Category: Photography

Channing Johnson from Boston MA got the call from McGarryBowen Agency to shoot for Jewelers Mutual Insurance and they chose Austin TX for the scenery. This was a particularly fun shoot for me since they didn’t really want model type people, and I got to call up all my friends to be in the photos. Just the right demographic! We ran around Austin’s beautiful outdoor park areas and entertaining shopping and restaurant strips. They went home with a huge collection of images, and my friends got some very beautiful and intimate photos together. Win win all the way.

Behind the Scenes:

Crew: Alyssa Garcia Hair & Makeup, Erin Klarer Hair & Makeup, Conor Mack Photo Assistant, Amy Smith Photo Assistant

Tadd Myers hired me to produce another round in Dallas via The Richards Group. We had recently shot Anderson Merchandisers, and this shoot was for their division called ANconnect. ANconnect, along with Anderson Merchandisers, provides its clients with end-to-end solutions with its intelligent supply and broad distribution network. A few beautiful days and Dallas, with backstage access to some warehouse spaces and offices, Tadd created exactly what they needed for a full website refresh. Now both AMerch and ANconnect have a consistent look and feel. Bravo!

Behind the scenes:

Support by Crew:
Elliot Snedden Digital Tech, Joe Lacerte Photo Assistant, Evett Rolsten Photo Assistant, Angela Angel Hair & Makeup Artist

And here’s a plug for Tadd’s book, getting a LOT of attention these days.

Do you remember that really great party you went to, but couldn’t tell ANYbody. That’s a lot like what’s happening here *wink*wink* I had the pleasure of producing and casting a really wonderful shoot for Chris Crisman back in his neck of the woods, Philadelphia!! We cannot mention the client nor the agency here, so I must be vague. But seriously, this was a big one. The shoot involved 20 models, and we shot for three days in and around Philly. We were backed with a wonderful support crew and made some incredible images.

Let me say, that I REALLY liked it there. Of the New England cities I’ve visited, I could actually see myself living there for a while. I really wish I could tell you more. No finals to show, just a collection of shots from my adventures out east, and some ambiguous snaps not to allude to anything we shot. Can’t wait to return!

Support by our crew: Wendy Oswald Kinney (Wardrobe Stylist), Matthew Englebert (Prop Stylist), Megan Ambroch (Makeup and Hair Stylist), Bill Arrowood (Location Scout), Jared Castaldi (Digi Tech), Robert Luessen (Photo Asst), David Ohl (Photo Asst), Michelle Montgomery (Photo Asst), Corinne Mangino (Wardrobe Assistant), Moho from Mobile Production Services, and Catering by STARR Restaurant Catering.

Dallas Photographer Tadd Myers brought me on board for a project through The Richards Group, the largest independently owned agency in the country. We were capturing Anderson Merchandisers employees at work showing off one of their installation locations, a great example all throughout a new Wal Mart store just north of the city of Dallas. We followed up with coverage of office life in Anderson Merchandisers headquarters, a beautiful workspace high up in the tallest Granite Property building. I got an inside view on how items are displayed in the stores where we all shop, and what happens behind the scenes to make sure these stores look their best.

Here are a few images from Tadd:

And a few Behind-the-Scenes that I took:

Support from our wonderful crew: Jeanna Doyle (Hair & Makeup Artist), Liz Farrell from SISTERBROTHER (Stylist Asst), David Lobban (Digital Tech), Joe Lacerte (Photo Asst), Justin Osborn (Photo Asst), Moho from Texas Motorhome Rental, Catering by Priceless Caterings, and Equipment from BOLT Productions.

Maybe Chris Crisman couldn’t get enough of San Antonio, or maybe San Antonio couldn’t get enough of Chris! Either way, he asked me to produce a couple more days for him here in Texas and I couldn’t be happier to see him and his team again. It was a lot like getting the band back together. And we actually DID get a band in this round! We were tasked with capturing a few more elements to add in to the very elaborate scenes we created last year for the Unforgettable campaign with Proof Advertising. This time I needed to find a queen, a horse, a band, and a few more unique bits to fit the ads.

Here’s the final image! Appearing in Texas Monthly, San Antonio Magazine, and Travel + Leisure. And the interactive version is live online at: http://unforgettablesa.com/mercado/

Who loves behind the scenes? I do.

Support by our great crew: Bonnie Markel (Props & Wardrobe Stylist), Robert Luessen (Digi Tech), Jared Castaldi (Photo Asst), Alyssa Garcia (Hair & Makeup Artist), Crystal Quintero (Hair & Makeup Asst).

I was asked to coordinate the production of videos for Crystal Farms All White Egg Whites shot and directed in Miami FL by Paul Irmiter of 612im via GdB (Gabriel deGrood Bendt) ad agency. We partnered with Olympic triathletes Greg and Laura Bennett of Bennett Endurance to create a video series that shares their inside knowledge from being professional endurance athletes. The city of Miami was chosen due to convenience for our stars, but there might have been some allure for the Minnesota team to escape the cold in December as well.

To be honest, things started a little rocky on the Friday afternoon before our flights, and escalated on our pre-light day. We were swindled by an equipment vendor who we later found out is known for taking advantage of out-of-towners such as ourselves, and then the sound stage studio I reserved was given away to another crew. Thankfully, we had two fearless grip crew on our side that helped with a fast and efficient relocation into a friendly and professional, well established stage. Wonderful!! These challenges only make for a stronger bank of experience for this producer.

After we began shooting, the day was a breeze. Greg & Laura have wonderful personalities, especially for being international celebrities. Throughout the shoot, we captured enough footage for at least 26 tips, responding to commonly asked questions about training for triathlons.

Visit the All White Egg Whites Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/allwhiteseggs) and Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1kItpYaMtEA20UAbyg8WYg) to view all the videos. Stay tuned for more tips from the Bennetts throughout the year, releasing about every two weeks.

Here is Question #1

And the first Facebook post:

Some nice stills from the videos:

Here are a few Behind The Scenes images:

And a behind the scenes time lapse:

Support by crew: Laura Taylor (Wardrobe & Prop Stylist), Colleen Stone (Hair & Makeup Artist via FORD), Jaime Martinez (DP & Grip), Francis Mingo (Grip), and Michael Gallock (Sound Engineer).

Costa del Mar sunglasses wanted a new ad for their Christmas promotions, cleverly titled “Merry Fishmas”, targeting the fishermen who love the specialty sunglasses. Jay B Sauceda was just the man for the job! Direction lead by McGarrah Jessee agency here in Austin, we created several awesome versions for print and Facebook publication over two days of shooting. The only tough part was locating a great looking tree during early October in Texas, just days before we began shooting. After a few visits to local tree nurseries, we came up with disappointing options. Finally, I got a hot lead an hour outside of the city at the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm. Although they didn’t have the classic Douglas Fir trees, they had some great tree candidates, and a whole petting zoo of fun furry animals! The clients LOVED the trees I found. I was also counting on Amazon to cover me for ornaments, but they didn’t have much, and didn’t have any available for fast delivery. However our local craft store, Hobby Lobby had everything I could wish for. Hundreds of colorful festive options! Jay B set up the shot and lit it like a pro. It’s always a fun day shooting in the Public School studio.

Here are the final images from Jay B:

And here are a couple behind the scenes by me:

Support by crew: Hayden Spears (Photo Asst), and Conor Mack (Photo Asst). Jay B and I did all the styling.

It looks like we are staying in Austin, because WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! And couldn’t be happier. We had planned on starting a slow, laid back search with our realtor, Oliver Hall, but ended up finding our dream house right away. It’s in a relatively new neighborhood that is extremely well planned, taking the space where the old Mueller airport used to be. All the homes and businesses are required to be LEED certified by the US Green Building Council for conserving energy, reducing water consumption, improving indoor air quality, making better building material choices, and driving innovation. It’s all executed in a beautiful way. The neighborhood is called Mueller, and we love it here in Austin TX.

Photographer Clayton Hauck has been shooting several Bank of America projects and this round he was asked to highlight a few small business partnerships in Houston TX. His rep contacted me to produce this short series and it was great to connect with crew in another city, just 3 hours away! We traveled around the city to each location and recruited real people for the model talent, with the owner/managers of each business as the star. Everyone involved was happy to participate and had a good time! Creative direction came from Hill Holliday agency in Boston.

Here are the stories

Mai’s Vietnamese Restaurant
http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/partnering-locally/mais-restaurant.html

SER-Jobs for Progress
http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/partnering-locally/ser-jobs-for-progress.html

And a few behind the scenes images by me:

Support from crew: Brian Guido (Digi Tech Chicago), Todd Spoth (Photo Asst), and John Fisher (Photo Asst).

And now it’s time to wrap up this six month adventure! We’ve been working diligently though the retouching process, finding where the illustration concepts will differ from the real world. As these components come together, we see new opportunities and I’ll scramble to gain access to all these wonderful people and places. Chris Crisman Photography returns one final time to San Antonio to finish. We’ll spend time with a national league mascot, capture some works of art, take in our own private rodeo, watch traditional jalisco dancers, re-visit the zoo, welcome a real fire blower to the studio, hang out with a bunch of peacocks, and photograph the 7’1″ legend “The Admiral” of the NBA David Robinson. It’s a relief to be finishing up, and now the real magic lay in the hands of our retoucher, Taisya.

Here is the final pair, numbers three and four, of four ads we produced. Available in your current Texas Monthly magazine, and online with interactive features at: http://unforgettablesa.com/!

Behind the scenes images, because I love them:

Support by a truly fantastic crew:
Robert Luessen (Digi Tech), Bonnie Markel (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Alyssa Garcia (Hair & Makeup Artist), Lawrence Mercado (Special FX Makeup), Mary Ellen Rose (Food Stylist), Jared Castaldi (Photo Asst), and David Ohl (Photo Asst).

Here comes round two of the ridiculously amazing San Antonio tourism campaign with Chris Crisman Photography! After a brief break, we are back in San Antonio for another week of amazing image captures. This time we’ll spend a little time in the studio, and then a string of wonderful locations: San Antonio zoo, Six Flags theme park, an old airfield with real working bi-plane, a nighttime rodeo bull, a triceratops skeleton, caves and caverns, rockstar Alejandro Escovedo, glorious works of art, a beautiful golf course, a gourmet restaurant, and an 1800’s cannon that really made a blast!!! By now we are really digging in to the San Antonio culture and getting close with a lot of the key people in charge of the city. I had a great time networking with all the owners and managers of these places, gaining permission to go behind the scenes and get a look at some of the places that tourists only wish they could go. In all, we saw another 50+ elements and photographed them all with perfect lighting as Chris Crisman always does. Now we take a break for a month while figuring out all the last components we need to make a really killer set of images to complete the campaign. Looking forward to it!

Here is the second of four ads we produced. Available in the December issue of Texas Monthly magazine, and online with interactive features at: http://unforgettablesa.com/!

Here is the second of four ads we produced. Completely magical in oversized print.

Behind the scenes images, because you love them:

Support by a truly fantastic crew:
Robert Luessen (Digi Tech), Bonnie Markel (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Alyssa Garcia (Hair & Makeup Artist), and David Ohl (Photo Asst).

To be honest, I don’t even know how to start this story, but here’s a go at it. This was absolutely the wildest ride I’ve had on ANY photo shoot. Early this year, in January, I started the estimating process with Chris Crisman Photography in Philadelphia to create 4 miraculously wonderful fantastic advertisements for the City of San Antonio’s Convention & Visitors Bureau. The concepts were being developed by the famous Rob Story of Proof Advertising here in Austin. The ads looked surreal and like nothing I’ve ever helped to create before. Chris Crisman was the perfect candidate for the project, and I would help him coordinate over 100 elements throughout the course of this six month project. The camera system we used would create files large enough for high-definition print as big as the side of a bus. One of the intentions was for these ads to be installed at the San Antonio Airport as giant murals, so we needed to be ready. By April 8th, we began our first round of captures. Just a few of the places and people we captured were: fields of bluebonnet flowers, the San Antonio convention center, Seaworld penguins and killer whales, parks & bicyclists, the Mercado square at sunrise, and of course the Texas countryside. We started with as many background plate elements as we could access, for layering more than 50 additional images per ad, on top of. Chris Crisman hired the most extremely talented post-production retoucher that blew the minds of everyone as it all came together. As of September 19th, the first ad in the series has gone live in Texas Monthly magazine and online with interactive features at: http://unforgettablesa.com/

Here is the first of four ads we produced. Absolutely breathtaking in oversized print.

There will be three more rolling out later this year. Stay tuned 😉

Behind the scenes images, as usual:

Support by a truly fantastic crew:
Robert Luessen (Digi Tech), Bonnie Markel (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Alyssa Garcia (Hair & Makeup Artist), Jared Castaldi (Photo Asst), Evan Prince (Photo Asst), Robert Amador (Photo Asst), Austin Basecamp (Motorhome).

Jonathan Chapman and company were then whisked away to Northern Iowa, the city of Lake Mills. This would be our third adventure with Hunt Adkins buy kamagra online ad agency for Mayo Clinic Health System.

Round 3 features a young lad names Kinser who had heart issues as a baby and is one heck of a little athlete and rambunctious kid. We got to meet his family and get into the most exciting of locations so far. Even got to try out some new equipment, underwater! Two new crew members also joined us for this day. Great new tricks and impressive work by both.

Crew: Ashlee Ellert (hair/makeup/wardrobe stylist), TJ Schwingle (second shooter, photo+motion asst), Jim Morgan (audio tech), John Fontana (digi tech)

Oh how a simple project can turn into a whirlwind of casting and execution! I produced this project for Jay B Sauceda for Manage Engine an IT management solution company through the ad agency Marketing Matters. The task was simple, just groups of business people on white background, BUT the budget called for non-professional models. I reached out to local talent agencies to see if we could wrangle any pros, but a larger response came from my beautiful CraigsList posting. The casting day was wild! We had folks driving from as far as Dallas, and some total no-shows. In the end we had a nice group of solid talent that pulled it off wonderfully. Jay B coached the lesser experienced and we get great images.

Support by Crew: Lisa Gleeson (hair and makeup artist), and Hayden Spears (photo asst).

Here we go again! They wonderful folks at Target‘s inHouse agency asked me to come back this year to help make Lawn & Patio shoots a success. Tag-teamed with Tami Gephardt (formerly Tami Tonia or “TT”), we will conquer 9 photoshoots and nearly 400 shots, in Minneapolis and on the West Coast. I have a much deeper involvement this year than last and my experience has grown considerably since then. I’m ready!!

One photo from last year, but we’ve got something even better for THIS year…

Jonathan and I are headed out to the land of cheese and beer, Wisconsin, for a second Mayo Clinic Health System story and portrait. We made the trip, had an excellent day of weather and got great outdoor shots as well as a interview about Peter’s fight with cancer. Quite the crowd joined us from Hunt Adkins and Mayo. Can’t wait for the next one!

Crew: Ashlee Ellert (hair/makeup/wardrobe stylist), Jeremy Wilker (second shooter, photo+motion asst), Patrick Schaefer (audio tech), John Fontana (digi tech)

Not long ago, Sarah Hillstrom asked if I would be interested in an Art Buying contract position at Little & Company. I’ve worked with Little in the past as a Producer and waaay back when I was with John Reed Forsman. The project is for Target, a regular client of theirs, and who I am rather familiar with since doing art buying for Target’s inHouse agency last summer. This should be a serious hustle and some good fun!

Jonathan Chapman sealed the deal for a series of Television spots for the Mayo Clinic featuring personal stories of patients around the midwest near the Mayo Clinic Health System cities. I’m delighted to be helping with the production of this series of shoots. We will be traveling to several locations and meeting a lot of great people that have been helped by Mayo. The agency behind the design is Hunt Adkins, a clever Minneapolis based ad agency, who we are happy to partner with. On this shoot we got to visit the north end of Mankato speaking with Don Foster, a Cardiology patient after his heart attack. He and his wife were a pleasure to spend the day with, hearing their story.

Crew: Ashlee Ellert (hair/makeup/wardrobe stylist), Patrick Meehan (photo+motion asst), Patrick Schaefer (audio tech), John Fontana (digi tech)

I joined in the Halloween FUN with Kevin White at Orbit Studios for some late arriving costumes and a couple of reshoots. Kevin captured all the adult and kid’s costumes and I must say there were some REALLY cute kids. These are now in stores if you want a close encounter! The model talent were truly the stars, doing such a great job in front of the camera. Kevin evoked great expressions from all the ghouls, goblins, pumpkins and peapods. I helped with the casting+fitting for all the adults which was a blast, and then the execution of this half of costumes and accessories. I even got to see several friends who do modeling in Minneapolis. Great time at Orbit indeed!

Crew: Terra Hinrichs (hair & makeup artist), Kirki Schultz (wardrobe & prop stylist), Karla Triska (stylist asst), Jocelyn Kracke (prep stylist asst), Erik Olausen (digi tech), Zack Swanson (photo asst), PeggySue Imihy (production asst)

It’s another one of those “tag team” jobs. For this week, Sarah Fisher at Orbit Studios was waist deep in the Target Halloween costume photography with Kevin White, and needed a double! I came in to help them cast for the adult costumes and transition the talent into the flowing shoot that Kevin and Sarah had running. Since Kevin was occupied, the photographer for this casting was Kelly Loverud, who I had met before but never worked with. He was very professional and got just what we needed from each of the talent coming in to show their stuff.

Unfortunately, I can’t share any photos of this shoot since the costumes are not in stores yet.

Crew was: Kelly Loverud (photographer), Liz Roemer (wardrobe stylist), Jenny Jenkins (stylist asst), Colin Kopp (photo asst), PeggySue Imihy (production asst)

TIME OUT for an unforgettable trip to the other side of the planet! We had considered Thailand among a few other destinations for our (belated) honeymoon after getting married last year. This was no lazy beach vacation, this was an adventure trip! We made a quick stop in Hong Kong, then entered Thailand in Bangkok. After 2 days of big-city-life, we were in need of different scenery and took an overnight train to Chiang Mai. This smaller bohemian city was much more the feeling that we loved. We saw temples, ate street food, squeezed our way through packed markets, fed & bathed elephants, took cooking classes, and received blind massages. THe final leg would take us to the islands of the southwest: Ko Phi Phi (where “The Beach” was filmed). These islands and beaches were the most beautiful that I’ve ever seen! Take a look at our photos…

Jonathan tackled a project from the ad agency Very, inc whose owner, Sarah McNerney I knew from past projects. Shooting for Genesis10, we rented a really pretty office space recently left vacant by OLSON near the Lurcat restaurant. We hustled all over this large and complex space to capture some really impressive moments shared by some really great model talent!

Crew consisted of: Jennifer Dickey (wardrobe & prop stylist), Joy Phillips (hair & makeup artist), Karl Herber (digi tech), Heather Horton (stylist asst), Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Neil DeKrey (photo asst), Anne Healy (location scout)

This short project for William Clark and Target was especially unique since I would be producing the front end and then handing everything over to the delightful J.J. Bitter, a fellow producer in Minneapolis. I would handle the creation and execution of a casting, and booking the crew and space for the shoot. JJ would book the talent chosen and run the shoot day. We saw another big crowd of super cute kids, well… ONE rambunctious one. It’s hard to imagine the art director struggle to choose the winners from all the great kids we cast. These photos were to be used for an upcoming weekly ad, April Week 1. Unfortunately I missed the final publication for a screen capture, but here’s a casting pic of one of the best little nuggets from the group!

Casting crew was: Elizabeth Wahl (wardrobe stylist), Brian Page (child wrangler), Heidi Prenevost (photo asst). The shoot day crew added these peeps: JJ Bitter (producer), Carol Stopera (hair & makeup artist), David Anderson (digi tech).

After a few conversations, Lee Stanford found a job that fit my skills! I’m happy to be brought on board with a familiar ad agency, Little & Company but met a few new faces. This shoot was for Target‘s internal team member magazine called RED, and they needed a great portrait of a Pharmacist from Nebraska being featured in the following month’s issue. I saw a few of these magazines while I was Art Buying at Target last summer which was great for me to visualize placement. Talent was great, lighting was perfect. A regular walk in the park for mister Stanford!

Crew consisted of: Maureen Donahue (wardrobe stylist), Shanon Darsow (hair & makeup artist), Trev Fenner (digi tech), and Greg Schaal (photo asst).

Jonathan asked me to help out with his recently booked gig with McDonalds. He had done a few shoots in the USA, but this project would take him Internationally to several countries! Destinations included Montreal Canada, Shanghai China, Sydney Australia, Melbourne Australia, all of which totaled 9 stops in airports. Yikes! I was in charge of setting up a LOT of the travel and accommodations, along with McDonald’s own agency. Special travel Visas were needed for a couple of the countries, which Travisa.com helped me with. I learned how to set up safe transit and smooth transitions between countries for the fellas and especially for their gear. The key to this was an equipment Carnet (a passport for your gear). This was much more work than I had expected, but was completely worth it for them. I was the “man on the ground” for their late night communicatoni requests from across the globe. “Find me an assistant in Melbourne”, “We need transportation in Shanghai”, whatever they needed, I provided. It was a great exercise, and I hope to be on the trip next time!

Here’s one shot from Jonathan archive: http://jonathanchapman.com/archive/92

© Jonathan Chapman Photography

This early November, I had a wonderful opportunity with my lovely wife to take in some fun in the sun! Our close friends (and my best lady in our own wedding) got married on a little island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. We soaked up plenty of sun and got in some great snorkeling as well. The wedding was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen!

Who could ask for anything more than a nice little crowd of super cute kids!?!? William Clark had me produce for his Target Weekly ad shoot. Starting with a casting where we saw SO many kids with their moms, dads, or grandparents looking for a part in our shoot day. Honestly, they were some of the most well behaved I’ve ever known. William keeps his calm and had a great time with all these youngsters. Of course he’s backed by an all star crew: Ave Green (child wrangler, laughter provoker), Elizabeth Wahl (wardrobe stylist), Andrea Holton (hair & makeup), Christopher Erickson (digi tech), Andrea Vingers (wardrobe asst), and Seth Iverson (photo asst).

At last, Jonathan and I wrap up our motion + still shooting extravaganza for MCTC! This project has taken nearly a year to complete from concept to delivery. It’s a beautiful relief to see the finished products. This final leg of the project took us off campus to the MCTC affiliate’s Flying Cloud Airport and Hennepin Technical College for Air Traffic Control and Law Enforcement, respectively. We rounded it our by polishing up on a few more program areas on campus: Math, Theatre, Astronomy. This may have been the most fun of all three phases of shooting. Not only because of the content or locations, but the people that we were privileged to capture and interview. After it all, we wrapped up at the nearby AMAZING restaurant, Joe’s Garage.

Our crew consisted of Jesse Roesler of Bolster (DP), Eric Schleicher (AC), Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Patrick Schaefer (Audio Tech), Patrick Meehan (Photo+Video Assistant), and Chris Worlow (Photo+Video Assistant).

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This third week of September finishes out an eleven week project working as an Art Buyer downtown at Target‘s inHouse agency. It’s been a great run, but I’m also very glad to be release back to the wild! I’ve learned so much about the whole process before and after photography is even requested by the clients that I’ve been calling my coworkers. Maybe they’ll ask me to help out again next year!

Update: Here’s the final installation at my nearby Super Target.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect in taking on this project at Target’s inHouse agency. I’ve been pleasantly surprised and really amazed at all that happens here, before the requests are even given out to the photographers. I’ve been paired up with Natasha Nikolai in this Lawn & Patio extravaganza. Photographers include: Joel Larson, Chad Holder, Philip Harvey, Tom Connors, and Maki Strunc. I’ve been working the closest with Tom Connors, Maki, and the portions of Joel Larson’s work that includes talent models. I’m really learning a lot and gaining a huge amount of experience her in downtown. All of the ladies I and seated nearby are a constant fountain of hilarity and a great resource when I have any questions about the role of Art Buying. I absolutely love commuting on my Honda Metropolitan scooter.

I had my 32nd birthday on August 10th, yesterday, and it was positively wonderful. Getting closer to the end of this fabulous project.

I was approached by a few of the managers of the Target inHouse agency’s art buying department to help lead the 2012 Lawn & Patio project from withing Target as an Art Buyer. It’s a yearly adventure that takes place in MN backyards and parks from June-Sept by 5 local photographers. Traditionally, I would work closely with a photographer to make the shoot a success. Now I’ll be working more closely with the client side making sure THEIR needs are met. This interface would give me a lot of new experiences while tying into several past shoots where I have been the Producer for Lawn & Patio. My partner in crime: Natasha Nikolai, and I couldn’t ask for a better pairing! I’ll be working 80% in downtown at HQ, and 20% out on shoots as needed. Sounds exciting!

My lovely wife and I took a trip to check out Austin TX, after been recomended to it by several friends and relatives. Austin is a wonderful “sister” city to Minneapolis. Or maybe cousins. The city had a very comfortable feel, from the welcoming people, unbeatable food, and warm climate. I could see myself living here someday!

The Lot.
This project with Jonathan was pretty interesting. It was a personal project, and we all got to participate in unique ways. I brought several ideas, props, and a couple friends into the mix. The production was very flexible as the space was intended to be completely versatile and interesting with possible juxtapositioning of it’s contents. Take a look!

Support from: Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Ashlee Ellert (hair/makeup/wardrobe stylist), Janna Chin (prop stylist), John Fontana (digi tech)

Initio Advertising hired Jonathan and I to complete a series of small town and city portraits across MN and a little into WI. For this leg of the project, we went south to Mankato, Faribault, Winona, La Crosse, and Eau Claire. What a loop! These folks were very enjoyable and Jonathan evoked some really wonderful emotions and expressions for capture. The final ads are really impressive.

Our slim road-crew was: Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Eric Schleicher (Assistant)

Positively the most amazing experience of my life. Countless weeks PRODUCING my own wedding with my wonderful wife led up to one unforgettable day!!!

Jonathan and I had the opportunity to partner with Periscope Marketing for a great little project with USA Hockey, to help keep kids from getting hammered into the boards! This campaign was to challenge the rule change which allowed young kids to begin checking each other, which is just too early for some. The great concepts were flawlessly executed with plenty of fun and chills at the Buffalo Civic Center.

On the Periscope team was Carmen Roselles (Art Buyer) and a good ol’ friend from when I worked at Periscope, Patrick Weld (Art Director), as well as a few other essential party members from the agency. It couldn’t have gone smoother.

On our crew team was: Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Josh Grubbs (Photo Asst), Jeffrey Bryce Brodendecker (Photo Asst).

Jonathan and I are back in action for two days at MCTC campus for some really exciting motion and still captures to help the redesign of their website. This time we got to see some more very interesting program areas: Child Development, Cinema, Sound Arts, Business, Nursing, Polysomnography. The students and faculty that we were able to interact with and photograph were really impressive. Each of them have their own story and they shared it all with us. Again, I cannot thank the Marketing Department’s own, Amy Danielson, for being such a necessary piece of this puzzle.

Our crew consisted of Jesse Roesler of Bolster (DP), Eric Schleicher (AC), Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Patrick Schaefer (Audio Tech), Patrick Meehan (Photo+Video Assistant), and Chris Worlow (Photo+Video Assistant).

Another wonderful shoot with Ron Crofoot. Collaboration between two product development teams and two amazing ad agencies: Twig Dzine and Wet Paint Communications. Revisiting two past locations that was so beautiful we couldn’t get enough of, we had to be careful not to duplicate photos of the past. With the talented digital retoucher, Mikey Newman, on our team we weren’t a bit worried about creating a fresh new look. The installations went very well and looked great in the three homes we featured. I met some great new faces and had the very best crew in town! The fabulous Kirki Schultz did all of our Prop & Set Styling, supported by Karla Triska and Sheila Quinn. Photo Assistants were Jared Cullison, Jason Wood, and Chuck Arnold. And you better believe that my favorite scout, Anne Healy, found these beautiful homes for us.

Here begins my first experience executing motion and still photography in the same project. (at William Clark’s Scary Mommy shoot, I wasn’t responsible for the motion component). Jonathan Chapman has completely embraced the motion aspect of his Canon 5Dmk2 and 7D cameras and I’m learning a lot about the motion world. For MCTC college, we have begun a three part project to be shot over three semesters resulting in some great videos for their website redesign! Our first three days will be spent in their Welding, HVAC, Machine Tool, Painting, Photography, Graphic Design, Information Technology (IT), Apparel, Biotech, Chemistry, Culinary, Restaurant Management program areas of study. Both Jonathan and I are Alumni of MCTC so it was a familiar and nostalgic experience for both of us. The new science building was such a great advance for them and made a great scene for our captures. We were able to use several real students and faculty creating genuine interactions all over campus. Our crew consisted of Jesse Roesler of Bolster (AC), Eric Schleicher (AC), Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Patrick Schaefer (Audio Tech), Patrick Meehan (Photo+Video Assistant), and Chris Warlow (Photo+Video Assistant).

William Clark asked me to produce a fun local shoot for Target through the ad agency AKQA based in San Francisco. The fabulous team from AKQA was very professional and had great ideas and concepts for William to shoot. Our upcoming celebrity guest was the one and only Scary Mommy, Jill Smokler, who was an absolute delight to have. Jill was up for anything we asked her to do, no matter how silly or repetitive. This was my first professional project that entailed a mixture of both video and photography simultaneously. It’s quite amazing what can be done with the most recent models of DSLR cameras now. On crew we had Cindy Warner styling wardrobe and props, Andrea Holton of Moore Creative beautifully covering make up and hair, Ben John photo assisting, Jeremy Wilker as Digi Tech, Cathy Christensen taking care of alterations and tailoring, and local Patrick Schaefer on audio capture. And as usual, Orbit Studios knows how to treat a gang like us. I had a great time. Looking forward to working again with many of these talented folks!

After MONTHS of planning, our first leg of shooting with Initio Advertising for a local health care company is completed! Believe me, this was a fantastic, yet bone chilling photo shoot. We made a giant loop throughout the northshore of Lake Superior and and surrounding areas and put over 650 miles on the road over two days and experienced temperatures down to -27º F. It had been a long time sine I’ve worked with Jonathan Chapman, and was very impressed when I had the opportunity to watch him in action. He’s such a talented shooter and makes the models (or real health care members in this case) feel comfortable and at ease to get great expressions and phenomenal shots.

We had a wonderful crew including Ashlee Ellert and Josh Grubbs. We have 2 more phases of this shoot and I anticipate only the best. Looking forward to the next project we share together!

Had a great time today out in Delano with the wonderful folks from Pam Ratliff was delightful to work for and Jamie Parker art directed the live shoot. Mike Bigalke was our photographer and he did an exceptional job proving himself in an area that he may not have been so accustomed to. We had a lot of fun with 5 child talent and two of my favorite stylists. Janna Chin was on Wardrobe and Tia Cartwright was our lovely Make Up Artist. We all had a great time spinning their state-of-the-art merry go round.

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Jennifer Dickey hired me to help her bust out some incredible shot for an upcoming Target campaign. Photographer William Waldron came back to Minneapolis to make it happen. Earl Kendall provided the studio space for us to shoot in. Taking care of all the talent was Lori Evert & Cathy Christensen. Leading the project was Jen Hotovec of River Productions who executed everything I saw, flawlessly!

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This weekend my fiancee and I helped out with a fundraiser for Clare Housing at the Ford Centre. It just so happened to be in the exact same suite that John Reed Forsman worked out of. I love the way the Kuhlman Company has the place set up now. It was a great event and I was happy to be a part.

Holy cow, I just met over 300 babies! Sarah Fisher at Orbit Studios hired me to watch over the place while she was away. All the studios were filled with so much brightly colored non toxic plastic that custom shelving had to be built. There was so much talent under one roof! Just a few of the friendly familiar faces I had delight in seeing: Earl Kendall, Michael Haug, David Anger, Kirki Schultz, Heather Horton, Toby Rae, Angie Dinneen.

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Back with the photographer that helped give me so much experience over seven years. John Reed Forsman called and asked me to coordinate a nice job for Cargill Salt. Jill Kahn at Carmichael Lynch hired us to make a wonderful photo showing off salt, or the lack thereof. I’m sure you’ll see it soon. Our Art Director, Dale Austin, and Writer, Tim Bildsten, attended and were very pleased by the end of the day! Connie Singer took care of the wardrobe and Shannon Darsow made sure our model, Lalita Zapata looked beautiful for the camera. Assisting John were two of the best: Molly Meehan and Keith McKenna. Making sure all the digital images were organized in place and ready for the clients was digital tech Mark Gordon.

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Begin Luminette. Round two with Ron Crofoot and another Hunter Douglas line of window treatments! I couldn’t be more excited to be booked on another job with Ron. Seriously, I’ve learned more about sheers, shades and blinds than I ever thought I would. Duane Lage was again first at hand throughout the shoot, supported by Jared Cullison and Keith McKenna. This time it was great to have Janna Chin as our Prop and Wardrobe Stylist who did an excellent job bringing beautiful props to make every home look just the way we wanted it to. Supporting Janna was the lovely Meg McGreevy who I found to be a speedy girl that always got what we needed. Art Direction came from the brilliant folks at Cactus in Denver lead by Jorge Lamora. All the delightful bunch from Hunter Douglas again treated us so very well. Their products are so stunning and Ron was again assigned to make them look even better, which he of course did and made seem effortless.

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Ron Crofoot hired me after I contacted him when Duane Lage suggested we meet. This was my first experience with Ron and it was absolutely fantastic! Working with Ron pushed me to to new levels in many ways. I really do have a lot of experience and this job for Hunter Douglas employed all of my skills. The team came together seamlessly with Ron at the helm and Duane at his side. Our lovely Prop Stylist, Nina Sheffy, came in from New York and did a wonderful job. We spend two weeks shooting under the Art Direction of the talented Brandt Wilkins at Wet Paint Communications of Denver. Production crew included Jason Wood, Jared Cullison, Rob Walstead and Trev Fenner. Each of them very hard workers and helped make some excellent photographs. The locations were were able to shoot in were beautiful and perfect for the product. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Ron and his team. He is so appreciative of the talented people that surround him and completely modest about his own great work. It couldn’t be too soon to work together again. End Silhouette.

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Once again, another credit goes to the talented talented Jennifer Dickey who dropped my name when Jim Henderson needed a Digital Tech right away. I had the day open and I’m certainly capable of the job, so I took it. Little did I know what it would lead to. Jennifer styled the clothing for Scott Barber with Steve Collins producing it. Duane Lage was Jim’s Assistant Photographer and helped guide the technical aspects of this shoot. I was happy to be an important part of a very fast paced shoot. Jason Wood and Keith McKenna were the diligent photo assistants and Tony Vu helped Jennifer. Tia Cartwright was on set making sure the men’s faces looked just right with great hair as well. It was a great day and I left with a few new great connections!

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Jennifer Dickey asked for another hand in setting up a very spooky sequence of shots at Tom Connors studio in the Wyman building. Tom did an excellent job lighting and making every set look extra creepy. I got to meet a few new people that I definitely look forward to hiring on my own in the future! John Haynes knows his stuff and is a hard worker!

This was undoubtedly the most fun I’ve had in a while! Bob McNamara was set up in Studio B at Orbit to shoot a new coupon book for Target. Bob has such a great way with people getting fabulous expressions from the talent on his set. I worked alongside Jocelyn Kracke assisting Jennifer Dickey to create massively piled up carts full of shampoo, twix, detergent, fruit snacks, toothpaste, cereal, kleenex, sponges, …ahhyeee! We had a whole studio filled up with extra product just in case. Thomas Kane was on set to make quick decisive choices and the shoot went extremely smooth It had been quite a while since the last time I saw Thomas, all the way back to my internship at Periscope Marketing.

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After having met Grady Reese on my last shoot, he recommended me to agent Jeff Cerise and photographer Justin Carrasquillo. We picked a location in Hudson for Justin’s shoot of Buffalo Wild Wings’ latest campaign! Justin had recently moved to Los Angeles and was happy to come back and do a great job for a local Minnesota company. Grady headed up the coordination and I took care of the Digital end of things. We spend a few days with Jared Cullison’s ready hands and quick mind made Justin’s every request easily completed.

Photos below © Justin Carrasquillo

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Vanessa Meade gave me a call and asked if I could help as a digital tech for a shoot by Grady Reese. Even though it’s not my leading aspiration, I have a solid knowledge of the digital process, and was happy to help! Grady set up each shot throughout a few buildings and skyways in downtown Minneapolis for Best Buy and Denali Marketing. Vanessa is such a great assistant and great to have at any shoot!

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