Matthew Slimmer Productions

This was the big shoot of my year! Photographer Nick Simonite was chosen by Slingshot Agency in Dallas to create over 40 images for the Office of the Governor, Department of Economic Development & Tourism. These images would create the next edition of the printed Texas Travel Guide, online at TravelTex.com, and several other magazines and venues promoting tourism of this great state!

Paired with Homestead Creatives, we all produced 24 shoot days in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Port Aransas, Galveston, Amarillo, and several other small towns with something truly unique to offer! We divided forces; city by city, to cover so many fantastic things to do, eat, see, and experience. Maddie and Shannon from Homestead took El Paso and the Guadalupe Mountains to start, a real challenge! Meanwhile I set up Dallas, and Houston. There were heavy rains and flooding in Dallas which required a second visit.

Nick Simonite worked through creative concepts from our art directors, bringing his own beauty into the images through lighting, camera angle, and genuine expressions with our models (whether hired talent or real cowboys). We had a traveling “core” crew moving from place to place, as well as picking up local crew in cities where we needed greater resources for the more complex shots. We broke the shoot into a few segments to maintain a high level of quality without exhausting our enduring photographer.

Behind the Scenes:

Crew: Matthew Slimmer Producer, Maddie Hamilton Producer, Shannon McMillan Producer, Bonnie Markel Lead Wardrobe and Prop Stylist, Abigail Enright Wardrobe and Prop Stylist and Assistant, Evan Prince Digi Tech, Jason Griego Photo Asst, Robert Amador Photo Asst, Austin Locheed Photo Asst, Eric Christensen Photo Asst, Angela Angel Hair & Makeup Artist, Mary Rockwood Crabtree Hair & Makeup Asst, Meg McMahon Production Asst, Aaron Holloway Location Scout, Travis Schiebel Photo Asst, Olivia Caminiti Stylist Asst, Haley Hussey Stylist Asst, Rebecca Stacey Hair & Makeup Artist, Wendy Martin Hair & Makeup Asst, Bo Svensson Location Scout, Matt Lemke Photo Asst, Josh Verduzco Photo Asst, Jessica Lindsey Hair & Makeup Artist, Mandy Benton Hair & Makeup Asst, Laura Middour Production Asst, and Eric Williams Location Scout.

I’ll admit… I still get very excited about going back home to MN for photo shoots. David Ellis called me up for a few days at Medtronic via InterbrandHealth agency, shooting several scenes and portraits with both hired models and a lot of employees. We even had a second camera team shooting video by DP Eric Schleicher. Aside the expected corporate scenes, I had the opportunity to see much deeper into how Medtronic operates and how they’ve grown over the years. My good friend Ryan Davis even made it in front of the camera for a few employee driven shots. David is an wonderful person to work alongside. He’s very patient and has many ideas how to create the images and bring our client’s ideas to life.

Here are some favorite images:

Behind the Scenes:

Crew: Eric Schleicher DP, Anna Rajdl Digi Tech, Andy Servais Photo Asst, Greg Naaktgeboren Photo Asst, Bill Hickey Video Asst, Colin Kopp Video Asst, Ann Marshik Prop / Wardrobe Stylist, Anna Olson Prop Asst, Sarah Coleman Wardrobe Asst,
Amber Young Hair Makeup Artist, Cara Sophia Tollefson Hair Makeup Asst, Carolyn Van Der Vaart Production Asst, Stuart Skrien Location Scout, and Bab’s Casting.

This would be the second HEB project that Nicole Mlakar brought me on board to produce with her. She’s such a talented photographer and creates stunning images of both people and animals. This new line of HEB Dog Food called “Texas Pets” would feature unique stories of different rescue animals; one for each of the food varieties (Adult, Puppy, Small Dog, Hunting Dog, etc). That means that we got to meet some really incredible animals and owners!! Nicole worked her charm with each of the pooches, finding the right space for each of them to feel comfortable, and believe it or not, the perfect “expressions”.

It’s always so fun to see your work out in the real world. Here are some of the images, and found bags in my local HEB grocery store:

Behind the Scenes:

Crew: Jason Griego Digi Tech and Photo Asst, John Almarez Photo Asst, Paige Anderson AgentBEAST Animal Wrangler, Leighton Chapman Location Scout.

Let me just say that working with Vanessa Gavalya was one of the smoothest and easiest experiences I’ve had for a while. She is so incredibly kind and sweet and has such an incredible spirit about her. You should definitely give her a try sometime. Vanessa has a full-time manager who helps with many of her projects, but this time she asked to bring me on board for a higher level of production with my experience. We all worked as a team to create some gorgeous new imagery for Samsung’s tough line of products, being marketed to the US Dept of Defense, and other Government departments. The ad agency leading creative was Ignite Partnership in Dallas. We covered a spectrum from Military usage, to federal courthouse and office roles, and down to local law enforcement actions. We had a great time in all the locations, getting muddy and running around. The models were all great sports the entire time, up for whatever we needed. The images are just starting to trickle into the Samsung US Business site.

Here are a few samples!

And Behind the Scenes shots:

Crew: Heather Warborg Casting/Locations/Production, Elliott Snedden Digi Tech, Evan Wallace Photo Assistant, Martin Kohl Photo Assistant, Josh Fletcher Effects Specialist, Jeanette Chivvis Wardrobe/Prop Stylist, Ashli Vondara Wardrobe Asst, Meghan Forest Wardrobe Asst, Crisman Liverman Prop Stylist, Angela Angel Hair & Makeup Artist, Hannah Handshy Hair & Makeup Asst, Meg McMahon Production Asst, Elite Productions Motorhome, Jeff Milburn Military Vehicles, Bolt Productions Grip Equipment, Catering by Priceless Caterings

For this Target Live Wedding Registry Event in Austin, there were many parties involved. The event itself was run by a separate team, moving the promotional event from city to city, taking over a home in which to create a stylish wedding registry example that you could actually walk through (rather than zapping in the store). This would eventually be posted online in their Most Popular Registry Lists.

The other component was a video shoot, featuring two unique Austin personalities to demonstrate and endorse real registry items. Then, we would have these talented folks show up at the registry house for the event night. The videos would be shot in the days just before the event. The shoot was rescheduled into new dates that would conflict with my other projects, so I tag teamed with Maddie Hamilton (now of Homestead Creatives)

Here are the videos!

Love & Lemons food blogger Jeanine Donofrio’s ice cream recipe makes having a KitchenAid Mixer extra sweet.

Ever wonder which knives to use when? Food blogger Jeanine Donofrio takes the guesswork out of each and every one.

Austin-based pitmaster Lance Kirkpartick shares the secret to make the most out of a smoker.

Grill to please any meat or seafood lover with pointers from pitmaster Lance Kirkpartick.

Crew:
Props and Wardrobe Stylist: Bonnie Markel, Food Stylist: Tina Bell Stamos, Hair & Makeup: Lisa Gleeson, Stylist Assistant: Olivia Caminiti, Food Stylist Assistant: Casey Dobbins, PA: Callie Richmond, DP: Charlie Beyer, AC: Chris Smith, Gaffer: Karl Schroder, Grip: Tony Brummer, Sound: Ben Lazard

Google created their own Adsense Ads, and we helped to make it all happen!
https://www.google.com/work/apps/smallbiz/

This “combo shoot” was based on 7 scenes shooting both stills and video. Most of the shoots I’ve been on where separate teams are shooting but overlapping still and video, the video team takes priority BUT this time our still team was leading! Kyle Monk was the photographer and helped out a lot with the creative to make the ideal concepts come true. We were paired with a fantastic video team lead by Director Martin Rodahl of 71 Degrees North. It was a perfect pairing! We shot several scenes in the South Congress area and Downtown Austin. Ad Agency Upshot from Chicago brought their best and brightest to make it all happen.

Here is a Director’s Cut version of the video directed by Martin Rodahl, 71 Degrees North.

**please note that I did not produce the video. I was producing for the stills team.

Behind the Scenes:

Crew: Digi Tech Brett Mayfield, Photo Assistant Ricardo Beas Vidrio, Photo Assistant Jason Griego, Photo Assistant Matthew Lemke, Photo Assistant Conor Mack, Photo Assistant Lance Holt. PLUS overlapping crew from video team: Wardrobe Stylist Amy Tran, Wardrobe Assistant Erika Slay, Wardrobe Assistant Brittnee Rhodes, Hair & Makeup Artist Lucy Santamassino, HMU Assistant Kathy Miller.

This one started out as a nail-biter! We weren’t sure if the weather was going to cooperate, but thankfully we got some stellar days for Jonathan Chapman to come shoot in one of his favorite cities, Austin TX. The creatives over at Pacific Cycle, aka Schwinn Bicycles, requested a new series of photos and videos to be shot for a mass marketing campaign. We had the pleasure of partnering with some familiar faces from the previous shoot in San Diego CA; my favorite, technical specialist Ron! Our location scout found us some incredible neighborhoods, including my own, plus some really gorgeous parks. Casting was a breeze to find cute kids, but got challenging when we needed them to be really good bike riders too. We hit two big markets: Hispanic and Caucasian. Images can be seen online and in any stores that sell Schwinn bikes and gear.

Here are some visuals for you!

Behind the scenes:

Crew: Ray Tsang DP / Video Asst, John Fontana First Assistant, Chris Worlow Digital Tech, Jason Griego Photo Assistant, Bonnie Markel Wardrobe & Prop Stylist, Olivia Caminiti Prop Stylist Asst, Lisa Gleeson Hair & Makeup Artist, Marcel Meyer Location Scout, Cast Station John Williams + Karmen Leech Casting Agent, Texas Grip Equipment Rental + Sprinter, FoodHeads Catering, Austin Basecamp Motorhome

Jonathan Chapman called me to produce a photo and video shoot featuring Panasonic‘s latest line of Toughbook and Toughpad tablets via the ad agency Phelps. Setting was destined to be Los Angeles, and we found some great locations! One high end quick food service restaurant, and one very stylish furniture and decor shop. Jonathan did an amazing job working with a big pile of models to get great shots. Here are some featured shots and more from the Panasonic website.

Some behind the scenes:

Fantastic crew from MN and LA: Studio Manager and Photo Assistant John Fontana, Digital Tech Chris Worlow, Location Scout Danny Thomsen, Wardrobe Stylist Daria Maneche, Hair & Makeup Artist Evy Power, Prop Stylist Gillas Correa, Photo Assistant John Cizmas, Casting Agent Catherine Eng, Equipment from SYNC Rental, Motorhome from Quixote.

Our good friend Sara Janssen over at The Thorburn Group reached out for an exciting shoot in the glorious midwest. Drake University was in need on a rebrand and new fresh collection of images, and Jonathan Chapman is just the man for the job!! The shoot days would be very filled with a huge variety of scenarios, and some really fantastic student models. We had a good amount of students volunteer ahead of time, but also cast many on the spot. I’ve got to say that Drake University students dress snappy! A second camera run by DP Eric Schleicher and an aerial drone piloted and shot by Bruce Christianson really added a huge bonus.

Behind the scenes:

Tight little crew: DP Eric Schleicher, Drone Operator Bruce Christianson of Sight Flight, and Media Production Assistant Joseph McMahon, and great help from several student volunteers at Drake University!

This shoot was for the one and only US Marines (USMC) in Washington DC. Mark Katzman was awarded the project from Uniworld Group and JWT Atlanta, both wonderful agencies. He asked me to help with the production and I got my first taste in working with the Marines. It was challenging, given the location and availability of the and we turned out quite a lot of photos for these Servicemen.

I’ve been looking forward to a shoot with Mark Katzman for a long time. I’ve respected his high level of quality work and have heard such great things about his personality. Mark’s photo rep Paula Gren also has Jonathan Chapman in the roster which is how we’ve come to know each other. This was my 2nd time to DC, both in one year, previously visited with my father earlier this summer. I was glad to be back in a bustling city of politics.

Here are a few of the really beautiful images from Mark, plus a couple fun ones to share!

Behind the Scenes:

Support by Crew: Digi Tech Paul Nordmann, Photo Assistant Danny Spry, Photo Assistant Chris Birck, Hair & Makeup Artist Melissa Schwartz Jones

I had another opportunity to do a shoot with Ashton Rodgers for Toyota. This one was honestly pretty darn easy since there was already a TV commercial happening. Our task was simply to coordinate with the tv team and borrow talent as we had the opportunity. Still turned out some really fun photos! Plus it’s great to see these up high on billboards around town.

Here’s the commercial directed by David Kellogg:

*I did not produce the tv commercial.

Crew: Photo Assistant Jason Griego, Photo Assistant Conor Mack

Nicole Mlakar does such a great job shooting animals, and is a true lover of dogs! She hired me to produce a shoot for our favorite local grocery store, HEB. They are beginning an in-house brand of premium dog food, Heritage Ranch. The pooches we cast for the shot were absolutely adorable!! Now appearing in an HEB store near you (if you’re in Central Texas!)

Compact but fantastic crew: Animal Actors and Wrangling from Paige Anderson / Agent Beast, Digital Tech Jason Griego, Photo Assistant Conor Mack, Location Scout Ken Lewin.

Finally! Another shoot with Ryann Ford! Right here in Austin TX. The shoot was for Shaw Flooring based in Atlanta GA, with Resource/Ammirati their ad agency from Columbus OH. It’s been too long since the last shoot I had with Ryann (Four Hands Furniture), and this was quite a treat. HGTV built a gorgeous Smart Home in Austin for magazine features and eventually as a prize giveaway. We were on site to highlight the Shaw Flooring throughout the house: hardwood, tile, and carpet. Ryann’s ability to capture spaces beautifully, and adding the human element to make the scene more personal. We even worked in a puppy. Take a look!

After the Ryann’s great shoot days, I worked directly for the internal video design team of Resource/Ammirati to shoot b-roll details all around the house. Video post yet to come.

Support by Crew: Sean Johnson 1st Asst, Robert Gomez 2nd Asst, Michael Mobley Production Asst, Lisa Gleeson Hair & Makeup Artist, Bonnie Markel Props + Wardrobe, Natalie Ogura Props + Wardrobe, Abigail Enright Stylist Asst, Paige Anderson Animal Wrangler, Chris Cogswell Driver/Grip/Electric.

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a leading drug & alcohol treatment center & recovery community. My good friend and art buyer over at Modern Climate asked me to get Jonathan Chapman on board for this shoot and produce this project. We gained access to the Hazelden campus for portraits of two of their top counselors, and then had an opportunity to feature a great story of Elizabeth, a girl completing her recovery program. Timing was perfect for a trip to MN and I enjoyed every minute of it.

And behind the scenes:

Support by crew: Wardrobe Stylist and Makeup Artist Ashlee Ellert, Digital Tech Jacob Gerber, Photo Assistant Greg Schaal, Photo Assistant Marko Zitzer

Family farms support Red Gold Tomatoes, and Jonathan Chapman was asked to go out to capture these five families doing what they do best. This time around, I would be the off-site producing but I sure wish I could have been there in-person. My task was to coordinate with the finest farmers I’ve ever had the pleasure of chatting with, and help to get them on board with the project. We had two very separate regions in Indiana to shoot, and everything ran very smoothly.

Directors Cut:

Behind the scenes:

Crew: 2nd Camera Eric Schleicher, Assistant Camera Patrick Meehan, Sound Mixer / Audio Tech Patrick Schaefer, Studio Manager / Operations John Fontana, Production Assistant / Photo Assistant Mitch Reeves

Castrol partnered with the NFL for a very silly ad campaign in which Minnesota Vikings player Adrian Peterson would be the star! The campaign would run on Facebook for a whole year, a new image rolling out every 2 weeks! Jonathan Zizzo from Dallas and I travelled to Houston for the shoot via ad agency Ogilvy & Mather (NYC). We had many tongue-and-cheek scenarios for Adrian to act out. He was such a ham in front of the camera!! Bonnie did a great job finding such ridiculous props (many with a Vikings theme) on such short notice. Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to take behind the scenes photos, but I did get a snap of me holding our supporting actor “Little Burrito”, teacup chihuahua. Oh yeah, and something about a chrome Corvette too.

Support by Crew: Props + Wardrobe Stylist Bonnie Markel, Stylist Asst Janice Prevost, Digi Tech Casey Kinney, Photo Assistant Scot Overholser, Photo Assistant Joseph Chachere, Food Stylist Julie Hettiger, Animal Trainer Bobbi Colorado, Equipment TEXCAM,

It had been a little while since Ashton Rodgers and I were able to work side by side again, and this one was smooth as silk. The shoot was for the new Toyota Corolla, in a clever ad developed by MMB – Boston. We partnered with a video team in order to double the amount to assets our clients were able to take home. The best part was how well we were able to share so many of the resources to keep costs low. We created an entire second “set” on location, just one block away from the video team. While they were filming the Caucasian family, we would capture the Hispanic family. Really genius, and super efficient. At the end of the day, we even shot some bonus “rolling shots” of the gorgeous new Corolla model. We had a ton of fun with this one.

Here’s the English Commercial

And of course bilingual here, the Spanish Commercial

Here are the Print ads, and a few more from Ashton:

And finally my behind the scenes snapshots:

Support by our very compact and talented crew: Marcel Meyer (Location Scout), Robert Amador (Photo Asst), and Lance Holt (Photo Asst).

5 Major Cities
15 Days
40 Crew
116 Models
9 Flights
10,900 Air Miles
36,200 Captures
1.1 Terabytes of Raw Data
4 Great Ad Agency Folks
2 Wonderful Clients
1 Amazing Photographer: Jonathan Chapman!

This was undoubtedly the longest and most complex shoot of my career. It was a lot like producing five overlapping shoots all at once. We had 40 crew, and 116 models throughout the project. The task was to feature small business owners in different cities who perfectly represent the wide variety and unique characteristics that are so special to these personally owned merchants. Of course they were all great enthusiasts of American Express, and we had no problem finding plenty to photograph. We found businesses in big cities, new neighborhoods, historic districts, wintery main streets, and classic suburbia.

Over the 15 day project, we would shoot 2-3 businesses per day for two days, then travel on to the next metropolitan location. Lather, rinse, repeat. We did this again and again, five times over. Delta was good to us on all 9 flights and over 10,900 miles. We stayed in a few finer hotels, and a few that simply had a great location for us logistically. One hotel had a broken elevator and we were given rooms on the ninth floor; no joke. Everyone made themselves at home in the motorhome during the shoot day, and 15-passenger mega-van for cruising the town.

We created a hybrid crew of four traveling members, supplemented by talented locals in each city. Many of the locals impressed me greatly and I’m excited to hire many of them again in the future. The large volume of data management, proper storage, and multiple backups were a major task! Chris Worlow (digi tech) did a fantastic job keeping it all very organized, and ready for presentation to the creatives throughout each day. And we couldn’t ask for a better right-hand-man to see us through the whole trip than Eric Schleicher!

Our images are cycling through the Shop Small website at: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/

And you can find many American Express Shop Small supporting businesses in YOUR local area at: http://shopsmallnow.americanexpress.com/

Here are a few of my favorite images:

Behind the scenes (and more) because it’s a great story!

Crew, by City:
New York NY
Tara Trullinger (Location Scout), Wendy Oswald Kinney (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Stacy Beneke (Hair & Makeup Artist), Devon Laudenslager (Stylist Asst), Gabe McCabe (Production Asst), John Fontana (Photo Asst), Root Brooklyn (Equipment), Pink Hippo (Motorhome).

New Orleans LA
Peter Wilson /Emporia (Location Scout), Mark Hannibal (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Christy Hebert (Stylist Asst), Gina Crozier (Hair & Makeup Artist), Bryan Tarnowski (Photo Assistant), Chris Quackenbush (Production Asst), Jessica Lee (Production Asst), Available Lighting (Equipment), Thats A Wrap (Motorhome).

Denver CO
James Dewhirst (Location Scout), Emily Smoot (Prop & Wardrobe Stylist), Jess Eaton (Stylist Asst), Dana Copeland (Hair & Makeup Artist), Jon Rose (Photo Asst), Eric Casanova (Production Asst), Blaine Hein (Production Asst), LSI Lighting Services (Equipment), Helman’s Movie Suites (Motorhome).

Napa Valley CA
Patrick Sprinkel /Scout Napa Valley (Location Scout), Erika Scott (Wardrobe Stylist), Maggie SanFilippo (Stylist Asst), Tamara Brown (Hair & Makeup Artist), Josh Harding (Photo Asst), Mark Hough (Production Asst), Marie Luna (Production Asst), Sammy’s Camera (Equipment), SwiftLeslie (Motorhome).

Detroit MI
Thomas Moisides (Location Scout), Erica Pedrosi (Wardrobe Stylist), Sandy Bowman (Stylist Asst), Camille Milroy (Stylist Asst), Sharla Mohney (Hair & Makeup Artist), Natalie Henry (Hair & Makeup Asst), Gordon Rettie (Photo Asst), Matt LaVere (Production Asst), Brian Laforge (Production Asst), Detroit Power & Light (Equipment), EARS Enterprises (Motorhome).

My good friends at I LOVE TEXAS PHOTO, ASMP, and ACP recruited me to produce two back-to-back workshops for San Francisco based Stephanie Rausser Photography. Stephanie brought with her husband/digi-tech/media-manager/tech-guru Lawrence Cowell, who she couldn’t live without. We were looking for an amazing mid-century modern home and Nicole Mlakar nailed it! She’s our assistant with great connections. The workshops would look like this: Day1 meet at location, break into small groups, photograph various models throughout the property… all under Stephanie’s advice and supervision. Day2 meet in studio for discussion and review of each student’s top images from the previous day. Additional conversations to discuss Lawrence’s digital workflow and elaborate backup/access system. Plus Stephanie took time to provide portfolio reviews for each student who desired it.

Here are just a few great images from the students!

And a couple behind the scenes stills, and a BTS video which Lawrence created.

Really fabulous crew on board: Ashley Hargrove (Wardrobe Stylist), Amber Griffin (Hair & Makeup Artist), Nicole Mlakar (Photo Asst / Location Scout), Wynn Myers (Photo Asst), Texas Grip (Equipment)

While in Hawaii for the Matrix Fitness shoot, Jonathan and our crew headed out on Maui’s Hana Highway as the scene for this spec piece. The iconic Wrangler and Jeep brand felt right at home.

Crew: 2nd Camera / Movi operator – George Russell, Production Support / Assistant Camera – John Fontana, Production Assistant – Barton Hrast, Talent – Kelly Gillet-Shinn / Kenneth McNickle, Location Scouting / Production Logistics – Hana Productions, Hair / Make-up – Camille Kozuki

I had the pleasure of referring Jonathan for an amazing project for Matrix Fitness. The art director contacted me and asked for production help and referrals for photographers that would be great for the job. After sifting through a concise list, they chose the very talented Jonathan Chapman! This project would be multi-city, and international throughout January and February this year. We began in Toronto Ontario Canada, made a quick stop at Matrix Fitness HQ mock-fitness-center in Lake Mills WI, and finally off to Maui Hawaii.

The imagery would create a library of images designated for a beautiful brochure aiming to sell their commercial line of equipment to luxury hotels and similar clients. Thus, what better place to photograph their machines than high-end hotels including Four Seasons and Hyatt Andaz. These locations were truly top notch in every space including amazing guest rooms, breathtaking lobbies, and gorgeous fitness centers (or centres in Canada, eh). The printed piece is quite remarkable. Very inspiring and packed with lovely images from Jonathan.

I located great crew in each city, and did remote casting to find us the perfect models needed to demonstrate each Matrix Fitness cardio or strength exercise. We even pulled off a few spa-inspired looks. The scenery, and models, plus Jonathan’s direction, lighting, and captures were a winning combination.

We stayed for an extra couple days in Maui to soak in the culture, and I went solo for a bonus day in Toronto. Jonathan wanted to shoot a motion test while in Hawaii, so we set up something really special on a very wild side of the island. More to come later in that blog entry!

Here are a few pages from the brochure. I’m still amazed at how beautifully it turned out. The brochure can be downloaded here: http://www.matrixfitness.com/docs/hospitality_brochure.pdf

Here’s a snapshot of their website.

And, as is customary, some behind the scenes stills.

Toronto Canada Crew:
Jessica Jean Myers (Hair Makeup Artist), Eric Schleicher (2nd Camera/Photo Asst), Cedric Swaneck (Photo Asst).

Maui Hawaii Crew:
Camille Kozuki (Hair & Makeup Artist), John Fontana (Digi Tech), Barton Hrast (Photo Asst)

Ashton Rodgers, photographer based in San Antonio TX, gave me a very exciting call to partner with him in creating a bid, and landing the job for Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce via MMB (McCarthy Mambro Bertino) in Boston. What better place to shoot than right here in central Texas! So many great barbecue options to explore for our environment surroundings. We visited the famous barbecue city of Lockhart TX, it’s neighbor Lubing TX, and of course several options in my beloved Austin. As it turns out, the Austin offerings were amazing in their product, but the establishments are all rather small or based in food trailers. Wonderful for the people of Austin, but wouldn’t work for our needs with Sweet Baby Rays.

The restaurants in Lockhart TX were so much older, larger, and just perfect for us. We ended up shooting in the famous Kreuz Market BBQ, and Luling City Market BBQ. Each had the character and years of beautiful carcinogens covering the walls and ceilings, resulting in their signature flavors. The fellas running these bbq joints were also just wonderful for the campaign. True characters in their trade! These men have been featured in magazines such as Texas Monthly several times. We just can’t get enough barbecue here in Texas.

We captured several different scenes with and without model talent. The weather was the coldest that Lockhart TX had seen in many many years. It was only 27º all day, and we were to be set up in the screen patio area at Kreuz. The Boston agency men and myself (being from MN) handled it quite well, but the Texans were all struggling to keep warm. Ashton did a great job keeping the energy high and capturing great expressions from the chilly model talent. On the last day we headed back into the studio to knock out a few prepared food shots with our food stylist: a very saucy bbq beef and bacon burger, and some gorgeous chicken wings as a special add on.

Here are two ads of the five we shot. Images to appear online and in magazines near you!

Then in August, Communication Arts gave us a feature for the print ads in their daily Creative Exhibit page here: http://www.commarts.com/exhibit/sweet-baby-rays-campaign.html

And some Behind the Scenes images:

Our fabulous crew: Lauren Smith Ford (Wardrobe & Prop Stylist), Lisa Gleeson (Hair & Makeup Artist), Tina Bell Stamos (Food Stylist), Robert Amador (Photo Asst).

Happy New Year! Jonathan Chapman was roadtripping with his family for the holidays and made a few days stop here in Austin TX. He and I did some research and found a wonderful story with a man named David Williamson: a part time tax accountant, and part time Taxidermist. How could Jonathan resist these visuals!?

Final imagery:

Behind the Scenes:

Alexander Zoltai Photography got the call for a still + motion shoot in Northfield MN for St Olaf College via The Thorburn Group ad agency. He teamed up with Paul Irmiter of 612im to shoot the motion parts while Alexander would direct the shot. This team was no mistake, they are both represented by Agent Jeff Cerise. I produced the shoot from Austin until a week before the shoot when I’d fly in and scout the locations while meeting the client contact at St Olaf. The campus was breathtakingly beautiful, and the student “actors” we had were exuberant and excited to be involved in the shoot! Scheduling 20+ students, each with very complex availability between classes and other obligations, and cross-checking with all the places we wanted to use for our locations. Unpredictable weather and last minute student cancellations made for a very tricky few days. In the end we got everything we needed and the Vice President of the college was so pleased that he asked us to shoot a few more happenings outside of the original plan. We even added on a day of cinecopter aerial shots giving a birds eye view of the campus. The video was backed by a recognizable track from Cloud Cult band, performed by students of St Olaf, coached by Alumni cellist Daniel Zamzow.

And my own behind the scenes images:

Support from a great crew: Susan Calvit (Wardrobe Stylist), Nick Littlefield (Photo Asst), Jim Morgan (Audio Tech), and PictureFactory (CineCopter Aerials).

I’ve been trying to set up a photo shoot with Ryann Ford Photography for months! Finally we were able to land a fabulous project with Four Hands Home, Austin based furniture & interior designer. We took their fabulous furniture and placed them in well known, iconic places of Austin. The ads scream “local”, which is a flavor that Austinites love! First, we made the trek up to Mt Bonnell with a living room set in front of a fantastic view of the Pennybacker Bridge (Capital of Texas Highway 360) crossing Lake Austin in the distance. Thankfully we didn’t choose to shoot at the summit, just one of the lower landings with the best view. Next, we shot a dining room set at the recognizable “Greetings from Austin” mural by artist Todd Sanders of the Roadhouse Relics gallery. I had to shut down a couple lanes of traffic here as the mural is on a busy intersection of the Bouldin Creek neighborhood in south Austin. Lastly, we placed a lovely bedroom set along the Hike & Bike trail at Auditorium Shores along Town Lake, with a gorgeous view of downtown just across the water. The only challenge here was making sure that a hundred dogs enjoying their off-leash privileges didn’t make a mess of the bedding. Hah! All the captures looked “perfectly Austin”, as the clients and art director Kelly Colchin wanted.

The images are appearing in several issues of Austin Monthly and Austin Home magazines.

Here are the behind the scenes:

Support by crew: Sean Johnson (Digi Tech/ Photo Asst), and Nick Cabrera (Photo Asst).

Most of my shoots are for advertising clients, but this week I had an opportunity to coordinate a photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly magazine, featuring Jack Black and the rest of the cast from School of Rock movie for a 10 year Reunion issue. Most of the cast haven’t seen each other since the film was made in 2003, and the reactions upon meeting again were priceless. Those kids were only eleven years old at filming, now twenty one years old having changed a lot! Photographer Miller Mobley flew in from NYC to capture the images and enjoy some time in Austin. We assembled a small army of Hair & Makeup artists to keep all the models moving quickly. The tough part was wrangling all the extra people that accompanied the cast in their visit: a lot of moms, friends, and agents in the studio stage. Jack Black was fun to meet and acted just like you’d imagine: intense and full of ideas. Jack Black helped the cast get excited and give some great expressions. Miller Mobley had the direction and timing to capture the perfect images we needed! It was Jack Black‘s birthday on the shoot day, so I picked up two platters of Austin’s finest birthday treat, Hey Cupcake!. They were a hit for sure!

The feature is on newsstands now: OCT 25, 2013 DOUBLE ISSUE #1282-1283 and online at: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20433411_20746301_30037663,00.html

Here are the behind the scenes images:

Support by crew: Rachael Currie (Props + Set Stylist from Dallas), Lauren Smith Ford (Wardrobe Stylist), Jai Lennard (Digi Tech/Photo Asst NYC), Evan Prince (Photo Asst), Laura Martinez (Hair+Makeup Artist), Lisa Gleeson (Hair+Makeup Artist), Sara Domi (Hair+Makeup Artist), Lisa Barnes (Hair+Makeup Artist), Franchiska Kovar (Hair+Makeup Artist), SoundCheck Austin (Studio Stage), 2Dine4 (Catering), and Hey Cupcake! (Jack Black’s Birthday Cupcakes!).

I got a call from Neil DaCosta‘s rep out in Portland for a shoot back in Austin, MINNESOTA!! How clever of them. Home to Hormel Foods, Austin MN has a community of families that know, love, and are employed the brand. We partnered with the Austin High School where a small group of enthusiastic students had been working with Hormel to create a new kind of snack, high in protein and flavor, yet portable for on-the-go convenience. The product is now called REV Wraps and can be found in stores everywhere. The ad concepts came from BBDO Proximity agency in Minneapolis, and Neil‘s style was the perfect fit for the job. I extended my trip for a few days to help celebrate my father’s 60th birthday. What a trip!

Here’s a couple images from Neil DaCosta:

And a few Behind the Scenes by me:

Support by: Rene Rattler (Hair & Makeup Stylist with Wardrobe assistance), and Peter Bischoff (Photo Asst).

I was very excited that Jonathan Chapman Photography wanted to explore shooting for Land O’Lakes in Austin TX. After some brief pre-scouting, the deal was set! Austin looks fabulous in May while the northern states are still growing and greening up. Land O’Lakes had a need for a fresh and timeless look of major size murals within their headquarters main halls & lobby in Arden Hills MN. Perkins+Will of Chicago IL was leading the creative direction, with Gosia Zawiślak on site (she was absolutely delightful!). We had three major scenarios to capture in very different scenes in the city and rural areas. The model talent we cast did a great job, even the kids. We got an insiders view of JBG‘s beautiful organic farm, which now I see all over Austin in farmers markets and CSA deliveries. I love making those lasting connections. Land O’Lakes was very happy with the final imagery, and I like it too.

Here’s a final image, and a bonus shot from Jonathan:

Support by: Lisa Gleeson (Hair & Makeup PLUS Wardrobe assistance), Tiffany Rash (Wardrobe Asst), Jason Griego (Photo Asst), Eric Schleicher (2nd Camera + Photo Asst), John Fontana (Digi Tech), Ken Lewin (Location Scout), and Austin Basecamp (Motorhome).

Well, not exactly “the beach”… Here’s a great shoot that I squeezed in between weeks of shooting in San Antonio. In fact, I cannot take full credit for this production, as Jay B Sauceda really took on a lot of responsibilities here. McGarrah Jessee needed photography done for a special Father’s Day ad selling amazing sunglasses by Costa del Mar suggesting the alternative to another necktie. We played with the set and added a little comedy to the flavor. I’m sure it was a big hit and hundreds of dads received sunglasses for Father’s Day.

Support by Crew: Lauren Smith Ford (wardrobe stylist), Lisa Gleeson (hair and makeup artist), Hayden Spears (photo asst), Bill Sallans (photo asst & set builder)

I had the pleasure of working yet another job with Jay B Sauceda here in Austin. I’ve had the most repeat jobs with him since I’ve been in TX. This round we attack a fun/cute ad for Sierra Mist of Pepsico via the local agency LatinWorks. It was a dual language venture meant for the hispanic market but appealing to all, boasting about the REAL sugar featured in Sierra Mist Natural. I’ll admit, it’s good! We scouted a few parks, historic buildings, and urban areas to find the perfect place. We ended up on Auditorium Shores at Town Lake, and made the scene just beautiful. Our Stylist, Lauren Smith Ford found some wonderful dresses and busted her buns to find all the combinations of funky shoes we wanted. In the end, the ad looks like the concept, but WAY better. I love it. You can now see the ad on billboards and bus stops scattered across Los Angeles, Dallas, and Houston. Let me know if you spot one!

Crew: Lauren Smith Ford (wardrobe stylist), Hayden Spears (photo asst), Evan Prince (photo asst), and Andrew Loehman (digi tech).

Copyright Jay B Sauceda Photography

Copyright Jay B Sauceda Photography

Behind the scenes photo courtesy Lauren Smith Ford

Los Angeles installation photo courtesy Apryl Electra

Even appearing on the Wonderful Machine Tearsheet page! Alongside Kimberly Davis and Andrew Pogue.

It’s no secret, Austin TX is gorgeous in March and April. Tim Hale came in from southern California to get some Austin love. The scenery here gets green early, and looks geographically “neutral”, which a lot of clients enjoy. The shoot was targeting the Hispanic market for Humana Vitality, a wellness company that aims to help you stay motivated to be healthy and reach your fitness goals. Agency direction came from Marc Pepin at RAPP in New York, and our very own Rene Gardner at LatinWorks here in Austin. We scoured the city for really great faces, pretty locations, and turned out some fantastic images for two VERY full days.

Support by a HUGE and wonderful crew: Amy Maner (Prop Stylist), Lauren Smith Ford (Wardrobe Stylist), Lisa Gleeson (Hair / Make Up Artist), Katie Volk (Wardrobe Assistant), Tim Harman (Prop Asst), Evan Prince (Photo Asst), Jared Mechaber (Photo Asst LA), Christopher (DigiTech LA), Roy Castillo (Production Assistant), Bob Crain (Location Scout), Austin Basecamp (Motorhome), and Rookie the Blonde Labrador Retriever with agentBEAST.

This was an interesting collaboration between two photo crews for Dick’s Sporting Goods via Pentagram agency. Jay B Sauceda would handle the “beauty portraits” in studio, while Todd Langley had a completely separate producer+crew for location photos, running around downtown Austin. The concepts by Stu Taylor at Pentagram was to take real runners from around the country, with interesting stories, and photograph each of them looking victorious and sweaty (and sometimes dirty) just after their “race”. The photos were beautiful and gritty, appearing in the weekly ads and website. I hope this helped them sell a few more shoes!

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

Jonathan and I will be helping Frontier Communications create new images for their consumer line of products in direct mail pieces designed by the talented folks at Campbell Mithun ad agency. We had a really aggressive shoot schedule to get all the desired shots done. There were several scenes with a few pseudo families of model talents. We really had a great time and got so many wonderful shots.

Crew: Gina Hessburg (wardrobe & prop stylist), Ashlee Ellert (hair & makeup artist), Karl Herber (digi tech), Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Eric Eul (photo asst), Carolyn van der Vaart (production asst)

If you’re a fan of Cirque du Soleil, you’d love to see the youngsters at Circus Juventas performing, practicing, or just playing around! Jonathan and I put together a shoot with Campbell Mithun for the United Way non-profit, showing that we can do amazing things together. Over two days, we spent time on stills and then motion captures. Both versions will be displayed for their “Power of We” campaign. It was very exciting, involved some late nights, and more equipment than I’ve ever used on a shoot before. Everything went just delightfully and we got so many great photos and beautiful motion capture. The coaches from Circus Juventas were unbelievable.

I followed up the shoot by attending a live performance with my wife consisting of 24 acts buy 300+ talented kids. What an evening!! Not to be missed.

Crew: Gina Hessburg (wardrobe & prop stylist), Ashlee Ellert (hair & makeup artist), David Underhill (gaffer), Sev Pearman (grip), Joe Gallup (grip), Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Eric Eul (photo asst)

It’s great to be back on the road with Jonathan Chapman, this time for an amazing shoot with Boom Island agency for Schwinn Bicycles! They needed new images for the packaging of all their bikes and accessories (coming to Target and Walmart stores near you!) and we added a motion component for their online site. After weeks of planning, we traveled to the beautiful streets and hills of southern California for nice weather in early February. We would be capturing both stills and motion for a whole week. Spending time in the hills, parks, and upscale neighborhoods of San Diego, I know why people love living here! My wife came to stay with me after the shoot for a long weekend, but that adventure is here: Matthew & Mikayla take San Diego.

Brace yourselves, I couldn’t get the “Behind the Scenes” gallery under 36 awesome images…

Wonderful crew included: Alex Horner (DP), Natalie Dixon (local hair & makeup artist), John Fontana (digi tech), Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Tim Olsen (local photo asst), Christina Williams (local stylist asst), Rick Drake (local location scout)

It seem like schools, colleges, and universities are somehow ridiculously drawn to Jonathan, and I love it!!! We got to do some really nice photography for Capella University. It took a couple days flowing throughout Breck School with an amazing pack of kids, teens, and fake faculty to make some great captures. I will admit that it was a little creepy to have no kids in the whole school (due to winter break), but for our work it was perfect. The staff at Breck was very accommodating and we all took a shine to lead maintenance “Walter”.

We kept the crew pretty tight: Eric Schleicher (motion asst), Ashlee Ellert (hair/makeup/wardrobe stylist), John Fontana (digi tech), Neil DeKrey (photo asst), Anne Healy (location scout).

From Jonathan’s archive:
http://jonathanchapman.com/archive/86
http://jonathanchapman.com/archive/85

© Jonathan Chapman

The very next week, Lee Stanford had me on his team Producing for an Edina Realty project through FAME retail ad agency. We would be shooting for their online website and also for outdoor billboards to be posted around the twin cities! VERY exciting since I’ve never seen my projects on that scale. We paired one studio day with one location day. After a quick casting, we found some great talent that would carry the campaign to full potential. The sketches we’re silly and they talent delivered their all. Lee is so great at giving direction to talent and capturing their expressions! FAME & Edina Realty walked away very happy clients.

Our crew was: Ann Marshik (prop stylist), Cindy Warner (wardrobe stylist), Tia Cartwright (hair & makeup artist), Trev Fenner (digi tech), and Greg Schaal, Jared Cullison (photo asst), Barbara O’Brien (animal wrangler), and Anne Healy (location scout).

Here’s a few behind the scenes…

Here is the close of a three part campaign with Initio Advertising and Jonathan Chapman. We now bring it close to home into the Twin Cities, finding some iconic locations and spaces that are familiar to us city-folks. We bounced around the metro area to capture a few more seniors being amazing and impressive as they enjoy their healthcare under UCare, an independent nonprofit health plan providing health coverage and services to more than 250,000 members in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The same awesome crew to finish the project: Ashlee Ellert (Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe), John Fontana (DigiTech), Eric Schleicher (Assistant)