city lights
It's always fun when we collaborate with clients and come up with bright ideas. This time we captured the luminance of lamps against a city background for the Dec/Jan 2011 issue of Dwell Magazine. It took a few extension cords to get all the lamps...
It's always fun when we collaborate with clients and come up with bright ideas. This time we captured the luminance of lamps against a city background for the Dec/Jan 2011 issue of Dwell Magazine. It took a few extension cords to get all the lamps lit. We also got to roam the streets of downtown San Francisco pretending we were tourists and photographed various city backgrounds.
You can find it on newsstands or zinio.com
Clutch Bags With SF Magazine
Now that the we finally got the blog up and running with Posterous, we are playing catch up with a few new blog posts of recent work. The September 2011 issue of San Francisco Magazine includes three of my photographs in it's "The Trend" section. ...
Now that the we finally got the blog up and running with Posterous, we are playing catch up with a few new blog posts of recent work. The September 2011 issue of San Francisco Magazine includes three of my photographs in it's "The Trend" section. This time, we got to work with fancy, designer clutch bags and incorporate fruits and vegetables. Shannon Amos (stylist) came through in the clutch to provide good quality and photogenic produce.
Read it for free at
http://media.modernluxury.com/magazines_san_francisco.php
or download their free app for your iPad and iPhone at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-francisco-magazine/id370424626?mt=8
Dwell: Desks
For the September issue of Dwell magazine we photographed desks. We worked with a set builder to make custom pedestals, which looked great but moving things around was no easy task! When asked if we could move a pedestal "a little to the left" we ...
For the September issue of Dwell magazine we photographed desks. We worked with a set builder to make custom pedestals, which looked great but moving things around was no easy task! When asked if we could move a pedestal "a little to the left" we had to really question if it was needed. When we did move things, it took considerable effort not to scratch the floor or anything. Even with all the heavy lifting it was a really fun job. After we assembled all the desks Jamie, the editor, tried them all out for her story.
For the September issue of Dwell magazine we photographed desks. We worked with a set builder to make custom pedestals, which looked great but moving things around was no easy task! When asked if we could move a pedestal "a little to the left" we had to really question if it was needed. When we did move things, it took considerable effort not to scratch the floor or anything.
Even with all the heavy lifting it was a really fun job. After we assembled all the desks Jamie, the editor, tried them all out for her story
DIY Macworld
Rob and Kate from Macworld were on set for the "Do It Yourself" feature of the magazine. Kate doubled as the hand model in two of the photos. In the spirit of "Do It Yourself" I ended up making a rig to support the iPad Kate was holding to help ke...
Rob and Kate from Macworld were on set for the "Do It Yourself" feature of the magazine. Kate doubled as the hand model in two of the photos. In the spirit of "Do It Yourself" I ended up making a rig to support the iPad Kate was holding to help keep it in the same spot. It made lighting and focus a lot easier. In the photo of the audio system I created the wall with a sheet of foam core, which made it easy to cut a hole for the outlet which the Airport Express plugged into.
Dwell House Party
Who doesn't love a House Party? It's always great working with Dwell, this time it was especially cool because we got to work with their kids. We spent the morning organizing various playhouses and lighting. I decided to use a more spotted lighting arrangement to add some depth to the photo. In doing this I had to predict the areas where I thought the kids might play. Once the kids arrived we let them play as I snapped the photos. After that we had them each play in predetermined areas so that all the kids were evenly dispersed among the playhouses. Of course once we got a successful photo, all the adults jumped in to join the fun! You can find the issue on newsstands now.
Snakes with SF Magazine
When SF magazine approach us to photograph snakes and shoes I was very excited. Michael my assistant wasn't, he has an extreme fear of snakes. Luckily the snake handler (what a cool job title) from the Academy of Science took care of all the snake...
When SF magazine approach us to photograph snakes and shoes I was very excited. Michael my assistant wasn't, he has an extreme fear of snakes. Luckily the snake handler (what a cool job title) from the Academy of Science took care of all the snake handling. This helped keep Michael on job.
I knew that the snakes weren't going to be cooperative so I built a set to be modified on the fly. The light was also set up to be pretty forgiving. The one thing I didn't foresee was the snakes twitching every time the strobes when off. Because of how the snakes reacted to the lights, the snake handler limited our time with each snake. We were only able to photograph each snake 10-15 times, which meant I had to really think before taking the photo. The snakes moved fast exploring their new environment. Nothing was off limits. They curled around light and stands, slithered up the plexiglass, knocked down the shoes and two took bathroom breaks on set. One snake even got stuck through an open toe Alexander Wang sandal that we debated on cutting the $900 shoe. Luckily, he freed himself a couple minutes later. If we are to shoot snakes again in the future, we will photograph them using HMI or hot lights instead.
You can get the magazine on newsstandsor read free online at http://media.modernluxury.com/magazines_san_francisco.phpor orread free on your iPad at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-francisco-magazine/id370424626?mt=8
Macworld iPad on Location
I love how Macworld Magazine switches things up. It's always something new and exciting. This time, rather than shooting the feature in studio, we ventured off to different parts of San Francisco with two models and two iPads. They wanted more of ...
I love how Macworld Magazine switches things up. It's always something new and exciting. This time, rather than shooting the feature in studio, we ventured off to different parts of San Francisco with two models and two iPads. They wanted more of a loose type of photography with natural light and no strobes. We also ditched the Phase One P65+ and gave the Canon 5D Mark II the opportunity to shine. Our favorite lenses were the 85mm f1.2 and the 70mm-200mm f2.8.
Being out in public means a lot of people to avoid in the shot. One such case was in the public library when a lady had no clue she was in our photo. You would have to be pretty clueless not to see or hear us shooting. Part of the agreement we had with the library was not to ask people to move so we didn't. We just had to wait for her to move. A funny moment was when a man we saw at the library was also at the Embarcadero two hours later going for a run. He noticed us as he ran by and said, "Hey, I just saw you guys at the library!" It was a fun and adventurous two-day shoot.
SF Magazine Hanging Watch
I got the call from San Francisco Magazine to photograph a watch...but not just a typical watch photo. They wanted something monumental and fun. They wanted something in line with my Donut series. After work on my way home I saw the cranes in the ...
I got the call from San Francisco Magazine to photograph a Chanel J12 watch...but not just a typical watch photo. They wanted something monumental and fun. They wanted something in line with my Donut series. After work on my way home I saw the cranes in the ship yard behind my building. I thought, "How cool would that be to have a watch hanging from there?!" The contrast of a pristine, slick watch with the gritty, rustic shipyard would be awesome. I presented the idea and they loved it. Below is a behind-the-scenes photo taken with my iPhone so it must be real!
You can get the magazine on newsstands
or read free online at http://media.modernluxury.com/magazines_san_francisco.php
or read free on your iPad http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-francisco-magazine/id370424626?mt=8
Macworld Beyond Cable
For this feature, Macworld wanted to showcase each product from the review in their own setting. In order to keep the set budget down, we got furnishings from West Elm and Ikea in exchange for giving them credit in the magazine. For the opening ph...
For this feature, Macworld wanted to showcase each product from the review in their own setting. In order to keep the set budget down, we got furnishings from West Elm and Ikea in exchange for giving them credit in the magazine. For the opening photo, we didn't hang the TV on the wall because we didn't have a wall bracket. As a stand in, we used a foam core cut out. This allowed us to see how the TV would look in the photo as we worked on the crop. We also only had one chair so it was photographed in each position. Unfortunately, the nice floor didn't make the final layout because of the crop.
Check out the magazine on newsstands or at Zinio.com
Dwell View
Dwell called at end of the day on Wednesday to photograph Thursday afternoon. They needed the view from their office photographed for an upcoming story. When we first arrived we did several quick test photos of the view with different lens options...
Dwell called at end of the day on Wednesday to photograph Thursday afternoon. They needed the view from their office photographed for an upcoming story. When we first arrived we did several quick test photos of the view with different lens options. Then I sat down with the clients, Amy and Alexis, and we picked the best view and lens combination. Once we narrowed the choices down to just two views, we waited for the light to be just right. Below is the 2nd view that didn't get used.
Macworld iPad 2
The new cover of Macworld magazine is outfeaturing a photo that I took. Luckily it was Macworld's iPad, I wouldn't want to tape my iPad up like this. I've included some behind the scenes photos of the cover and one of the photos from the iPad 2 ar...
The new cover of Macworld magazine is outfeaturing a photo that I took. Luckily it was Macworld's iPad, I wouldn't want to tape my iPad up like this. I've included some behind the scenes photos of the cover and one of the photos from the iPad 2 article.
You can find the magazine on newsstands now or read the digital version on
iPad at work - Macworld
The new Macworld magazine is full of photos I've taken to help illustrate using an iPad at work instead of your laptop. It is refreshing that the art director, Rob, is always interested in trying new things with the images. The hanging notepads im...
The new Macworld magazine is full of photos I've taken to help illustrate using an iPad at work instead of your laptop. It is refreshing that the art director, Rob, is always interested in trying new things with the images. The hanging notepads image was one such photo. I've included a behind-the-scenes photo of it's set belowwe really did hang the ipad by a clip!
You can find the magazine on newsstands now or read the digital version on zinio.com
Which Mac? Macworld Feature
The cover of the new Macworld magazine features a photo I took of the new MacBook Air.Inside the magazine there is also an article featuring photos that I took at various location around Potrero Hill. It was fun to be able to do something a little...
The cover of the new Macworld magazine features a photo I took of the new MacBook Air.Inside the magazine there is also an article featuring photos that I took at various location around Potrero Hill. It was fun to be able to do something a little different.You can find the magazine on newstands now or read the feature article online.
Film Crew
Had a great photoshoot with Dwell and the Eames documentary crew. It will be for a future episode of American Masters on PBS about Ray and Charles Eames. Here are some photos from the photoshoot.
Had a great photoshoot with Dwell and the Eames documentary crew. It will be for a future episode of American Masters on PBS about Ray and Charles Eames. Here are some photos from the photoshoot.
Dwell Vacuums
We had an amazing two days with Dwell Magazine. This time, we got creative with vacuums. They all sucked! The process started off by using a rough overlay of the spread from Brendan, the art director. This allowed us to map out where the crumbs an...
We had an amazing two days with Dwell Magazine. This time, we got creative with vacuums. They all sucked!
The process started off by using a rough overlay of the spread from Brendan, the art director. This allowed us to map out where the crumbs and vacuums went without interfering with his final design. The crumbs are strategically placed and the paths of the vacuums were cleared using different size brushes. The next step was to photograph all the vacuums separately at the correct angle, matching the area that was cleared out for them in the crumbs.
Sift through the mess at your local newsstand and sweep up a copy of the October 2010 issue of Dwell Magazine. You can also get a copy at Zinio.com
Dwell - Make It Yours
Here are some behind-the-scenes photos for the current cover of Dwell's "Make It Yours" magazine. It was like a puzzle figuring out how to fit all the pieces together. Good thing we had donuts to keep us focused.
Here are some behind-the-scenes photos for the current cover of Dwell's "Make It Yours" magazine. It was like a puzzle figuring out how to fit all the pieces together. Good thing we had donuts to keep us focused.
More Macworld behind-the-scenes
As you may have noticed, I was really pleased with the September issue of Macworld. Here is one last batch of behind-the-scenes images. I've also included a set of images which I used to compose into one of the shots. To see the final composited p...
As you may have noticed, I was really pleased with the September issue of Macworld. Here is one last batch of behind-the-scenes images. I've also included a set of images which I used to compose into one of the shots. To see the final composited photo check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com.
Veins
I'm sharing even more behind-the-scenes images from the September issue of Macworld since people seem to really like seeing what goes into the shots. These images were taken during the shoot for the overhead image of two people playing Scrabble at...
I'm sharing even more behind-the-scenes images from the September issue of Macworld since people seem to really like seeing what goes into the shots. These images were taken during the shoot for the overhead image of two people playing Scrabble at the table.
You'll notice 3 interesting things about this shot: First, is that both people were photographed separately. This was done because the models were only available at different times. Second, you might be wondering why the models are holding their hands up in the air. That is one of the tricks to keep their veins on their hands and arms from showing. The blood flow is greatly reduced when raised above the heart, thereby keeping the hands much smoother. The models need to lift their arms up every couple of photos. The third interesting thing about the shot is that the camera was so high up I had to rely on auto focus! Unfortunately, auto focus doesn't work well with glossy surfaces (like the table or product). I added a paper with lines and numbers drawn on it to help the camera focus. The paper was then easily removed in post production.
For the final composited photo check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com.
iPhone 4 photo closeup
Some folks have been asking for a higher res example of the iPhone 4 cover photo. The sample that I posted here was a screen grab from the Zinio version of the magazine. Zinio adds compression to photos to save on spacenot the best way to judge qu...
Some folks have been asking for a higher res example of the iPhone 4 cover photo. The sample that I posted here was a screen grab from the Zinio version of the magazine. Zinio adds compression to photos to save on spacenot the best way to judge quality of an image, which is certainly of interest in this case.
So here is the full image, followed by closeups of certain details.
Macworld "Living with your iPad"
Not only was it exciting to shoot the iPhone 4 with the iPhone for the cover of September's Macworld, but there were cool photo assignments for inside the issue as well. One of the shots is the opening spread for the article "Living with your iPad...
Not only was it exciting to shoot the iPhone 4 with the iPhone for the cover of September's Macworld, but there were cool photo assignments for inside the issue as well.
One of the shots is the opening spread for the article "Living with your iPad". The art director, Rob Schultz, wanted to have a female model at the park using her iPadthat was the simple part. First, we had to find a model and a stylist. We used Cassandra E. from Look who was perfect for the part. We worked with stylist Diane McGauley who was instrumental in finding all the props for the photos. She had a small budget to work with but was able to make it look like she didn't.
Due to time constraints and for total control we decided to photograph in the studio. First, I photographed Cassandra in the studio with lighting that I felt would work for any park situation. I took note of my camera height and lens and set off to find a park to place Cassandra into. Once I found the perfect spot, I photographed it with the camera at the same height I had used for the studio photo so the perspective would match. However, I didn't really like the grass or the lighting in the foreground of the park image, so I decided to find better grass. I found some green, healthy, new grass growing under the freeway (of all places!) and captured that to replace the foreground of the park photo.
Here you can see all the photos I used to put together the final image...along with some behind-the-scene shots. For the final composited photo you'll have to check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com. Rob did a great job with the layoutincluding an impressive type treatment that interacts with the grass in the imageworth checking out.
Below are the photos used to make the finalcomposite.