Travelled to Ellis Island this Summer to find my roots. Boy did I hit Gold. I found this sprawling base near the statue.
Ever had a photo opportunity tap you on the shoulder and when you turned around it was just waiting for you? As much as I would like to take credit for all the light that passes through my lenses, often serendipity offers a gift. I was juggling into position to photograph near the front of the stage when I turned and found this…lit, staged,
composed…….just waiting.
Make Extra Space for a Bronze
We were happy to be a part of the production of the on-line Annual Report for Extra Space Storage this year. We provided photography as well as shot and edited a video series of the executive team.
The annual report won Bronze at this years LACP awards. The 2010 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition drew one of the largest number of submissions ever, representing a a broad range of industries, with over 5,000 entries representing upwards of two-dozen countries. Here are the stats: http://www.lacp.com/2010vision/online-united-states.htm
Super Troupers and a shiny new court.
Watching the NBA finals this week makes me think about the Utah Jazz and the tumultuous season they had this year. Their encouraging start quickly turned into roller coaster of emotion both on and off the court. Before their first tip off ever happened though I had the opportunity of lighting the annual player introduction video shoot. This would be different than the last two years because we would shoot on the actual court at Energy Solutions. Also new, was the court itself. Brand new and very shiny and very expensive. Regarding using lighting equipment on the court, if I damaged it, dinged it, I bought it, I’m paraphrasing of course.
So with this in mind and a prime directive of leave no trace, we made a plan. We decided to place our lights on the second level. But to do this we needed to bring out the big guns, 2 Super Trouper carbon arc spotlights to be exact, you know the kind that light the elephants and Bon-Jovi when they come to town. We located one on each side of the arena providing us with more arc struck daylight than any lighting director would ever, ever, need. We rounded off our lighting compliment with a parade of “smart-lights” tucked safely along the end of the court, programmed them to perfection, spewed a little haze in the air and we were off….. Art Director extraordinaire Lex Konishi added the final CG effects and Scott Frederick was lighting assist, Oasis Stage Werks’ John Lopes was inspiration as usual. Hope the JAZZ have a better season next year.
You’d be amazed what photo opps await in your backyard. Literally! I’ve waited for this bird bath to rust to perfection. I think it has aged beautifully.
I dusted off some files for this post as this shoot was done a few years ago. This is Ken Sanders at his rare book store in Salt Lake City. I thought I’d take a new look at some older photos and apply some color effects here.
Ken’s store is a playground of photo possibilities, at every row, corner and shelf there was a shot and therefore I may have bordered on overstaying my welcome. I don’t think Ken minded. The shoot was for San Francisco magazine.
Utes 36 East. No blue allowed.
Take ‘Glue’ Photos For Better Memories
Is something missing when you begin thumbing through your vacation photos from years ago? Do the memories seem a little disconnected and dim? Does that magical time become a puzzle that can’t be finished. Well read on road-trippers and memory makers. I will show you how to fill in the blanks with a little photo note taking or lets say…some memory ‘glue’.
Do you remember how proud you were capturing all the right moments and scenes while on your last vacation? Do you recall the anticipation of waiting to see your photos once home? Its all so fresh in your mind. You’ve made reprints or your digital doubles for everyone, updated the photo album or iPhoto library and now the whole thing begins to settle and fade.
As months and years pass, you begin to sift through past photos you dust off to relive. Faded memories start to come to life like a dry sponge in a water, yet something is strangely missing now. The photos start to bring alive that time of your life, yet the memories aren’t as well connected as they once were. You continue perusing the photos that chronicle the time you so well documented. You did document it well didn’t you? The realization begins to settle in that there are pages missing in the chapters of your mind. Has this happened to you?
We depart on that well planned trip or vacation and reach for the camera at all the obvious moments, a landmark, a sunset, a family shot or anything similar that deserves grand notation and then we forget everything else. Consider for a moment, its the everything else that could be your holy grail in making your recall of that time more connected and complete years down the road when you stroll memory lane. That “everything else” can become a veritable ‘glue’ keeping our memories more completely intact.
For example, years ago we took a flight in to a remote Alaskan cabin. I photographed all the obvious hi-lights. Years later, looking through these photos, I began to relive memories but there seemed to be gaps preventing me from reliving the complete picture. After looking at all the photos I asked myself questions whose answers couldn’t be rendered from the photos made. What did we eat? What did the weather feel like? How did we prep for a trip like this? What rations were made to comply with the weight restrictions of the small Cessna. How did we do it? What were were our thoughts? Was I even there? Intangible clues left out from a typical picturesque moment.
More recently, trip photography has become much different. I bring back photos, upon first inspection, that look like I was handed a camera for the first time. Stuff that would definitely NOT make it into the pages of Sunset Magazine. There are now pictures of a messy picnic table or eating area, rain on windows, wet things, odd things, shot of duffle contents before stuffing it, shot of the messy cabin upon arrival, shots of a packed car, a messy driver compartment, a loaded canoe, hotel exterior, parking lots, you get the idea. These all carry secret messages for later decoding.
Believe it or not all these photos become your ‘glue’ for allowing you to completely relive memories long after they have begun to fade. Adhering the masterpiece scenes into a whole memory. Photos that get to the heart of how you really felt and what you were thinking. A snapshot of your mindset if you will.
What is the ultimate ‘glue’ photo? Something you may not normally photograph or include in your greatest hits, perhaps. Think of it this way, I can make a portrait of you, but if I photograph your CD collection as well as your bookcase I will know so much more about you.
Sugar Space, local art and performance at its finest! Sugar Space Studio for the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in the heart of Sugarhouse in Salt Lake. I made these photographs of Executive Director & Founder Brittany Reese, pictured here, in her studio.
Pandora Radio, Big Lake, Mosquitoes.
We shot & edited a 4 part series for Pandora Radio featuring singer, songwriter Isaac Russell from Provo Ut. Looking for a place to shoot we stumbled upon our very own stage on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, quite perfect actually.
The stage was made of huge cement blocks all stacked together complete with exposed metal hooks that made it a minefield to trip over. I can vouch for this personally. We grabbed the last hour of light to shoot and at the moment the sun dropped below the horizon, the mosquitoes literally stormed our set up. Think of Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, only real tiny birds, x2. Throwing the gear in the car to be disassembled later, we took cover quickly.
This little oasis in the desert we call Great Salt Lake gets a bad rap a lot of the time, militant mosquitoes don’t help much but its actually a very beautiful place especially to have a private concert. Isaac played a few songs holding back a cold he was getting over. We enjoyed his music very much.
I live in Salt Lake city, Utah. I'm a professional photographer shooting still & motion for 19 years, at Smith Productions. Find here a journal of what I've been up to, observations & outakes, inspiration, interesting finds and some photos too.
