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
Dwell Cheap Seats
The Dwell spread about cheap seats is now out and on newsstands. This was the photo session that had been filmed for a future episode of American Masters on PBS about Ray and Charles Eames. You can see some behind the scene photos on my previous p...
The Dwell spread about cheap seats is now out and on newsstands. This was the photo session that had been filmed for a future episode of American Masters on PBS about Ray and Charles Eames. You can see some behind the scene photos on my previous post.
You can find the artile on newsstands and on
iPhone book
I was recently interviewed for a book about iPhone photography by Allan Hoffman. When I received a copy of the printed version I was initially excited to flip to my page see how my interview and photos turned out, but I quickly became completely i...
I was recently interviewed for a book about iPhone photography by Allan Hoffman. When I received a copy of the printed version I was initially excited to flip to my page see how my interview and photos turned out, but I quickly became completely immersed with all the useful and interesting content in the book.
It's a great resource for anyone interested in using their iPhone as a camera. What I appreciated is how the book covers everything from the creation to the sharing of your photos. One section reminded me about using Flickr, so I decided to try it out to share my iPhone photos: http://www.flickr.com/peterbelanger
You can buy the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.com/1593272855 (FYI, I have no financial ties to this book.)
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
The Drinker
San Francisco Magazine approached me to create a photograph for their Drinker section of the magazine. It was great to work with them again. The assignment was about technology and wine, what a great combination! On news stands now.
San Francisco Magazine approached me to create a photograph for their Drinker section of the magazine. It was great to work with them again. The assignment was about technology and wine, what a great combination!
On news stands now.
A Cutlery Above
Here's a spread I photographed for the February issue of Dwell magazine. You can find it on newsstands or read the article on Dwell's website. http://www.dwell.com/articles/a-cutlery-above.html
Here's a spread I photographed for the February issue of Dwell magazine.
You can find it on newsstands or read the article on Dwell's website.
iPhone Photo Apps Revisited
If you're like me, you can never have too many camera apps. I'm always asked what my favorite photo apps are. Here's a run down on some of my favorite and some that I'm just trying out. PictureShow Picture show is my favorite photo app. If I could...
If you're like me, you can never have too many camera apps. I'm always asked what my favorite photo apps are. Here's a run down on some of my favorite and some that I'm just trying out. PictureShow
Picture show is my favorite photo app. If I could only have one photo app this would be it. It has so many great customizable effects from very basic to crazy. With PictureShow, you have total control of your the outcome of your image.
This is my seconded favorite app. It has really nice effect and borders. What I don't like is you can't import a photo into the app. I put up with this because the app is fast and processes in the background so you can keep taking photos. It also has some nice photo taking tools like a level.
SwanKoLab
This app excels at changing the color of your photo. It makes the photos look amazing. Another plus for this app is that you can import a photo from your iPhone library. I wish this app had an option for a basic white border and an option to bypass the "lab" developing gimmick. It's cool the first few times seeing the mixture of chemicals in the darkroom but sometimes you just want the results instantly.
When I need a quick, good looking photo with out having to think about settings I use this app. It's made by the makers of Shake It Photo.
This app lets you make small posters. Who doesn't like to make posters. It comes with lots of templates that have customizable text.
Normally I use this app in-conjunction with another app. It has a lot of flare options to choose from.
Not only is this app free, it has great effects and borders. It also has a built in social network just for sharing the photos you take. The one negative, and this is a big one for me, is the files are small. If they add support for full size output, I would use this app much more.
When I first got this app I used it all the time. I still like the results but I don't like how long the whole process takes. I would use this app much more if I could import photos from the iPhone library. That being said, the results from this app are like no other.
This app was recently redone and much improved. The big feature of this app is that you can take a photo with the focus point and the exposure points separated. It also has nice borders and effects.
Snow in San Francisco, crazy. This app is all about the effects, some unique like this snow effect. It's not a "Go-to" app. It's more of a secondary app that you mess with if you want to explore options for your image.
Has a nice collection of camera tools for taking photo and video like a level, split focus and exposure. You can use a photo taken by the app or from the iPhone library to apply effects.
I downloaded it hoping for lots of cool effects but most of them are like a rusted piece of metal superimposed onto the image. I wasn't very happy with this app and do not plan on using it any further. The 100 cameras can be narrowed down to 10 cameras.
IncrediBooth is made by the same folks as Hipstamatic. The effects are done really well. It only uses the front-facing camera but that's all I need it for. My kids and I love it. If you prefer to use the back camera, then try Pocketbooth but I don't think the output is as nice.
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.
Music for Video
For me, the soundtrack is one of the most important things to consider when making short films. There are tons of great songs that I'd love to use. Unfortunately, the licensing fees required to use them legally are out of my price range. Like phot...
For me, the soundtrack is one of the most important things to consider when making short films. There are tons of great songs that I'd love to use. Unfortunately, the licensing fees required to use them legally are out of my price range. Like photography, music makes money via licensing. I respect this since my business operates a similar way. For my videos, I tend to look for music more in my budget and then acquire the usage rights.
One option is to use lower-priced music stock sites. I've spent hours listening to music from numerous sites and so far I haven't found anything that inspires me. Another option that I've found works really well is to look for smaller, local artists via myspace.com. When I find a song that I like I contact the artist and ask for the rights to use their song with one of my movies. This use is typically limited to the life of that video, regardless of the media used to show it (such as DVD, web or presentation). This arrangement is appealing because my videos are for promotional usenot for resale. In exchange for the rights to use the song I offer to photograph the band as payment. So far it has been an appealing strategy for everyone involved.
About a year ago, I used The Brokenmusicbox's song with my Macworld cover creation video. They recently decided how they wanted to be photographed: in their living room surrounded by all their musical instruments. For the final photo I gave them two options. The first was the version that I photographed using my Canon. The second version was the same photo but enhanced with the Picture Show app on the iPhone. I did that because when they came by my studio to talk about the photo shoot, they saw some of my photos that I had taken with my iPhone. Of course the final file size isn't as big, but it'll work well for onscreen use.
It never ceases to amaze me how the tone and feel of a movie can change with different soundtracks. Going through this process is actually really fun for me. I enjoy finding new bands and musicians that I hadn't heard before.
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.
APA Talk
We had an awesome turnout at the Apple Store for my APA talk last night. Thanks to everyone who attended and for all your insightful questions. It was great to finally meet some of you that I only know from cyberspace. I was very nervous about the...
We had an awesome turnout at the Apple Store for my APA talk last night. Thanks to everyone who attended and for all your insightful questions. It was great to finally meet some of you that I only know from cyberspace. I was very nervous about the evening but now that it's over, I see there was no reason to be nervous. It was an amazing experience.
APA talk approaching
The countdown has begun. I'm learning Keynote and preparing my talk for the APA/Apple Creative Professionals Series. Come join me upstairs at the San Francisco store (Stockton Street) this Thursday, Oct. 14th at 7pm.
The countdown has begun. I'm learning Keynote and preparing my talk for the APA/Apple Creative Professionals Series. Come join me upstairs at the San Francisco store (Stockton Street) this Thursday, Oct. 14th at 7pm.
Plow
I had fun taking some photos for a new restaurant that just opened here on Potrero Hill. The couple who are starting the restaurant have created a beautiful space full of reclaimed materials. In fact, the office space was an architect's studio pre...
I had fun taking some photos for a new restaurant that just opened here on Potrero Hill. The couple who are starting the restaurant have created a beautiful space full of reclaimed materials. In fact, the office space was an architect's studio previously. They did a complete build-out to make it a commercial restaurant. The food is great, too (I'm especially loving the crispy potatoes). http://www.eatatplow.com.
APA Talk
Come see me speak at the Apple Store, One Stockton St. (upstairs), San Francisco as part of the Creative Professionals Series presented by Apple APA, Oct. 14th, 7pm-8pm. Any suggestions on what to discuss? I want this talk to be about what people ...
Come see me speak at the Apple Store, One Stockton St. (upstairs), San Francisco as part of the Creative Professionals Series presented by Apple APA, Oct. 14th, 7pm-8pm. Any suggestions on what to discuss? I want this talk to be about what people want to hear. Your input will help me a great deal. Let me know or just come by to see me make a fool of myself! I'm super excited and nervous!!!
Check out APA's announcement.