Cars, Kettle Corn, PONIES, and much, much more! HORRAY!!!

Two Fridays ago I received a phone call, while shooting a wedding, from my contact at Nick Scott Enterprise about seeing if I was available to shoot their annual Fall Fest at Peak n Peak Spa and Resort.  It was really last minute, but they only needed me to attend either that Saturday or Sunday and Sunday had the car show going on, so that offered me more opportunities.

So I went Sunday...

They weren't demanding a ton of photographs, but definitely photographs of the event that tied in the Peak's foundation as well as individual shots of the golf course.  Basically I put my efforts into generating a warm identity with people, good times, while keeping the peak in frame.  When I arrived the ground work was already laid out for me, it just needed to be visualized.

And I've gotta be honest.  I haven't been to the Peak since I was a kid and I had so much fun walking around outside and CONSTANTLY bumping into people I knew form the surrounding areas.  I had no idea what the scale of their festivals were like, but to give you an idea I was there for a good portion of the day and I never saw all the vendors.  It seemed endless.

Here's an abridged version of my whole edit:

Governor Tom Corbett's Inauguration

I traveled to Harrisburg on a photo journalism assignment for Great Lakes Life Magazine in 2011 to cover Tom Corbett's inauguration process from him arriving at church, the inauguration itself, and the Governor's ball.

But this is a brief video clip to show you how massive the scale was for this particular event.

I personally enjoy politically driven assignments. There's so many photo opportunities and I absolutely love having special access to private events like these.

Also, here's the clip on Youtube.com:

http://youtu.be/2BAzQIM6-7s

I'm a Mood Setter, Baby...

I was contracted by Andie at Grode Florist to photograph their interior for a Market Place Gazette advertisement about two weeks ago.

Before I walked into their business I saw the warm glow of a single tungsten light fixture coming from the ceiling against the cooler tones outside from that late afternoon.  That light temperature mood  is absolutely perfect when trying to convey the feel of a winter season setting, which was exactly what this shoot was all about!   

For example:  Have you ever walked outside your house in the winter and looked inside?  Your house will look really warm and cozy, not only because you're freezing outside in the cold, but that's just what tungsten light does to the objects its cast upon with it's light temperature. 

Their interior was riddled with greens, trees, woods, baskets, decorations, etc...  It looks strait out of a Christmas story book and that was exactly the same feel I wanted to bring back to them in my photography.

...And of course, I did.

But hey, they're great people and you should go check out all of what their shop has to offer you at:

Grode Florist:

• 4318 West Ridge Rd
• Erie, PA 16506

Two Days in Chicago

I set out to explore the great city of Chicago for the first time in my life with a few of my cameras and Mark (who wrote the articles I shot for over the past 3 years and traveled with nearly everywhere already).

Mark is looking to move there next year and I was looking to expand my places portfolio, eat Chicago dogs, and have drinks on Navy Pier. So we decided to go along with another amazing mutual friend, Kelsey, who was already going to visit family there.

This is basically 30 + hours of walking, busing, Blue line/Red line train rides crammed into 6 minutes of footage.

Hope you enjoy.

Here's the Youtube link below:
http://youtu.be/9z3yCc904rA

7 Prints That Changed Why I Give a Damn About Pre Production

Why I give a damn about  my  pre-production value:

Better to be safe than sorry, or an idiot, and the last thing I want to do with my advertisement/editorial work is to let my portfolio get stale, or look a lot like someone else's, or let down a client on a job due to not raising my own bar every step.  So I'm CONSTANTLY researching, refining, making it mine, and settling for noting less than, "The best look" whatever that might be given the circumstances that create my opportunities.

To me, its way easier to be perceived by a unique viewer, in a matter of seconds, as a complete shmuck these days.   ...It really is, with the never ending surplus of garbage that's considered "acceptable work" out there.

It happens in every industry.  Just think about typing in any given genre of music and imagine how many crappy bands you have to sift through to find great examples of sound, its insanity.  Everything starts to sound the same / everything starts to look and feel the same way.  ...Ya gotta stand out. 


Why I ended up choosing surrealism to express my early artwork:

I absolutely idolized Storm Thorgerson's album artwork from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Mars Volta, etc...  When you look at those album covers, they make you re-asses yourself and do a double take.  Successful surrealism offsets the viewer like that.

Also, its was one of those instances I can pull the card out and say, "It was weird time in my life."  I was 22, just finished assisting in Florida, and came back to my zero network in Erie, PA.  I used surrealism to literally get away from reality.  I was working really shitty 3rd shift jobs and took my confusion and frustration out in art.  ...It may sound cliche, but whatever it worked.

I eventually stopped creating surrealism when I finally received my photography position at Great Lakes Life Magazine in March of 2008, which almost never happened.  The universe is crazy, but that's a story for another time.


How I tackled this new genre of photography in my life?

I knew there was a greater reason as to why I used to have to create "Concept Boards" in college for a particular large format class, because 10 times out of 10 you're very first amazing idea totally sucks and you never realized it and no one has the nerve to tell you that it sucks.  Which helps no one, especially not you.  The more you break down ideas, rationalize, break it down, rationalize, the less you get.  I'm a less is more kind of guy, and most examples of visual harmony feel the same way.


Why I quit producing deeper perspective pieces:

The funny thing about deeper perspective work with me is that I'll always tend to lean more heavily with a depressing tone, because there are large topics out there that bother me and everyone else i.e. politics, loss, emptiness, etc...

But when you're constantly thinking, writing, and talking about depressing content and trying to make it visually epic, you in turn become a bit depressed.  And that's not really cool when I'm just trying to enjoy the time I have here.  I'll leave that kind of artwork to the mopy, debby downers, of this world while I focus on making people feel good about the photos I make for them today.


7 Prints:

 

Title:  (2007)

Untitled

 Title / Poem excerpt by:  (2007)

Mike Knappenbergger

Our best relationships are where you can sit in the same room and be alone.

 Title:

  Untitled 2007

 Title:  (2007)

You Weren't Here

Why that title?

I went into my old high school to show my art teachers what I had been up to and one of them wasn't in that day.  So I took my 4x6 proof of the image above and wrote on the back of it the words, "You Weren't Here" and put it on her keyboard for her to see when she came back.  As I was leaving the building I thought about those words.  They really set in...  They were exactly the right amount of words for that piece.  I don't know what I would have called it if I hadn't showed up that day and she was there?

 Title:  (2007)

Every Day

 Title:  (2007)

What Went Wrong

Title:  (February 2008)

Dogs of Recession