APA "Something Personal" Selection

This photo was selected for this year's San Francsico APA "Something Personal" photo exhibition. You can see some other selects from this shoot in my "Wellness" section of my website.

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This was shot for George Mark Children's House. It's titled "Shared Interaction" It sums up what was happening in the photo.

Tea Time with Elhadji

During my filming of Elhadji Koumama demonstrating his lost wax jewelry process he would brew up some of his Tuareg style tea. It's a nice little break to take while the coals are drying out the clay pots that hold the wax. The tea is very strong and we all share from the same two glasses he carries in his bag. Being a nomadic person you only carry a few utensils and shares them among his friends and family.

Fire in Yosemite

Just returned from a weekend in Yosemite and there was was an out of controlled fire burning near the HWY120 entrance. The fire started off as a controll burn then quickly out got out of control. Hummm. Starting a fire in August? Anyhow the smoke from the fire has filled up the valley. From this photo taken from the tunnel road you can see that Half Dome is almost obscured from the smoke. There were a number of helicopters dumping water on the fire. They would fly over the valley and pick up water from the Merced river below.

Everyone has an opinion on editing

"Editing never ends!" Norman Maslov laments. It's an ongoing process, always a "constant" in the creative life of an artist.

All photographers edit their work, by some means. It can be from the very beginning of raising the camera up to their eye and deciding where to point it, to what to leave out of the frame, when to press the shutter, or even when to stop. It comes down to controlling what you want to say with your photograph. It could be a collaborative process, with an art director, representative, or trusted friend.

Every person edits with his or her own personal agenda. The photographer will edit their take with the personal eye of a photographer. The art director/picture editor will edit with their eye toward the concept or story. A rep will edit from the standpoint of marketing the artist. Everyone looking at the same session, everyone has a different opinion.

Mark Holhtusen mentioned, that with his very complex CGI photography work, it's the models expressions that he first starts to build his multi-layered composites from.

Maslov states, "An emerging photographer needs to edit their work much more tightly. At the beginning of their career, just to get people to look at your work and be remembered, they should have a narrower focus. Either it is style or thematic. This way they can establish themselves for one thing. Then later on when they become better known, they can stretch out in different directions."

Connie Wood, Senior Art Director at Charles Schwab, has worked on a number of library photo shoots, talks about how she goes through the process.

During a shoot we follow a scenario list throughout the day and as we work through the various scenarios we tag all the images shot with a naming convention that maps to the scenario list. Each scenario gets a folder which helps keep all editing contained to the objective of fulfilling on each scenario we set out to capture. Of course throughout the process of editing we always find hidden gems/unexpected moments, which capture a scene or an emotion better than anything we could have possibly staged. These are the shots I look for when I edit and I add them to the final batch of selects and try to sell them to the larger group in the final approval process. Generally many of those shots make it into the final batch.

I do like to see everything from the shoot. I do not expect the photographer to edit the shoot. I do however greatly appreciate it when the photographer recommends a set of selects from the shoot--his/her favorites. Generally I honor these selects and add them to the final set presented for publishing.

Generally my first impressions/instincts are the final published images. Often I can already see the final selects while on set. Seeing these shots as they happen often is the cue to move on to the next scenario.

Most people agree it's advantageous to have another person take a look at the edit. It's amazing what a set of "Fresh Eyes" can pick up sometimes. Plus most creative people agree it's their first impression that still holds up after reviewing the whole lot. I think we have all been in a portfolio presentation with an art director who flips through a book in rapid succession and knows instantly if it is a yes or no. That art director is editing your work right there in front of you. It's their first impression they are judging your work on.

Opinions vary as to what stays and what goes. Maslov remembers one time when one of his photographers, Sue Tallon, shot a personal series called "Ikea Food" a departure from clean classic appetizing food photography. At first Norman didn't think it would be a good fit on his website. Sue posted them on her site and received calls from art directors to shoot similar style work because of the high concept behind the photos. She was hired to photograph subject matter that replicated the look and feel of her images. Norman realized that there are AD's out who will be looking at some food photography from the conceptual point of view.

Personally I find it very intriguing to view photographers contact sheets and edit. In the past few years there have been great exhibitions of Diane Arbus and Robert Frank's work at the SFMOMA. At both of those shows, some of their contact sheets where displayed. I was able to see how Diane approached her subjects and get her shot. You can almost see her slow approach and capture of the person. While Robert Frank's contact sheets displayed a shooting style of quick one shot and scram approach. Then Frank would select that one shot from what seems as a random capture. You read their histories and you start to understand their personalities, you then see it in their edits. Imagine if Diane Arbus edited Robert Frank's work and visa versa?

Homage to Avedon & Frank

I went to the Richard Avedon opening last night at the San Francisco MOMA. Along with the Robert Frank "America's" exhibition I walked away with my creative juices flowing. I try to recall some earlier images I shot that had direct influence from those two photographers.

Here are two shots from some years ago that I positively knew Avedon and Frank had a part in. In the beginning of any artist career they always experiment in other influential artist styles to see how they fit. Evolving from there to hopefully discovering a true personal voice.

Old Glory on a Wing

I flew to Washington DC over the July 4th weekend on a Virgin America airplane. Outside my window was this view. Old glory on the tip of the wing. I tip my hat to the person who thought up this idea. Great color juxtaposition.

What New Lab Meant to Us

Being the newest managing editor of the San Francisco APA chapter "Advertising Photographers of America" I had to come up with story ideas. This is the first story to be published and it is on the local E6 processing lab "New Lab." They closed their doors in May after 29 years serving the photography community with great service and friendship. I asked a number of photographers to submit their thoughts about New Lab. Below is the artical.

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New Lab closed its doors last month. Its closing marked the end of an era here in the San Francisco photography community. The lab basically processed film, but what it meant to the community was more than that.

When I moved to San Francisco from New York City back in 1989 my experiences with E6 labs were typical of most New York photographers. We had all our film delivered by messengers and our communication was a short direct telephone call to an anonymous voice just giving processing instructions. Arriving in San Francisco I was informed of the two E6 labs in town that the majority of professional photographers patronized: Chromeworks and New Lab. I selected New Lab because they were on Cleveland alley, and closer to my studio at the time.

The local community did not embrace the concept of messengering film like it did in New York, I had to drive to the lab and actually drop it off and pick it up. Slowly, I started reviewing clip tests and asked the advice from some of knowledgeable people behind the desk. They were great.

Then New Lab moved to Bryant Street and had ample parking! More and more photographers and assistants started to linger and chit chat. We all became more familiar with Wendy, Paul, DanO, Lynn, Bill, Hugh, and Brian. New Lab had become the town square for photographers -- a place to unexpectedly bump into an old friend, or an assistant's opportunity to meet a new photographer. And for many years, they New Lab generously provided office space for both the APA and ASMP, in exchange for newsletter ads. They became a regional hub.

My friend Tom McAfee remembers going to the lab being one of the most pleasant parts of his day. "I know going to the lab was the highlight of (my dog) Sam's day -- he would somehow know and actually sulk if I went without him -- but who could argue with being fed treats by the likes of Wendy, etc.? They were always cutting the edge, and willing to share what they knew. A really, really great business model."

For Hector Herrera it was his first job in the photography world. "I really learned about professional photography. It was always an experience to look at the work of the best photographers, not only in the bay area but from all over the country,"

Richard Morgenstein aptly described some typical experiences many photographers have encountered at New Lab.

As I sit here in my digital dungeon, having just spent the past 3 hours retouching corporate portraits (NOT outsourced to India or Peru or Hungary), I am pretty sure that the closing of the New Lab marks the end of a photographic era.

While writing this, I am reminded of how much I miss from the film era. I especially miss the editorial portraiture world prior to the dot com bust. At the time, we knew we were having fun and making money, but only in retrospect is it clear what we have lost.

The death of the New Lab caps this loss. In San Francisco, there were basically two E-6 labs that catered to the professional, and the New Lab is the last to close. To say that they "processed our film" minimizes their importance to the photographic community.

I used both labs at times (remember cross-processing?), but due to the size and the physical layout of the New Lab, it was the easier place to socialize. I do not need to list the professional reasons that we used the New Lab, long considered one of the finest labs in the world. But instead I want to talk about having a place to meet other photographers, to see their work, to get and give advice, and generally to help build a community.

The average editorial shoot could take three trips to the New Lab (drop film for a snip test, come back to check the snips, and make one last trip to edit the film, package it and ship it off via Fed Ex). Since many of us were shooting upwards of 175 assignments a year, there were plenty of people to connect with at any of these stops.

This sense of community led directly to the formation of Editorial Photographers (EP) and its groundbreaking contractual deals with Business Week and Forbes Magazines. Many special circumstances allowed photographers to come together cooperatively in San Francisco, but without the New Lab as a catalyst, these things might never have happened. With the closing of the New Lab, we are reminded of our community's loss in the post-film world.

This is a belated but heartfelt thanks to the New Lab and, its employees and founders. We appreciate all of the support over the years. You will be missed, but never forgotten.

And finally Hunter Freeman felt comfortable enough to show his devilish charm in his remarks about the end of the New Lab era.

They were just the best film lab I've ever dealt with, including my six years in Manhattan.

Wonderful people to work with, always looking for perfection in what they did, and always ready to go the extra mile to help on any project. A hub of the photo community, you could always count on seeing other photographers there.

I played an April Fool's trick on them one time. I told them I was shooting a very important job, with very little time to shoot and test. I sent one sheet over to them for a super rush test, making sure that they would call me to give their opinion on the exposure - I had no time to go see for myself! :-) They called with horrible news, and said that there was "nothing on the film." I was shocked! :-) I asked if there was absolutely nothing on the film at all, "Not even a speck of anything, anywhere?" They dutifully checked again while I was on the phone, and said there was something small in one corner of the 8x10. I said, "Get a loupe and see what it is." That's when they realized what I'd done: In very small white type, in one corner of the 8x10, were the words "April Fool's!" They swore they would get me for that, though they never did get any payback - they were just too nice.

Super people, great service, great processing. New Lab was the best.

Personally, I remember one story about my trust in New Lab: while shooting a catalog in Arizona, a strange man came up to me and offered to process my E6 at a great price. I was suspicious, partly because he was wearing a black leather jacket and loafers in the middle of the dessert, but I just couldn't bear to have anyone else but New Lab touch my film. I simply didn't want to miss the secure feeling of coming home to a safe and friendly place, knowing there were people who cared just as much as we do about our film. New Lab was a community, a shared sense of professionalism; and it didn't have to be barked out loud for the whole world to hear. For those of us who walked though the doors, we knew we were entering a special place.

Iphone photos

Letting it all hang out in the country.

Always say "Yes"

My father told me to always say "Yes" when someone asks you to take their photo. One time I was almost ready to shoot a group portrait on location, when a group of Chinese business tourist came along. They asked if I could take their picture. Of coarse! One Polaroid for them and one for me.

What Inspires Us.

This image of a six-year-old orphan boy from Austria was just handed a pair of shoes by a Red Cross worker. Gerald Walker shot the image. I first saw this photograph in a “Best of Life” publication when I was very young. This image moved me because the little boy’s feelings felt so pure and genuine. His expression of joy on his face showed me the power in the pleasure in the simplest of things. To be handed something so utilitarian as a pair of shoes that it could move someone to joy had a profound effect on me. Still to this day I keep in my memory-bank this photo, to inspire me to shoot something similar.

What has inspired you?

Sample of actual photo journal page.

This is a sample from one of my photo journals. I used these pages for my template on my email promotions. This actual book is a few years old and is now out of commission. I have moved on to a new book. The color of the pages in the new book do not lend themselves as well for my promotions as this old book did.

Backstage at Flying Pixies

Here's a little ditty of the silks being hung. Watch this Quick time movie.

Flying Pixies!

Michele Adams, creative director at Dorland Global needed to come up with an ad for BD Biosciences new and improved diagnostic cell sorter machine. “Wow” how many art directors have had to come up with a creative solution to these types of projects? She was determined to do something more creative than the expected shot of equipment. She came up with the idea of a colorful circus aerialist flying through the air to represent colorful performance the new machine offered.

We both wanted to capture the sense of movement and depth, casting a small pixyish aerialist was the added touch to help convey the magic that goes on inside the machine.

From her past working experiences with me she trusted me to help conjure up the ideal aerialist performer. Casting a small pixyish aerialist was an added asset to the photograph. The metaphorical meaning of the photograph took on an added dimension to the ad. She has become the little color fairy inside the machine. For most technical types this would be scoffed at as pure fantasy. For after all they are serious researchers and little color pixies have no place in science, but to most people it still seams a little bit like magic on how these machines work.

On set the talent gave us her all in fantastic feats of strength on the tissues. (Term used for hanging silks by those circus people in the know.) I also shot a number of exposures of the tissue alone for post production use

There was a considerable amount of CGI work done on this shot and it was done in-house. Knowing the final image would have a rainbow of color applied over the tissues I shot the talent in a white unitard while hanging from the white tissues Plus a large quantity of tissue samples where shot to be used later for post-production.

After selecting the main body/expression image; the construction of the flying tissue took place. After many varieties of flying tissue ideas were developed we selected the one that felt the most like flying through the air. Then the process of adding color begun, again with many variations of color palette and blending to consider.

All it took was hard work and careful notes.

Cousin Chuckles

I met a long lost relative on my wife's side of the family. Cousin Chuckles! What a unique guy. He lives in Tucson AZ. Wherever he goes, he hands out "Chuckles" candy bars. The staff at the restaurant waited in line to receive a complementary "Chuckles" bar from him. His pants pockets are just loaded with "Chuckles".

First entry

This is a beta test. My first entry. I figure this will be an organic process, slowly building up over time. Adding favorite links and photos and such.