One word "Plastics"

We had the privilege of shooting this ad for Sig Sauer recently.  Sig Sauer is one of the finest gun companies in the world because of the quality of their product.

Now, the rest of the story.  When photographing firearms the client can't just send you the product to photograph.   First, the gun has to be shipped to someone that has a Federal Firearms License.  Then you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork, they run a background check and then you can take it to the studio.

As long as you don't have any ammunition you can transport it in the same compartment as you are in.  If you have ammo, it has to be put in the trunk.  Once you're done then it has to be shipped back to someone with an FFL.  

It's always the little details that make the difference between good photography and great communication.

Between the 2 gun photos in this Ad we shot 40 shots.  Every little detail was carefully lit and shot then put together to subtly emphasize every edge and texture detail of the gun. 

The client wanted it to look manly, yet sexy.  I think it looks very 007. 

Nothing like the smell of beef searing first thing in the morning!

I thought you might enjoy a little behind the scenes grill marking show and tell.

Our grill marking guru and food stylist Trina Kahl prays she gets it right the first time. (;-)

We try to mark the spacing and angle we want the grill marks before we sear them in the meat.  As you can see if you look at the sticks on the meat above, they look off and at a weird angle.  Now, from the camera angle they look perfectly spaced and at the correct angles.

Different food stylist make grill marks different ways.  Sometimes it's done on set, sometimes they use hot skewers, sometimes it's done on the stove in a super hot grill pan.  No matter how its done it always give a great look of grilled meat to the final shot.

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.

Shooting Stills and Video / it's a lot about creative problem solving!

Recently we were asked to shoot a video and still campaign for one of our Awesome clients.

We have shot a number of food projects for them in the past but this time they wanted to add motion to the project.  They love the "Visual Branding"  we do for them and wanted us to continue their look in motion.

We showed them our food reels on Vimeo and it sold them on our ability to do the project. 

I love shooting both motion and still although the motion requires more time, different equipment, more staff, and many times a lot more product.  For example, if you are pouring sauce on a product, every take will require a new plate set-up.

Communication is critical when shooting motion.  Everyone has to be on the same page on the final outcome of what your shooting.  What is it going to be used for, what does your client want the focus to be on, how many shot variations are needed.   We always need to make sure there is enough footage for the final edit. 

This was just part of the team for the shoot.  Food stylist, Assistant Food stylist, Art Director, Product managers, Photo assistants, Production Coordinators, Motion Digital Tech, Executive Chef, and Myself as Director/ DP/ Still Photographer. 

One of the challenges we had to solve was making the food look steaming hot for the video.  We ended up drilling a hole in the plates and piped steam up through the table and plate to get the food to appear steaming hot. 

Steaming hot and add some toppings!

Success!

We built this sandwich around the steam piping.

We did have one casualty!

Thanks to all the crew and staff we produced some great stills and motion for our client!

Thanks to my photo assistant Calvin for the great behind the scenes photos!

I hate corn, I hate corn, I hate corn!

Growing up in our home one didn't go to the store to get a can of corn.  Come to think back we didn't go to the grocery store to get much.  We grew almost all the fruits and veggies.

Most of the year, except winter it seemed like most of what we did around our house centered around the garden.  As soon as it got warm enough in the spring we were out tilling the garden to get it ready to plant.

Now that I'm thinking about it the garden was on my Dad's mind even in winter.  Late winter was when the seed catalogs arrived and Dad picked all the seeds for the spring and fall plantings.   Let's see if I can remember, there were the standards, "Jet Star" tomatoes,  "Kandy Kane" was the sweet corn, green and yellow wax beans, etc.

Mom was proud of her Sweetcorn field

Durring canning season, which seemed like all summer, Mom would get up and out to pick whatever needed picking by 5am.  Five am was cooler and my sister and I were still sleeping.   I think it was a good time for some peace and quiet from us two kids also.  By the time she got us up in the morning she had picked whatever was ready, got the water boiling, and made breakfast for us two kids.  Our job was to clean our rooms, eat breakfast and then help her can.  When it came to canning corn our job was to cut the corn off the cob, put it in freezer bags and take it down stairs and put it in the freezer.  I think, the only one of those we did without complaining was eat breakfast.  OK, I'm sure my sister and I complained about everything or were kicking each other under the table.     

A modern take on corn relish

 As I recall, one year during sweet corn season, it was the third or fourth day into canning corn, we broke for lunch.  I'm not sure what Mom fixed but more than likely peanut butter sandwiches, maybe some fresh sliced tomatoes, whatever.  What happend next is something my Mom told on me, even in her 90's.

Lunch break was over and neither my sister nor Mom could find me.  They looked outside, yelled for me in the basement, called the neighbors, etc.  Finally, Mom went in my room and heard something coming out of my closet.  She opened the closet door and found me yelling as loud as I could into my pillow, "I hate corn, I hate corn, I hate corn".  I guess I had had enough!  In her loving way she explained that it was a lot of work now but come winter that corn sure would taste goooood.  Knowing me I'm sure that didn't help much, I wanted to be out riding my bike or playing baseball with the other kids in the neighborhood.

Mary and I ready to catch the bus for school

 Mom was right, come winter that corn tasted really goooood!

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."

Another "Life in our back yard" post

Part of what happens behind the scenes as an advertising photographer is "creative experimenting".

As a creative person one has to practice their craft to stay relevant, always keeping your creative muscles exercised.  Besides, its just plain fun.  Not only has this project been creatively fun, but it's been a time of exploring wonderful memories.  Part of the creative process is drawing on your rich heritage of life experiences.

This group of seasonal food shots, from our families back yard, turned out fun.   I engaged my friend and stylist Trina Kahl to style the Gooseberry Desert and Zucchini cooked dishes.  We had a blast!  

Gooseberry Desert

Garden Lettuce

Zucchini

Growing up I remember my mom fixing simple but interesting dishes - using what grew on the property.  At the time, I didn't think too much of some of her choices.  As a adult, I look back with fond memories and long for those days.