My Fish Story

From time to time, we do pro-bono or reduced cost projects for small start-up companies, especially if we like what they're doing or like their product. This was one of those projects.

Quixotic Farming is a Tilapia farm operation in Colorado and Missouri. If there was an "organic fish" designation for fish farming, they would have it. Quixotic Farming Tilapia is raised without growth hormones or antibiotics and the water in the tanks is filtered constantly. 

The result is very healthy and clean-tasting fish.

Part of the project was to photograph some of their whole fresh fish -- Fish Portraiture as it were.

These fish were so good looking, the women at the studio just had to name them:
Timmy, Tommy, Terence, Tilly and Tina.

Me, getting fresh with Tilly.

Tommy, can you turn your head to the right a just a little bit more?

Can you say "Gold"fish?  Tina, you're beautiful!

Say "hi" to Eric Ely, our client, fish purveyor, and a really nice guy.

Working with our awesome food stylist to show how flakey and moist the fish is. 

Checking out the final shot.

Sarah can't wait to sample a morsel of this delicious fish.

Fish Tacos -- muy delicioso.

Hawaiian Fish Patty -- aloha!

Collaboration

Recently we had the privilege to work on a major campaign for one of the nations largest tire and automotive retail companies which owns over eight nation chain brands all around the USA.

We were hired to bring a more real "Americana" ( not staged ) look and feel to their Brands.  

This was a major project with 10 crew members, months of planning and location scouting.

We often collaborated with hair and make-up stylist, food stylist, etc on projects but in today's ever changing advertising market place we are now collaborating with an even broader group of talent.  

Today, we are collaborating with film companies, production companies, producers, and other photographers.  Yes, I said it, other photographers!  No one photographer can be all things to all clients.  

We wanted to provide our client with the best possible outcome so on this project we collaborated with our friend James Meierotto to bring the right look and feel for this project.  In our opinion it was a win-win for everyone involved.  The client agreed and was thrilled with the results.  We are alway's thrilled to collaborate on projects to provide our clients with the results they need.

This was a fast paced project with lots of people and equipment.  We were shooting with 3 cameras on this project.

The first shot of any project always take a little time to make sure everyone is on the same page.

You don't always see hair and make-up being done in a tire and automotive store!

A little shade anyone?

Photo's are look'n good!

Part of the process was to make sure everything we shot was authentic and all the equipment we operated was being used correctly. 

Brian Mangan, our production coordinator did an awesome job mapping out the shoot schedule!!!!

Chris, one of our photo assistants down loading some images on the fly.

Wardrobe

A little make-up anyone?

So glad we were near a tire store!!!!

Caught ya!  (:-)

Retro Red

Doing some quick editing as we go.

Thanks to everyone on this project for a great shoot!

Here are a couple of the final shots.

Sometimes the business of Advertising can be so ironic

We have been shooting on a number of large high profile clients lately.  All top secret advertising! (:-)

Recently we worked on a project for ( ............... ).  It was one of the smoothest shoots we have worked on in some time.  We had a Great client, Awesome crew, and Fantastic agency.  Everything was Awesome.

On the ( ................ ) project we had 2 sets to make to project run more efficient.

I can show you one of our awesome lunches.

Oh, and I can show you some of the tools we used too.

This is where the product was!

Sometimes you can to have a little fun and still respect the clients wishes.

Hope you enjoy the post. (:-)

Photos by Intern Arne Wilkin

It may not be brain surgery, but it can be a close second.

If you've been in the photography business for awhile you'll eventually hear someone say that photography isn't brain surgery.   Their right, but sometimes it seems like a close second.  Someones life isn't on the line but your clients career and your reputation are. 

In my opinion, the difference between a OK shot and a GREAT shot is the attention to detail and passion one has for making the "Brand" look its best.

Quality photography takes time and attention to all the little details that may not be noticed at first glance, but make all the difference in the world to the final "Visual Branding" and communication.

How to build a great relationship with your clients And how to photograph black on black

How to build a great relationship with your clients

And how to photograph black on black

We were recently hired by a firm to shoot their new product packaging.   They saw my product photography on our website and felt our black on black style of product photography would be a good fit for their new packaging.  We didn't want to stop there, so we did a beautiful test shot for them.  It would have two effects.  1. It would show them we were very interested in their work.  2. It would be a great addition to our portfolio.  To accommodate the volume of work and the budget they had we needed to modify the look a little.

We were able to keep the core look and feel of our vision yet accommodate their needs. 

  "Our goal is not to tell potential clients how great we are, but to show them why working with us will make their lives easier."

The look and feel is similar but we don't light every little texture and element as we do with most of the black on black work we show in our online portfolio.

In advertising and marketing photography, what you see isn't always what you get.  We like to start with the basic form and shape of an object and then in post production do our visual enhancements.  It's still the same product but we highlight some areas and minimize the focus on others.  With many of the products we photograph enhancing the shape, form and texture is paramount.

Before

After

Before

After

Our client wanted their product to have a beautiful, sexy, high tech, look and feel. It enhances all of it's beautiful curves and design.  I think we have achieved this, more importantly the client does too.

"We find the key to client satisfaction and loyalty, is to be an invaluable flexible resource.  Make every effort to become knowledgeable about things that are important to their market, share your insights, and demonstrate that you understand the challenges they face."