The Talented Masters

While food stylist Ben Masters and myself have been shoulder to shoulder in the trenches for some time now, conquering burgers and apple pies, I recently challenged him and his talented wife Louise to shoot some new personal work with me.

Louise has recently shown off her affinity for styling random objects via her Instagram feed and I was really keen to shoot some fresh, somewhat experimental food work with the talented couple.

I believe I got what I was after. Look forward to the next one.

HumanSuits

I'm not going to go into detail on how I managed to catch a glimpse of myself whilst being upside down (some things should just stay mysterious) but I noticed it wasn't a good look. It gave me the idea of shooting a portrait series in which the subjects were in this not so comfortable predicament, which is kinda opposite to the whole "relax and look natural" conventional portrait execution. I wanted the images to look like regular portraits though, but somehow wrong.

Mark, one of the Contacts producers, rained on my parade win he told me it had been done by some guy in the US. I chose to ignore that and went ahead anyway.

Casting was a slow process as people I approached were surprisingly reluctant to be photographed in a stress-position. Its not exactly going to flatter, but I finally recruited some candidates, keeping in mind that their fitness level would need to accommodate some basic trapeze moves.

 The shoot was done with the supervision of Matt at House of Yoga, Redfern. Their anti-gravity yoga studio ensured the safety of the subjects through proper instruction and equipment, so my public liability was in no danger of straining a muscle.

The producers were a huge help in pulling the shoot together, and I'm grateful for the efforts of the crew, Sandra (asst), Hilary Ho (MUA) and stylist Susannah Best, the guys at House of Yoga and the subjects who tried their best to look composed.

Cycling Trivialities

Most of the time I accept the fact that I am a commercial whore. Of course I spend a lot of time doing my own work in the pursuit of the beautiful, timeless and enduring image that I hope will define my presence in this medium, but I use the "artistic"moniker sparingly as it can come across pompous/pretentitious and and insult to real artists however occasionally I produce something that I dare say is as close to photographic art as I get.

This was a project I had been meaning to do for awhile, and my Fuji X100S made it possible. It was of course highly experimental which is another way of saying I had no idea what I was doing or hoped to achieve, but I am pleased with the results.

Viewed as tiny jpegs, you may not see the amazing thing that happens when light, movement and slow shutter speeds collude, but a print on matte stock reveals a cross-hatching of textures reminiscent of charcoal sketching. The glint of stainless steel spokes adds sparkle, reminding me what I love about the classic racing bicycle.

Mastercard PayPass v2

Barely a week after the previous shoot for Mastercard Payass, we were commissioned to shoot for the same client via another agency handling another aspect of the business.

Cute idea and the child talent was outstanding. At just four years old he took direction well, stayed focussed and did not complain once.

Apparently he was just as good during the filming of the TVC.

Retouching via Steve York @ Cream

Wayside Chapel

We all like to do our bit for charity, but its beneficial to all when an Ad Agency puts their energy into creating an ad for a charity and enters it into the odd award.

Worked with UrsaClemenger on this idea for Wayside Chapel, with Ed Mulyadi and Scott Turner under CD Denis Mamo. Scott was kind enough to allow the use of his legs. Yes, its shot in stride. No comping.

Styling was by Jan Edwards, who nailed it. Assistance was kindly provided by the enthusiastic Tim Hazzard. http://timhazzardphotography.com. I reckon with a name like that he should be a comic book hero.

Digital finesse'ing by Electric Art

Mothers Day OMV MTB

An added benefit of having no offspring is that Mothers Day is moot and just another Sunday. As those encumbered labour over burning toast and preparing brekky trays, we are out, as we are most mornings, on our bikes, enjoying quieter roads and trails.

As this sight of the bridge greeted me as I made my way to the North, I knew there would be some nice  shots to be had as the predawn light struggled to penetrate the morning fog which enveloped the city.

Needles to say, I didn't do much riding, and when on lap 3 my saddle snapped off (must invest in a dropper post) I was only to happy to grab the camera and harass my mates.

Now I'm no sports shooter and like my work to be deliberate and considered, and I have something to learn about AF-C on the D800, but I like the moody atmosphere and the beauty of the morning and the trail captured.

Ricky Ponting for In The Black

Unfortunately I'm not a huge cricket fan, not even a small one come to think of it. This does not mean I'm totally ignorant, and I know that Mr Ponting is a big deal in Australian and World cricket history.

That said he was very decent and personable to shoot, and took my jibes about cricket not being a real sport in good nature, although probably thinking "what an idiot".

Yes I will often and willingly make an idiot of myself to entice a response from my subject.

Mastercard PayPass aka GTFO-Quick

I was really jacked up to get a brief in from McCann Sydney for their client Mastercard.
I had not yet managed to get an appointment to show my book at the agency, so it was particularly good to hear I was being considered for the job.

AD Celine Faledam called to discuss the job and any thoughts I had, and I mentioned that a child's perspective (POV) would bring a little extra tension to the composition. Celine had been on the same page, although the initial scamps (which the client had bought into) were from the adults perspective.

It took a little convincing but the client came round to our thinking.

The concept played on the scenario known to all parents who take their toddlers or young children shopping, and relays the convenience of a swift and easy check out using the PayPass facility before the Little Treasure does some damage in the store.

I recommended a set build to be able to have control of the environment and got in Stylist Cherith Crozier to prop style the job and build the sets.

Meanwhile producer Penni nailed the casting and found a little Lola, a 5  year old with a big personality who took direction well, and whose hands had the right age "look" for what was required.

Everything came together in a relaxed shoot at Hatch studio, with the help of Jeremy Graham who assisted me on the day.

Ode to the Producers

The amazing, super organised, diligent and microdetail oriented people at +Contacts Photography who make shoots happen and run without a hiccup.

The endless quoting, back and forth emails, catering whims, photogs rants etc etc that the Producer deals with on a daly basis, they deserve a frikkin' medal.

Thanks to them, I can concentrate on the shoot, and know the details are taken care of.

Thanks guys. I'm grateful.

Sara Lee Packaging Overhaul

I while ago I mentioned I was in the running for an epic project for an Aussie favourite brand.

Well, I got the gig, and it was epic! Over a month of shooting.

After Ben Masters and I took the brief, we were still in competition with another Photog/stylist team (photog also with Contacts-awkward), and we had to submit a test shoot. We then presented the print and our chosen approach.

I was stoked when I heard we got the job! Ben and I worked with designer AD Samantha Young at Barker Gray to interpret the brief.

The client and agency had an editorial look in mind, but weren't sure how that would translate into to the regimented stye of packaging photography. I suggested a sort of hybrid, in that although highly styled food was required, it need to look loose and informal.

There were two more interesting challenges

a. the client wanted very little retouching, having being previously burdened with massive retouching costs

b. They would not be attending the shoot, at all, for a month of shooting.

I'm going to keep it short and polite and summarise that it all worked out beautifully and they got both wishes.

I just needed a glass of Cab Sav at the end of each day.

Breakfast of Champions

I really enjoy building sets and creating atmospheres to bring beauty and romance to meaty treats..

What more can I say.

Contacts Christmas Card 2012

Had this idea for my Christmas mailer, which ended up being for Contacts' same purpose.

A North Avalon family kindly offered their home, but the amazing thing is the whole street does the full-on lights thing. Gotta love the far Northern beaches. They are super laid back and and there are almost none of the dramas that Home and Away might suggest.

Rocky, who owns Bike Bug North Sydney, kindly agreed to be our talent, and Rebecca Riegger did an absolutely amazing job of the props and styling. Also ups to Todd Sotheren who did the clipping paths to make the retouch a breeze.

The dog, Reg, makes the shot.

Merry Christmas

Allianz Library Images

One of my repeat clients, Allianz Insurance, commissioned this project, and it allowed me another opportunity to hone the art of directing real people, not models or actors, to their best performance for the shot.

The brief appealed to my documentary roots at first, but I shifted my style in a enviro-portrait direction to accommodate  the wide range of applications that the images would be used for. 

The client quite rightly felt that there was very little in existing stock that suited their needs, and wanted to use real people, in real situations-their own jobs, with a definite sense that we are looking at real Australians.

There were some pretty stressful challenges in getting the right talent and locations logistics sorted within the budget constraints, not to mention the curve ball thrown by the weather, but I'm proud to say the images portray, for the most part, people in their actual jobs, in their actual workplaces. In fact, the situations where hired talent had to be used, I found less convincing

I wanted to hero the subjects subtly with lighting and casual pose, but keep it feeling natural. We scheduled around the weather for the outdoor shots, as hard sunlight is a strong differentiating factor when trying to make images look more Australian.

Our ÜberProducer Penni pulled absolute miracles with regards to talent, locations and even weather prediction, and needed a relaxing massage by the end of the shoot.

Cherith Crozier did a cracker of a job in the styling, and together with myself and AD Sarah Straker, we had a solid team with a clear direction throughout the shoot.

Praise Whole Egg mayonaise

The AD at +Jack Watts Currie, Pamela Parelli, had put together a concise brief which resonated with me straight away. It called for an expression performance from the talent, and the food to look good too. It also needed to work visually with the hands holding plates reaching in.

We were fortunate to find the perfect location, and the weather smiled upon us, being the first clear day in a while.

Had a dream team of crew, with food styling by Kristine Duran Thiesen, wardrobe by Natasha Harrison, and Contacts' Leeby Sotheren doing makeup, and Todd Sotheren as retoucher.

The model Angela Shallis was serene and professional, and while the exclamatory performance was out of her comfort zone, she kept on trying till we got what we wanted.

Everything was shot on location, including the packshot and additional food tabletop shot to keep costs under control.

The AD, agency and client were very happy with the outcome, and so am I. One of my favourites for the year!

Masterfoods Tomato Sauce

The opportunity arose to submit a last minute treatment for what was originally a typographical execution with a simple hand-with-pack shot to overlay.

I couldn't think of much to make a hand more exciting, so I expanded upon the brief a little, suggesting we go for a bit more depth, and instead of doing the headline typographically, I thought of using a stencil on a wooden crate. This would give the type the genuine wood texture.The crate has relevance also, as it further suggests the use of fresh produce, and provided a tactile third dimension for the shot.

The creative team loved the idea, and sold it to the client, who was reluctant at first but happy to put their faith in us.

I stuck to my guns in my efforts to keep it "in camera", and our stylist, Jan Edwards found beautiful crates and painted stencils of varying sizes to suit the layout. We took it a step further by shooting the sauce splats on acetate so that they could be positioned in camera and required minimal comping. It also allowed us to ensure the message was not lost.

Our hand model was a pro, and was able to fine tune the amount of squeeze distortion on the pack. I had mentioned in the treatment that the squeeze is part of the fun, and wanted to portray a bit of bottle throttle, but needles to say we pulled back to a firm hold which yielded a more acceptable label distortion.

The team were stoked with the result, as was the client. 

Synology Server

I'm happy to have finally invested in a high end NAS server as an additional archiving module and a system for clients to access their files should I not be available. I went with an 8 bay +Synology DS1812+, and that should serve my purposes very well. Here it be:

http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS1812%2B&lang=enu

David Stone at +DRevolution did the setup and I can wholeheartedly recommend his services as a super-techie.

The DSM web based interface rocks. This is dangerously geeky shit, I know, but you can't help getting excited about the potential of that much storage.

Nikon D800E after some use

I have been shooting with my D800E on some jobs, and while it hasn't replaced my Phase P45 in the studio, it is adding flexibility and speed to my location shoots which I might have previously used the MF Mamiya/Phase combo for.

I used it heavily for the Allianz Image Library shoot, and there a good and bad points. (oh dear, I feel bullet points coming on...

*At the camera end, I seem to have trouble setting up the AF so as not to back-focus. I'm using a target and the individual lens fine adjustment settings, but even then it misses.
I'm not the only one to report this, and Lloyd Chambers highlighted these issues exhaustively as he does (we are grateful as someone has to do it).

I use mainly fast primes and mostly Nikons best glass, but it doesn't help if the razor sharpness is off on the background.

*Capture One misbehaves with the Nikon. It crashes, it freezes, it looses tether, it fails to see images on CF card. This is probably the main reason I'm not totally ditching the Phase back. C1 is rock solid when tethered to its own hardware (as it should be). Wonder if Canon users struggle with CaptureOne as much?

All that aside, the quality is amazing and exceeds what is needed in hand held 35mm, as camera shake at such resolution becomes an issue, and forces me to a tripod unless shutterspeed is way up. I'm a bit old school and like to keep ISO at or near 100 (a fact that I notice doesn't seem to matter as much to young shooters)... (until they have an image rejected on quality grounds).

I will say this at my peril. We DO NOT NEED MORE MEGAPIXELS in 35mm cameras. I'm sure the amateur brigade and pixel peepers will scoff at this, but hey can go terrorise some online forums. Those of us shooting 35 and MF professionally know when enough is enough, and when it isn't, turn to the Phase when the job demands it.

RSVP and working with Cherith Crozier

After meeting Cherith and being impressed by her book and attitude, I'm happy the opportunity for a shoot together came around soon. The shoot for mature dating site RSVP involved set-builds and lots of back and forth on the propping, but the shoot day was a breeze, and client loved the results.
AD Niccola Philips was a pleasure to work with as usual and I'm sad to see her leave Mercer Bell to greener pastures.

Shoot the Chef 2012 Finalist

A fun shoot with the Crutch family of Avalon, Mum Sam and the six children who Sam cooks for daily.
A nod to Mums time in the kitchen (four hours a day in Sams case) to cook for their families. A thankless task but worthy of an entry to Shoot the Chef.

My appreciation to Cherith Crozier (Stylist), Rebecca Riegger(Stylist asst), Hilary Ho(MUA) and Katy Young for setting this up.

Fingers crossed

Doug Pitt for Virgin Mobile

It's great to get involved in something that you know is going to be huge. AD Ben Pearce at Euro (who has been a supportive believer in my work since I started up in Australia), thought I'd be the man for the job, and I'm glad he did.

The shoot was to happen in Vancouver, Canada, and proved to be a quick 72 hours on Canadian soil for me, (not to mention 30 hours of airtravel).

My treatment suggested that we break through the PR veneer that a man in his position resorts to when faced with cameras, and that is what we did. Mr Pitt was a dream to work with, and kept his composure through some hectic shoot days involving TVC filming and full day stills studio work.

Doug being an avid mountain biker too, I had plenty to chat about which no doubt served to break the ice too.

Working in Canada went seamlessly, with gear hire, assistants and studio being similarly priced to home.

The campaign was a huge success for agency and client, and Ben is hoping for an award somewhere down the track. I'll keep my fingers crossed.