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A Good Old Fashioned Celebration

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It was a brisk fall day in northern Montana… OK – that’s a lie.  It was the last day of June in Detroit and it was HOT.  Like really, really hot.

But that’s all I really have to whine about.  The rest of the day was super awesome.

Based on this post, some of you may know that I don’t regularly shoot weddings.  It’s not so much because I don’t like them (’cause I do).  It’s more that shooting a wedding for someone you didn’t know until they hired you has some drawbacks:

– They aren’t your buddies and there’s a chance they may feel a bit uncomfortable with a camera pointed at them (regardless of how good you are).

– You don’t really know a lot about their personal lives, so striking up conversation/making them laugh is pretty much left to the stock commentary that gets used with every client.

– (This is my big one) – Their personal bubble is a LOT bigger.

Those are just a couple of reasons why I only shoot weddings for family and friends.  I can get closer, make them laugh more consistently, and – most importantly – it seems like less of a job and more like fun (which GREATLY improves image quality).

So anywho – a friend/former instructor of mine got hitched at the end of last month and I was there along with Ashley Lawler and Laura Raymond for picture takin’.

Here are some of the nifty shots we got.

– Jon

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I am the Dragon pt.2

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A couple days ago, we dropped it like it’s hot… flaming hot.

As you might remember from the end of the post- one should take great caution when spitting flaming liquid out of one’s face.  Well, even though caution was taken, there could have been more.

I learned a new lesson.

– Jon

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I am the Dragon.

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Back in the day (it was a Wednesday) I taught myself a neat-o party trick: FIREBREATHING!

It’s great for all kinds of things – weddings, kid’s parties, lighting birthday cake candles, even getting rid of hornet nests.  But, above all else, visual entertainment.

Here’s a little collection of some of my favorite shots.

Now, before you say “Hey, that’s nifty.  I should get down on some of that!” you should realize the downsides.

1.)  You’re shooting fire out of your face.

2.)  Thermodynamics

3.)  YOU’RE SHOOTING FIRE OUT OF YOUR FACE!

It’s pretty much a guarantee that the first couple times you try something like this, you’ll be ending up with a quick sunburn.  That’s not to say it’ll be completely safe after you’ve had practice.

Recently, I attempted a picture while standing in Lake Huron.  I was in one of the largest bodies of fresh water on Earth.  I soaked my head before I took the shot.  I also had my back to the wind – so the fire would just get blown even further away from me, right?

WRONG.

Apparently the oxygen that was consumed directly in front of my face because of the fire was replaced, and then some, by the wind wrapping around my head.  So, be sure to stop back in a day or two for the follow up pictures on why you should know more about physics when attempting something like this.

In closing, don’t be stupid… like me.  It could end really badly.

– Jon

 

 

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Going Green… Decoratively.

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Due in no small part to a connection from a close friend, I’ve recently begun some business with a local/national herbalogically-minded, interior decoration-based company.  I suppose that’s a bit wordy, but it’s a pretty accurate description of what these folks do.

The company is BrightGreen and they craft “Living Walls.”     These guys —-> 

Basically, imagine a unit that allows plants to grow vertically on a wall instead of on the ground or in pots.  Also, because each unit can hold multiple small plants, you can essentially plant designs on the wall that match the decor and such.

Over the past coupe weeks, we began work creating imagery for the new product from the company, the “Grovert.”  It’s the plant-it, hang-it, grow-it yourself unit for sale at  plant nurseries in the Midwest.

Here’s a bit of of the project –  a few of my favorite shots.  What do you guys think?

– Jon

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Oh lookie – I have a commercial!

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As you may have noticed (or maybe not) I’ve been lacking a bit on getting up “the content.”

Well, sure, I’ve been busy with some jobs – BUT – more importantly…

Jon’s learning video.

Yes indeedy, folks – while I will always rock out the single shots, I’m starting to love me some 24FPS.  So with no more rambling, please take a gander at my very own promo video!

Oh – be sure to watch it in HD – it’s just that much better.

– Jon

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Home Grown Ads.

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Hey y’all! Sorry it’s been a bit since the last post – Finals week sort of took up my time. But now I’m back and ready to rock out some new work!

Let’s start with a finish. Over the last few months there have been regular posts about a series of group adverting projects. We’ve seen hygene products, security systems, summer-y desserts… No we finish the series in the real estate industry.

Our task for this last project was to design a pair of single page ads, a 2-page spread, a billboard, and a commercial. The task was intended to focus on the service industry, so we chose the real estate sector (specifically residential real estate.

I’ll skip the long-drawn breakdown of why we did what we did – Enjoy!

Oh – and fair warning: the video is REALLY cheesy.

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High Tech Self-Promo

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This has been in the works for about 3 months now.

Since the start of term, I wanted to put together a booklet – kind of like a process book (showing clients how I get to the end of a project).  So, I did.

I won’t ramble about it, as it’s intended to be fairly self-explanatory.  I wouldn’t mind some thoughts and opinions, though.

Whadaya think?

– Jon

 

 

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Big-Time Post Production

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I’d like to follow up my post from a couple weeks ago regarding retouching and the general process of “Photoshopping.”  To be clear this is not really part 2 of that post series.  That will be on it’s way in a few days.  This is more so the other end of the argument.

While it’s the best possible choice to get things right in-camera, sometimes it’s just not an option.  By just not an option, I mean nowhere remotely close to an option.  A good example is advertisement photography.

You probably know that no product or service is ever the same as you see it in an ad.  EVER.  If you disagree, I’d like you to compare your Whopper you’ll be having for lunch with the one on the menu.  Sure – this is slightly different issue.  That burger never existed in the first place – it was made out of mashed potatoes and spackle before the picture was even taken.  Instead, let’s focus on something clearly different than the original picture.

You’ve probably seen this video:

That’s an issue that happens more than you’d think/more than you’d like to know/ALL THE TIME.

However, there is one reason to justify such an obscene level of post production – finances.  Sometimes it’s just impractical to fly a model to outer Mongolia.  If there’s a small budget, if time constraints are fundamentally impossible, or if the picture of the setting already exists – sometimes the picture can be stitched together later.  Now, I know what you (might) be saying: “Where’s the photographic skill?  isn’t that just going to breakdown to someone drawing on a computer until the final image looks ‘good enough’ ?”

Not really.

Sure -there’s a descent amount of isolating, some burning/dodging, and a handful of trial and error.  BUT…

The picture still HAS to be correct in camera.  In many ways, it has to be “more correct” than a normal picture.  It all comes down to my favorite part of photography:  LIGHT.

If the background was photographed outside at sunset and the person/object was shot in a black studio with on-board flash, the color, angle of light, depth of field, and separation will look completely wrong .  So many factors have to be considered, I feel this type of post production absolutely qualifies as “good photography.”

Of course, I’m always open to comments and varying opinions.

That said – here’s a small sampling of some “image combination” I started as a side project a number of months ago.  Let me know what you think!

– Jon

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The urban surfer

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A bit ago I had the opportunity to shoot some subject matter I had been lacking: a full-on skateboarding promo campaign.

My cousin is a fairly skilled longboarder.  (For those of you who don’t know – long boarding is like a cross between skateboarding and surfing, all preformed on – you guessed it –  a long board.)

He actually won the board.  It was a literary competition illustrating why each entrant love long boarding and should win the board.  Mike Strong won.  This thing is worth hundreds of dollars.  It’s a big deal.

The problem is that we both live in Michigan… and Mike won his Loyal Dean board in December.

Basically he had to stare at it an wait for almost 5 months.  So, when spring rolled around, we hit the asphalt.  He busted some moves and gave the board a run for its money.

Check out some of the series!

– Jon

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It’s Summer and I’m Polish.

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It’s just about summer and as far as I’m concerned, that means festivities.

Now, I don’t know about where you live, but in my neck of the woods (Metro Detroit) there are fairs, events, and festivals EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  However, there is one kick-off that draws people from a really really long way off.

The Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Polish Country Fair.

This thing is straight up awesome.  Forget the corn-dogs and elephant ears for a second – most fairs take a few days to set up the rides and pavilions.  This one takes 2 WEEKS.  It started small and insignificant about 40 years ago… as of last year, it topped 110,000 attendees.

North American Midway Entertainment puts on the show (they’re the “world’s largest traveling outdoor amusement park”).

There are, of course, many a photo opportunity at this thing.  For your viewing pleasure – here’s a little gallery from my trip to the fair yesterday.  If you’d like to check out the rest, or pick up a print, be sure to swing over to the full event gallery!  <– (link).

-Jon