in) the world around you.
not suited to round holes
i’m excited to announce that i’ve uploaded several new images into my personal collection & am having a small sale to celebrate. from now until next Tuesday (March 31st) anyone who purchases a square print (one of the three below) will receive a free print.
here’s how it works:
1. purchase a square print – 5×5, 8×8, 10×10 or 20×20
2. at checkout, put a note in the comments with the name of the image you would like
3. the size of your free print will be related to the size of the print you purchase (if you’d prefer a smaller size, please note the size you’d like along with the name)
5×5 (4×6)
8×8 (6×9 or smaller)
10×10 (8×12 or smaller)
20×20 (16×24 or smaller)
like i said, there are several new images in the store, so even if one of the three above doesn’t tickle your fancy there might be something new that does. take a minute and check-a-check-a-check it out yo.
Monarch Air
the weather wasn’t great – it was overcast and rainy with pretty strong winds. two things that don’t typically go well with those conditions are flying and photography. but, as my five year old has taught me, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
two hours in and we hadn’t fired a single shot; the rain was getting close and our schedule was being held up by something beyond our control in the hanger we were supposed to shoot in.
instead of panicking, i found something to inspire me; an offhanded comment by my client was just enough.
our first shot was supposed to be something that wouldn’t have turned out as good as the third image below – which ended up being our first shot of the day. that’s the beauty of the unexpected, it forces you to stretch beyond your plans and get out of your comfort zone.
three images i submitted as potential covers.
typically i shoot more lifestyle stuff, like the first image (above). my sensibilities tend to drive me toward compositions that don’t feel produced, which isn’t to say i don’t have to work at getting them. i think it’s a texture thing, more than anything else for me. i want the image to feel a little less polished. because we were dealing with gray skies and flat light, i knew we would have to amp up the production required, but my assistant & i worked to make sure that everything felt motivated by something real.
i think we achieved that goal & last i heard it was the front runner for the cover of an article about Monarch Air, my client.
there are a few more images after the jump.
Gary Kyle
yesterday was a pretty spectacular day of shooting. i spent about four hours with an incredibly talented musician; he’s a Texas singer\songwriter type. if you haven’t had a chance to see or hear Gary Kyle, then take a few minutes to check him out. he has a classic Texas country sound and moves seamlessly between kick-a road house rock & stripped down ballads.
i promise, he’s really, really good.
we rolled very light – it was just him, that beautiful old Epiphone and myself. i brought a couple of light stands, a 5-in-1 reflector and an SB800; Zack Arias would have been proud.
COLLIDE magazine
We began shooting for I Am Second again today. Being around the stories, looking through the lens, getting a glimpse into God’s great big beautiful revolution was as we last left it – completely humbling. I’m excited about what is in store for us and for the movement this year. Adam, our creative director showed me some print stuff he’s working on that is next level sick, Scott was blowing my mind with some of the ways he’s evolving the visuals in the films. And then there were the stories…
Speaking of the stories, COLLIDE magazine is running a feature story on the story behind the stories of I Am Second in their March\April issue – soon to be on newsstands. The entire creative team was interviewed for the piece and Daniel Darnell did an outstanding job of putting the story together. He sent over an advance PDF to me about a week and a half ago & I think it’s a really great piece of design as well. Here are a few tears:
Be on the lookout for it and pick up a copy. It’s a pretty great read & quite pretty to look at.
**EDIT.
turns out you can’t pick COLLIDE up on newstands at this point, however the super awesome people at the magazine will gladly sell you a single issue for only $5. just send them a note here. i just recieved my copy today & i have to say it looks even better in print, so it will be a well spent 5-spot and much better for your soul and waistline than a comparably priced Starbucks coffee drink.
