Mmm

Just a weird scene, captured on iPhone

The thing with being a photog in the advertising industry is that the jobs you quoted- possibly wrote a treatment for, went through all the associated bumpf but missed out on for whatever reason-be it creative differences or simply budget- often appear to taunt you on billboards and bus shelters, as they were executed by whoever landed the job. Thats fine, its all part of the deal.

What really, really ticks me is when a prestigious brand belonging to a major company, as in the major-est (read Cola) will cut costs to the point that the campaign looks just plain frikkin' amateur. Now I'm not going into specifics here mainly because these internet ramblings thing have a habit of biting in the bum later, but I saw a new campaign that I happen to know some history behind, and I'm sorry to say, this is a product of post GFC advertising. The lowest bidder got the job, and produced a second rate job of the photography. This is fine and good if your product is Country Betsy's homemade jam cakes, but when its a pretty premium version of sugar water which costs more than fresh blood. C'mon people.

Now if your'e thinking I'm just sour grapes, you'd be wrong, this wasn't a job I lost out on. But my eyes are open to the fact that the previous ad campaign for this product was pretty well done, with beautiful photography befitting the calibre of the product, and I also happen to know that a new agency is now handling the brand, and I've been around long enough to know that its not necessarily their fault (although it may well be), but the whole issue is that it is indicative of what is going on in our industry. An acceptance of mediocrity as a solution to ever tightening budgets.

The notion that, if average is cheap, then its just fine, as nobody will really notice, and thats just the thing- they will notice. Even if its subliminal, a low craft job for a premium product is just not on.

Now, I don't really know what brought on a particular flurry of disgust in this case, because this is happening everywhere, and all the time. Maybe because in this example the regression in quality was so sudden, from first rate to third rate in one campaign. Just like that. The sad thing is that its symptomatic of the way thing are being done now. Quickly and cheaply. Get it on, get it out.

Over Indulgent Alcohol Consumption

Loved working on the Government Binge Drinking awareness campaign with veteran creative David Joubert @ GPYR Sydney. The TV shoot was done by Taxi productions ' director Gemma Lee. Now, I've been on a fair few TVC's and hell, even directed a few, so it was eye opening to see how the game has changed. Filming was done exclusively on a 5D Mkll. Fast lenses/shallow depth primes, ease of movement, and not burning film at 50fps sure does open up the creative possibilities, and speed of shooting. Its exciting and slightly scary what the possibilities are.

A new Blog is brewing

As I've mentioned once or twice (and the blog history shows), I'm not exactly a committed hardcore blogger. This is odd as I'm quite opinionated and always have a bee or a fish or whatever the metaphor is for people who bleat about whatever is bugging them. I just don't want to lower the tone with negative crap- not too often anyway. 

I'm rethinking my attitude and approach to the blogging platform as it really is something I would like to get going. Then I will work on the discipline to faithfully post new blurb on whatever topic is hot for the day. It may be photography related, but hey, I'm into a lot of different stuff, so it may be as diverse as vintage road bike frames or mid-century furniture, or cars or the latest bad ads or whatever interesting bits I come across in my web trawling. 

Now I know when it gets busy, or I don't have anything interesting to waffle on about, some months may go by, and I know I keep committing to post regularly, so from now on I will no longer make any such promise or commitment. There. Thats better- I 'm glad that's off my chest

New Website

Yay, after much missioning and migrating domain names and sacrificing small animals to the web powers, I finally have my new website up at both the .com and the .com.au domains. Its a lightweight and fast html site that sums up the work in an uncomplicated interface. Sweet. www.janyon.com

Worlds Worst Blogger

That would be me. Couldn't let a year go by since the last post so this is a token post to say I'm still here and will get back into (fairly) regular posts as I've added this hyperlink to my new site-coming soon....

Town of Tin

I recently took a trip to Stockton Beach, beyond Newcastle, to see this historic cluster of corrugated sheet dwellings isolated on miles of beach and sand dunes. I was taken in by the total lack of visual clutter. The visual white-noise we have become accustomed to in our city lives is replaced by two dimensions of sand and sky.

Stockton Beach

The weather stayed heavily overcast which only heightened feeling of desolation of this surreal moonscape. The sands of NSW's largest mobile sand mass were deposited here over 6000 years ago (must have been a helluva storm), forming dunes 30m high and constantly sculpted by the wind. Reminders of its WW2 history of barbed wire and tank traps are still uncovered as the sands shift. The shore is unforgiving, and many vessels have beached in the ferocious windstorms that cane the coast.

Sport fishermen roam about, and their 4x4's turn the beach into an extension of the M1, but a breed of blokes stay here permanently in tin dwellings. Full time fishermen, men of the sea, for whom a shower is a water tank with a spout, and a dunny is, well, a hole in the sand. Drink, sleep, fish, no other crap to get in the way. They welcomed us into their home and offered a place to spend the weekend.

I'm grateful to them, esp Dave Chapman, for the experience.

Shoot for M&C Saatchi

Well chuffed to get to work with young and dynamic creatives Nick Bonney and Matt Weston on an funky idea they had. Pulled a shoot together on a shoestring budget so I self-produced and got very hands on. It makes one realise just how much pre prod work goes into a project, even a relatively small one. Casting was spot on, and I was stoked to have stylist Kathy McKinnon and SFX MUA Jen Carlson aboard. The shots came together nicely, albeit juggling time issues and 35+ deg heat. I'll post the finished product in another post, but here are some outtakes.