Work & Play -> Final Cut

While capturing video footage is the talk of the industry, we've learned quickly that any footage is only as good as the edited, final viewable product. Without a solid editor, colorist, and a person equally skilled with audio, most footage would remain just a series of clips stored on a hard drive never to see the light of day.

Over the course of the past year and a half I've been working to hone my video capture skills and have had the opportunity to collaborate with variety of editors. The process is always an intriguing one as it always adds more shape and voice to the content than I anticipate. We all have a vision when we set out to create new work, and in the video realm the aforementioned partners are essential to really make these ideas come to life.

This latest video piece is an augmentation of the still project shot for McDonald's over 4 days in Houston this past February. The crew and I worked to capture video clips in a variety of places, between shots, once our still needs were met. John Fontana also gathered ambient sound amid each of the stores we visited. To add to the look and feel we used a prototype glide track manufactured by Humble Monkey Productions which added a nice element of movement to each scene captured.

After wrapping the project in Houston, I got in touch with Adam Duguay of Elemental Motion Media Inc. in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We had been talking for a while and through conversations I became really interested in his approach to merging stills + video in an edit and just as important his ability to color grade video to match still imagery. A few weeks after shipping him a drive of select stills, raw video and audio we received the first edit which left us here at JCP in high spirits of what had been achieved. With a solid edit taking shape and continued dialogue between Adam and I, we were able to further refine and match up the stills and video content quite nicely.

Enough about our process. Take a look and I hope you enjoy- it's been a long time in the works. In addition to the blog it'll be featured at the JC|P Motion section of the site.

Our clients at McDonald's couldn't be happier with the final joint still / video rendition. With iPad in hand I was psyched to share this and other JC|P video projects at the recent AtEdge Face-to-Face event in Chicago last week, as well as several agencies in the following days. The estimate requests that are coming in are a sign that people are really excited about the merging mediums and are looking for ways to integrate both options on projects, large and small.

Thanks to all involved on this and other projects. Lots in store on the horizon and I look forward to continued collaboration...

Work & Play -> Final Cut

Compellent -> Fluid Data

Inundated by data these days, it's hard to imagine where any of us would be without a way to process and store all the 1's and 0's that have become a part of everyday life.

The Minneapolis based Compellent: a company devoted to finding effective storage solutions for companies all over the world, recently held their yearly conference, C-Drive, which put us on location to capture formal portraits of various patrons attending the event. We had a small space to set up our lighting and backdrop which encouraged a more personalized experience with subjects and crew alike. Over the course of two days, we met people from all over the world and heard a few good stories about their hometown or their favorite outing while here in Minneapolis.

With art direction being a bit more moody and dramatic, the portraits are a departure from my typical daylight based approach and style. I am pleased with where they ended up and could see this project as a catalyst for future photo endeavors.

Compellent -> Fluid Data

American Photography 26

This past January we entered a few images in the American Photography 26 contest- shots from a shoot for Purina via Colle+McVoy. A recent e-mail notification came through announcing the above image had been selected for award.

Out of 8000+ submitted entries only 132 photographers were chosen to showcase their work on the American Photography 26 site. Congratulations to all my peers who made the selection for 2010.

Off to Chicago next week for another project for the N.M.D.P. followed by the AtEdge "Face to Face Chicago" portfolio showing event where I'll be meeting with creatives from both Euro RSCG and Abelson Taylor.

American Photography 26

An evening at the Rodeo...

"I admire bull riders for their passion and the uniqueness each one of them has." - Chris Le Doux

A call came through recently from Preston Kelly looking to commission an image of a bull rider being thrown from a bull for an ad for a national health insurance company. If this were Texas I'm sure it wouldn't have been too hard to locate, but here in the Midwest, it wasn't quite as easy. After reaching out to many folks in the local Minnesota bull riding and rodeo community, as well as producer Bobbi Peacock and some local scouts, we managed to secure a location and an event to capture the desired rider image as well as some additional still + video content for personal / portfolio use.

About an hour southwest of Minneapolis in Henderson, MN sits High Island Arena where the annual Friday and Saturday evening rodeo event was scheduled. Having secured full access to roam amid the event we found an unused horse stall which couldn't have worked better to set up a small portrait area. Once the Kino Flo Diva Lights from Cinequipt were in position for still + video portraits we set out to capture some behind the scenes shots, as well as scout the ideal position to capture a rider being thrown off a bull.

The rodeo was no doubt a true slice of Americana, steeped in rich tradition and history. It was certainly a visual place to spend a few hours and we had a great time working with all the people that keep this sport alive and well.

An evening at the Rodeo...