Influencers and Mentors

Most photographers have people that have influenced their careers.  Randy and Jeri Masoner were a big influence in my photo career.

Many years ago I met Randy at McClue studios here in Kansas City.  Randy was the studio manager and let me hang out and watch his photographers shoot while I was still going to school.  Fast forward a few years and Randy opened his own studio where he hired me as a freelance photographer to come in from time to time to help photograph product when they didn't have enough staff photographers to finish a project on time.  At that time Jeri had her own interior design firm she ran out of the same building.  A few years later, Randy and Jeri shut down their KC studio and moved to Dallas.  Randy was hired by Omega studio's to be the studio manager and Jeri was the head set designer.  Omega studios was a 250,000 square foot studio with a huge staff. They shot room sets, product, and apparel for some of the largest big name retailers in the business.  Retailers like J.C. Penneys, Neiman Marcus, Dillards, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue were some of their clients.  A few years later Randy and Jeri opened their own 23,000 square foot Dallas studio, R&J Creative Images.

From the beginning I always felt like one of the family.  Randy was always so patient teaching me how to photograph and light. He also taught me to be an efficient shooter and manage time.  Jeri was like the studio mom.  Always caring and kind and would often cook a huge pot of food for all the employees for lunch.  My favorite was her gumbo!  Jeri would always make you feel special and appreciated and that's so rare in a work environment.

Before Randy left for Dallas he asked if I wanted to buy some of his equipment.  I explained I would love to but didn't have the money at the time.  Randy said no problem, just send me $100.00 a month until it's paid off.  He left me with the equipment and we shook hands on the deal.  Randy's trust in me and that equipment deal was one of the biggest aids to get me going in business.  Oh, by the way, I did pay it off and I'm still using that equipment today.

From time to time the Kansas City market would die and there would be no work for months.  I'd call Randy up and see if he would need any freelance help in Dallas.  Somehow every time I called he would find me work.  I'd go to Dallas and work for 2 to 3 weeks or until it got busy back in KC.  Being able to work in Dallas when the Kansas City market was slow was invaluable. This allowed me to keep my doors open and opened my eyes to different styles of lighting and big productions.   Any time I would have a question about photography or lighting, Randy was more than happy to stop what he was doing and help me solve the problem.

This week Randy and Jeri stopped by the studio on their way through town.
We were able to have lunch and catch up on old times.  If you don't have a mentor or someone you can trust to tell you the truth reach out and find one.  They are invaluable.  Thanks Randy and Jeri for all the help and encouragement over the years.  It was so good to have your influence in my life and career.

The changing market place.

Last week I was going through some old job files to make room for 2015’s records.

It gave me a moment to pause and observe how the state of the advertising and photography industries has changed.

Before you make any assumptions that this is a rant about the good old days, its not.  It’s only to make some observations and let you draw your own conclusions.

One of the consistent observations I made was that there are significantly fewer photography projects, photographers are being asked to shoot.  Here is one example of a simple shot of a newspaper clipping on white with a drop shadow.  About a third of what I shot in years past were C.O.B.’s of simple things on white.  Now these shots rarely exist.   These are now mostly computer generated or shot in house by an art director.

I’ve included the invoice for this shot and blacked out any names of people or agencies.  Observe the limited usage licensing and the price we were regularly getting for a shot like this.

COB of a newspaper clipping with a drop shadow.

Invoice and licensing for the Newspaper clipping photo

I found another classic invoice for a few food shots we did in one day for a national client.

Invoice for a couple simple food shots that took a day to shoot.

My observation is that in today’s marketplace photographers are getting around the same price, as we did 20 years ago, but in order to get the project you will need to do twice as many shots in the same amount of time.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow for much creativity when you’re pushing every second of the day to rush threw the shot list.

So what’s changed?  Well for starters here are some observations:

When these projects were shot, photographers would buy one pro camera ($650.00) and some lenses every 10 or so years and just kept loading film in it.  If you shot with 4x5 or 8x10 then you would have to spend ($3000.00 to $5000.00) once in your career.  Today, one needs to purchase a new pro DSLR camera ($3000.00), if you shoot with a large megapixel back you’ll be spending ( $10,000.00 to $25,000.00), plus a good computer ($2000.00 to $4000.00), plus software ($1200.00), plus, plus, plus.  All of these will need to be up graded or purchased new every 3 years to keep up with the technology changes.

Today, gas, utilities, insurance, cost of rent, food, cars, housing, crew, models, stylist, etc have all doubled or tripled in cost yet photographers, in general, still charge about the same or less than they did 15 to 20 years ago.

Ten years ago P.O.’s were simple, non-confrontational, and easily negotiated. Our terms and conditions were 5 to 6 items (less than a page).  Now, terms and conditions are 15 to18 items and 2 to 3 pages long.  This is to counter act current P.O.’s that attempt to take away creative’s ability to make a living. 

One observation that seems to have stayed the same over the years is what I call, “The grass is always greener over there” syndrome.   It’s when a local client has a good budget and a cool project they tend to go out of town to shoot.  I know, this is painting with a broad brush and not every client does this, but many times it’s true.

My observation is that this is short sighted.  It takes tax dollars out of the local community that provide better schools, roads, and infrastructure.  I’ve seen this happen in years past and the result is a reduced high quality talent pool in the local market.

My final observation is this:  In general, photographer’s costs have increased, and our client base has decrease. Corporate consolidation and changes in the market place has led to (few if any catalog, annual reports, print campaigns, etc.) more video and still shoots are being done in house, and budgets have been cut.  Along with this, photographers have started to take a piece of the video pie, which dilutes the viability of talented video and production companies.  Agency’s art directors and designers are swamped, portfolios are mostly viewed on line.  This rarely allows for the personal interaction that builds beneficial relationships.  This historically leads to a vendor – product relationship instead of a mutually beneficial creative partnership.

I wonder how long our current commercial photography business model will support a creative and high quality photo industry in the mid-west.  This isn’t good for either the advertising industry or the photography industries futures.

On the positive side, digital has opened up a whole new realm of creativity, the internet has made the world our market place, and for some clients your IPhone and a GoPro is all you need to shoot a project.   Wait, is that positive?

The market place is what it is.  It always changes.  I thought it would be interesting to reflect on a few of the market place changes in the past 20 years from someone that has lived it.

Do you have a different point of view?

BBQ Pulled Pork Heaven

We recently had the pleasure of shooting for our friends at the Golden Arches again. Over the years, we've shot a number of projects for them and this happened to be the second new product launch we've worked on. Back in the day, we shot a new sandwich called the jalapeno burger. It was spicy!

This recent shoot was a little different from what we'd done in the past as we were asked to capture stills and video of the new BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. The client also wanted us to create a more relaxed, real environment for this project.

To keep the project streamlined and consistent, David chose to shoot the stills and video with the same lighting. He didn't want to change from strobes to continuous lighting, and we were able to accomplish this by using some brighter lights and a shallow depth of field.

In addition to ensuring the lighting was consistent, another challenge we were presented with was to show the product steaming hot in the video. We discussed a variety of ways to do this, but in the end, we just used real steam.  

The end results – another successful shoot and happy clients. What more could we ask for?!?

We created a Kansas City looking BBQ joint in the studio!

Shooting handheld stills to add to a more "real" feel to the imagery.

Piping steam in from the back of the sandwich.

Steam, steam, steam!

Our Food Stylist putting the final touches on the product before we start shooting video.

Using our skater to capture nice, smooth moves.

Checking the focus.

The client, Food Stylist and David examining the details on the large monitor.

Details, Details. It's All About the Details.

When you shoot commercial and advertising photography, it is all about the details. One needs to pay attention to the little things to produce an outstanding image.

Although it isn't evident to most people at first glance, you can tell the difference between an image where the details were focused on and one where they weren't when you view them side by side. 

Why is focusing on the details important you ask?

1. In many cases, an expert eye up front will save time on back-end post production.

2. Details can help showcase the quality of a product.

3. Details play a part to help differentiate one brand from another.

Some of the details we pay attention to when food is involved are:  

1.  Ensuring the background and serving ware are clean. No dust, drips, spills, etc.

2.  Making sure the design of the food is pleasing. No faces in the food, no tangents, etc.  

3.  Confirming the correct number of food items called for in the serving size.

If you're wondering about detail number three above, you wouldn't believe how many consumers count every single piece of food in a photo and complain if they don't get that many pieces!

Having emphasized the importance of details, you must remember to have some fun on set too.

David with his magnifiers ensuring the gumbo mac & cheese dish is spotless.

Is David making sure the plate is clean or David mooning the crew? You decide!

Our Food Stylist topping a shake with whipped cream. A little photo bombing by the Chef, too.

The sushi is on set and ready for its close up!

Cheesy biscuits. Nom nom nom.

David working with our Photo Assistant while focusing on the lighting details.

Crew & clients on set.

David and the Art Director getting photo bombed by our Photo Assistant!

                                   

Looks like the Art Director is brewing up something new for the shot.

You can tell it's the last shot of a project when the wine glasses and beer start appearing.
A toast to a great shoot!

A Dutch Master Inspired Shoot

Most photographers can count on one hand the number of times they pitched an idea to an agency and the client went for it. This project was just that!

Our friends at Woodruff Sweitzer came to us because one of their clients wanted to shoot of all the ingredients that went into their product. "Do you have any ideas?" they asked.  We said we'd think about it and get back to them in a couple days.

After doing a little research on the product, it seemed to have a very Alaskan wilderness feel. David called the Woodruff Sweitzer team and suggested creating a set similar to a rustic Alaskan hunters cabin, with an appropriately rustic table on which to place all of the ingredients. "What the heck!" David said. "We might as well go for broke and make it look like an old Dutch Masters painting!"

Well, to David's surprise, both the agency and client loved the idea!

Now what? How do we pull this off?!?

Fortunately, the final deadline allowed plenty of time to gather all the props and get the food products researched, ordered and assembled. It goes without saying that adequate time to prepare upfront really makes a difference to the final outcome of a project.

We ordered a rustic wood background, fresh salmon and trout flown in from Seattle, smoked leg of lamb, wild boar prosciutto, venison, turkey, berries, flowers and so much more. We researched and locally sourced the perfect table to shoot on. It just so happened though that the day we went to pick the table up, it was on sale, and all three Kansas City stores were sold out. Fortunately, we were able to find a similar table available in town. Wowza, that was a close call!

On shoot day, everything went flawlessly. The creative team's direction along with David's vision and our food stylist's top notch styling resulted in a final image that everyone was elated with. We collaborated well and had fun along the way.

David didn't have anything in his portfolio that looked at all like his vision, yet the agency and client trusted that we could pull it off.  He will be forever grateful for their trust. This project specifically reinforces that just because a photographer doesn't have an image of a red shoe or kid playing basketball or a "__fill in the blank__" in their portfolio, doesn't mean they can't shoot exactly what you need and make it look awesome.

We truly believe that if opportunities for photographers and agency creatives to collaborate happened more frequently and sooner in the creative process, there would be more innovative and eye catching advertising imagery in the marketplace.

Please keep throwing challenges like this at us, and we'll keep knocking them out of the park!

David adding some finishing touches to the set.

Our Food Stylist unpacking the white quails she sourced that morning in Nebraska.

Sarah Hunt, aka "The Fish Whipper."

Fresh trout, anyone?

Nothing like a little jump rope with the sausage links!

Putting some final touches on the image in post.

A little input from the creative team.

Working with the wild life painter to makes sure the colors look right on the new packaging.

We were thrilled to have our friend Steve Sweitzer on set a few weeks before he retired.

David and Sarah's version of the final image.

Launching a New Brand – Part 3

Thanks for joining us for our final installment in this three part series on launching a new brand. If you've followed along, you know that we've discussed what it takes to prepare for a large photo and video shoot, how many people it actually takes to pull off a production, what factors are taken into consideration when planning and prepping and how decisions are made on set.

One of the components of this multifaceted project was a video to announce the launch of the brand into the marketplace. Our client challenged us to capture all of the following in a two minute video – the ease with which a number of their products could be prepared, customers in a restaurant enjoying the prepared products and multiple testimonials from actual brew pub owners talking about why they liked and used the products.

Add to that a script that was still in flux days before the shoot began, some extremely short deadlines, the logistical aspect of shooting at four locations, confirming models, extras, food recipes, props, etc...you get the idea. While it was a lot to wrangle, capture and edit, it was a challenge we were totally up for!

Shooting in the studio and on location in Kansas City, Grand Rapids, MI and Springfield, MO, we captured days of video footage. We can't say enough about how wonderful the video crew, food stylists, production coordinators, talent agency and others we're surely failing to remember were, and how they were the ones who really made this large production come together.

A special thank you to Isaac Alongi who DP'd, edited and colored this video project. Without his talent and flexibility, the end result would not be nearly as beautiful as it is.

It truly takes a village, and we've got a great one surrounding us!

Be sure to check out the final video.

Our Assistant Food Stylist making sure we have enough fries in the bowl before shooting begins.

Getting the thumbs up from talent!

Our Food Stylist putting the final touches on the hero plate of food.

The Associate Creative Director reporting back to his team at home on how the shoot's going.

Making sure everything is lookin' good on location in Grand Rapids, MI.

We used a two camera set up for the Brew Chef interview videos.

Q&A with a local Brew Chef about why he uses these products.

A fun little clip of David directing the talent...or was it him just
saying out loud what he needed his assistant to bring him?

Click on the image to play the launch video.

A New Year, A New Look!

The new year holds promises of a clean slate, revitalization, a new outlook. In line with that, we decided to do a little renovation at the studio to freshen it up. Our space lends itself to an urban-industrial feel, so we said, "Hey, why fight it?"

As you enter the studio, you are welcomed by our new chalkboard wall and collection of nicknacks. The chalk art here, and throughout the studio, was commissioned by the talented Lauren Hunt. You could stand here for an hour taking in all of the pieces David has collected over the years. There are antique cameras, eye glasses he made out of camera lenses and family heirlooms, like the bench under the chalkboard. It was built in 1905 and was an original fixture in his grandfather's barber shop.

We did a little redecorating in the kitchen, too. Some new wallpaper and decor give it a fresh look and feel. All of the light fixtures received a facelift as well with new Edison bulbs.

We're really happy with how things turned out. So, stop by and take a peek! We'd love to give you the tour in person and celebrate the year ahead.

Cheers to a great start to 2015!

Our new chalkboard welcomes clients and gives Art Directors here for photo shoots a place to doodle.

We finally found a place to highlight the bench that was in David's grandfather's barber shop. The bench was built in 1905.

Sandblasted and casters added, these flat file cabinets are a great place for our photo collection!

A few more pieces from our collection.

Edison bulbs brighten the new light fixtures above the chalkboard.

Come on by! The chalk and eraser await your next visit.

The coffee table is an old train luggage cart accented with an antique book press.

Client area reading material.

Hand-painted antique safe.

Do you have the time?

Edison bulbs and a coat of paint revitalized the existing light fixtures over the bar.

More chalkboard art commissioned by Lauren Hunt.

The new look in action!