
Travel to Thailand
I don’t usually post too many personal things here but I couldn’t resist launching a few shots from my recent trip to Thailand.┬á We traveled to Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok. I’ve been there many times for jobs but this is the first time I brought my family.┬á Here are my kids on an elephant.
And my view from the top as I was rock climbing. (That’s my leg).
And here’s the lobby of this awesome hotel we stayed at in Chiang Mai, The Veranda.
Newspaper Vol. 8-The Lake
The current copy of my newspaper is out.┬á It’s from a shoot I did at an Upstate New York Lake with real people talent.┬á An all teen cast.┬á We spent a day shooting various themes around the water.┬á Many of the cast were lifeguards.┬á They would come over to our shoot in shifts.┬á All on their break from their work at a local camp. The complete download is available on my site or click here for a direct PDF download.
Wangechi Mutu in ZAM Magazine
Two Live Action TV commercials
IÔÇÖve been a little silent of late on this blog and thatÔÇÖs because I was completely focused on a job I finished last week. I had the wonderful and exciting experience of shooting two TV commercials for a Pharmaceutical client. I canÔÇÖt show you the footage yet or give you complete info due to confidentiality clauses with the client and the agency but when I can post it, I will. In the meantime, hereÔÇÖs some production stills.
Since much of my lifestyle print is based on scripted action, talent that can act, and a fluid camera style, I felt very natural with a live action commercial. For you tech heads, we shot with the RED and not because of itÔÇÖs ability to do 4K stills but itÔÇÖs large sensor.┬á This sensor allowed us to use some excellent optics like Cooke primes and Angenieux zooms.
The shoot was headed up by the very experienced and super-calm producer, Jon Messner. The DP was the very talented Derek McKane, who was a great collaborator with this very visual director/photographer. Providing tons of options on beautiful clothes– my long time stylistÔÇöGabrielle Rosenberg. We shot for two days at a huge estate out in Oyster Bay Long Island. The estate provided us tons of different locations that we could efficiently capture with our eight talent.The talent was mostly women ranging from age 20 to over 50. I was very excited about the whole process.┬á We had almost 60 people on set.┬á It was very interesting to take my ideas, describe them to the crew, and watch everything fall into place.┬á The process enabled me to stay focused on the talents’ acting and the camera movement.
Creativity: More Thoughts on Keeping it Flowing
A month ago, I wrote about ten creativity tips. Here’s the link if you missed it.┬á This month I have a couple more. Any exercise that gets you looking at a project or idea in a different light or a different angle may awaken new thoughts and new directions.
One book that I have enjoyed is Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain by Stefan Mumaw. You don’t have to do every page but try a few.
Take a look at this website of one-liners, OneSentence.org. No it’s not a humor site to laugh away the recession blues. It’s a collection of thought provoking sentences that make me envision whole scenes and dramas.
Some examples:
Story #3169The first time I met my father was when he made a delivery to my house as a UPS worker.
Story #3130
After our older son declared his desire to be a veterinarian, the seven-year-old said, “I want to be a Chinese man.”
Story #3164
My heart broke as I pulled the black cape around my neck and saw the tag that was labeled, “Does not enable you to fly.”
Story #3148
Last night I met a Recon Marine who moonlights as a clown at children’s parties.
Are you a visual person? Maybe seeing some great photographs gives you ideas to shoot some yourself. No copying mind you, but sometimes a texture, the model, or the mood gives you an idea of a photo you can call your own.
Collect them or look to see what comes up randomly at FFFFound.com
I mention before about checking out the art scene for a very different perspective. I visit this site to see what is happening around me. Artcat.com