I tend to be the type of person that thrives on the concept of living each minute to it’s fullest. I pack my schedule full, and I like it that way. I always have several pokers in the fire, and a big one of them happens to be production work.

As  a producer it’s my job, and my JOY, to seek out and scout all of the locations, find and cast the talent, and organize the photo shoot for my client from top to bottom.

I’m an expert in organization and planning, which lends itself nicely to my job as a freelance producer. This summer Andersen Ross, the stock photography company I work for, ventured into the world of motion. It’s a scary thought, the photography world is in transition constantly. As the demand for interactive media goes up, the demand for still media will go down. It remains my goal to be on the upside of that curve, always staying current with technology and accepting the future. With the assistance and partnership of HD Cinema Group, we have been working with the top of the line motion equipment, the RedONE to create the highest possible standard of stock motion available! It’s very exciting!

I’m thrilled to share this loop with you, it’s essentially all of our hard work condensed down to 1 minute and 40 seconds. I hope you enjoy!

Everyone knows I love me a hot dog. I love every combination, from plain ketchup, mustard, relish to chili cheese. There is this amazing hot dog place a friend of ours whisked us away to in Salem Mass., last time we were in Boston. It’s called Boston Hot Dog Co., you can get just about anything you can possibly think of on a hot dog here. I’m totally obsessed and wish they would open one here in Seattle, and if you’re ever in Salem you should try it, don’t forget to get the fries too, they’re famous.

When I had the opportunity to bid on this project for Ovations Catering for their digital reader boards, I knew I had to do it. They do the concessions for Rose Garden, the Memorial Colliseum, and the PIR in Portland, and I had so much fun shooting this. Oh the glorious hot dogs. I’ve never been so excited about hot dogs and hamburgers in all my life. The only thing better than shooting this food was STYLING this food!

You can get all of these fine food items from Ovations the next time you go to a Blazer game. Go Blazers!

If I had to define my personal style by identifying with a brand it would most definitely be Anthropologie. Classic, eclectic, vintage, colorful, detailed, superb craftsmanship. When I walk into that store I feel like I’m walking in to myself… or something like that. Figuratively of course.

From their website:

“We carefully design and select our products with an eye for craftsmanship, the smallest details, and that certain something special that makes each item you find in our stores and website more than novelty but a personal discovery. Our clothing, jewelry, and objects for home are always changing. So is our world. Our hope at Anthropologie is to share with you in the breathtaking possibility of it all.”

Whoa…. that’s deep! But so true!! I actually prefer to buy my funky clothes and furniture from thrift stores like Goodwill and estate sales (more on that later), but I get down with their style. They’ve bottled it and turned it into a brand. Anyone can appreciate that. Next up you’re going to see a Pemco commercial for the “Thrifty Northwest Shopper”, standing in the rain… waiting for the store to open. You heard it here FIRST folks. I want my cut.

Everyone who has visited the blog in the last week has seen that my friend Renae is stunningly gorgeous in every possible way. What they might not know is that she also has the skills to pay the bills when it comes to her own artform and that takes shape in the most resplendant jewelery I have seen in a long time! I identify with it in the same way that I do with Anthropologie, it’s eclectic, but classic… one of a kind. Some of the charms are found objects that can never be replicated. Her business on Etsy is just blowing up. If you like her style you had better get in on it before her prices go up because they will! Her brand is called Brooklyn Grace, click on the link and check it out. When she first launched, her photography was no bueno, she was doing it with her PHONE people! I immediately called her up let her know we needed to have a sit down.

Lovely Brooklyn Grace:

Leave a comment and tell me which brand best represents your personal style. I’d love to know!

Film is like a warm cozy blanket… it’s soft and warm and feels like a place of safety. I started out in school shooting everything on transparency film. I still believe it’s the true way to learn how to be the best photographer you can be. Digital technology is based off of the priciples of film, and if you don’t understand film… it’s going to be hard to understand her more complicated younger brother. With transparency your exposure must be spot on, or you’re going to be in quite the pickle. As my career in photography has progressed I’ve gone back and forth on the matter of film. After I bought my first digital camera I admit, I thought I would never go back. Now it seems like every Tom, Dick and Harry is a “professional photographer”, and I can’t go to a networking event without bumping into 5 or 10 competitors. What makes me different, a difference that you can see? On this blog I really want to address this issue between film and digital, because I’m heading back to my roots and I’m very proud to say that shooting film makes me a better photographer. Every shot I take has thought and heart put into it, but film takes what I see and makes it smooth as butter.

I have some amazing clients, clients that understand what I do and why I do it. Kristine at Cognition Studio (the same  designer who did my killer identity design) recently approached me about doing new portraits for their website.  She was inspired by a cover of  W Magazine that just hit the newsstands with Brad Pitt on the cover… you know the one. The photos in the spread were done by Chuck Close had a very specific look. Close used an archaic technique called Daguerreotype, and if you’ve ever seen a photograph predating 1850 you’ve probably been looking at one.

The Daguerreotype was the first successful photographic process, the discovery being announced on 7 January 1839. The process consisted of:

• exposing copper plates to iodine, the fumes forming light-sensitive silver iodide. The plate would have to be used within an hour.
• exposing to light – between 10 and 20 minutes, depending upon the light available.
• developing the plate over mercury heated to 165 degrees. This caused the mercury to amalgamate (found this word on the internet) with the silver.
• fixing the image in a warm solution of common salt (later sodium sulphite was used.)
• rinsing the plate in hot distilled water.

The process of creating a Daguerreotype is detailed in itself, but the actual photograph is so desirable because of it’s ability to record even the smallest, most minute amount of detail. Sometimes the details might reveal something that the photographer had not intended.

In Brad Pitts’ case, every line, wrinkle, blackhead, and 3rd world adopted baby was revealed with the printing of his negatives.

After researching exactly how to give Cognition Studio the best from a photography perspective, I really wanted to go as true to the process as possible. Traditional Daguerreotypes have an exposure time of 30-45 seconds. That’s a LONG time to hold one’s breath, plus I had an apprehension to working with liquid mercury (I eat sushi, but come on)  Shooting film, however, was a must. I busted out the 4×5 moves for these portraits, which  was challenging enough. The focal plane is narrow so the subject must remain perfectly still after focusing while the film backs are inserted.

Yes, the filters were applied in Photoshop to give it that Daguerreotype look. I cheated, don’t tell.