Saturday, April 17, 2010

Horse Feathers


Tractor Tavern. 4/15/2010. 

Horse Feathers 



 
 



Megafaun

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Frequently Answered Questions | creativeLIVE

Frequently Answered Questions | creativeLIVE

Free online courses from top industry professionals. I just watched my first class, very cool.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Behind The Scenes

This weekend I had the opportunity to be a photo assistant to filmmaker Erik Hecht, of Arcade Films.    We shot for a little over 11 hours, in which I had an amazing time working with their cast and crew of friends and dancers.  It was a cool experience to be present as a video was created, piece by piece and take by take.   If you are in Seattle, the showing is this Saturday at 9pm with the Washington Dance Club.    It's free and a dance will follow the screening of the films... wait, what was that??  Movies and dancing, that just sounds like a perfect night out doesn't it?

During the second half of filming, I picked up my camera and played with a little behind the scenes shooting.   Now you can vicariously experience the creative process as an idea and vision was transformed into a film.    There were many, many talented and great people on the set.   Check out the Arcade Films site later for the video and scrolling credits to see who was involved.   

Erik is on the far right, next to him is Arcade Films producer Celeste Olds; a lady with a quick whit and mad jazzy dancing skills.  

Trucker hat and juice box enthusiast: Michael Alm

Creator of light, tall and wearing plaid: Alex Walsh  
 

Monday, April 12, 2010

The Easter Bunny


 Above:   My first attempt at "Blue Steel."  It may be more accurately described as "Le Tigre."


The Noerrs Program recently employed me as a photographer on the Easter Bunny set in Seattle.  It was my first professional gig since moving to the big city.   I figured if David Sedaris could be an elf on a Santa set, I could photograph EB.    I cannot share any of the images, as they are the property of the company and the individual families who purchased them, but I thought I would share a few candid stories.  I don’t know how many portraits I took in the 17 days I worked, but I did photograph 102 sittings on Saturday alone.    Say Cheese!

A child was walking down the hall of the mall, completely unaware that his world would soon be turned upside down.   He stared off in the distance, his small shoes double-timing to keep up with his mothers heels.   As the child turned, his eyes met that of the Easter Bunny.    A large, 6 foot furry rabbit with cute glasses and a blue overcoat.   However, the child was not prepared for this encounter and without missing a beat, turned to flee, screaming at the top of his little lungs and ran right into his mother’s legs, fell flat, helplessly crying on the floor just wishing for life to be normal again.   Sans bunny.  

Each step is precise, slow and calculated.   An inch closer, still safe, a foot closer, nothing has happened.   His movements pause after each step as his small statue like figure evaluates the safety of further advancement.    His fear begins to subside until, at about three feet, the looming size of the rabbit becomes too much and the promise of a blue sucker no longer holds value as a bargaining chip.   This is when all the weight shifts to one orange pivoting tennis shoe, as he makes an escape through the white picked fence.  Maybe next year. 

In general, little girls had no problem with the bunny.   They would run with their pink, purple or sea foam green dresses flowing and bear-hug the bunny, big smiles. 

I had an elderly man, in his late 80’s at least, approach me and ask if I saw “him” too.  I looked at the bunny and said “why yes, I do see him.”   The man raised his eyebrow and gave me a wry smile and said, “oh that is great, I thought it was Harvey paying me a visit.”   He made my day!   Harvey is a 1950’s James Stewart movie about a 6’ 3 1/2” tall rabbit.

I found one of our Styrofoam carrots from the set garden with a perfect bite mark, rows of top and bottom teeth.   I wonder how shocked the kid was after he/she chomped the prop and realized the carrot was not as tasty as imagined.

My favorite photo of the week was a couple in their early thirties who posed with the bunny.   The girl leaned in with her feet together, heels popped to kiss the bunny.   Her boyfriend, in a western shirt and cowboy boots had his hands on his hips and a “bunny you are in deep, deep trouble,” look on his face.    

All in all, it was a great experience, if anything it taught me how to get a good image in less than one minute and also sharpened my reflexes for catching quick smiles and fleeting expressions.   Also, if you are having a hard time getting a kid to smile I find having them say “cheese and macaroni” works better than just plain old “cheese.”   Honestly, who doesn’t love macaroni?