I will have two pieces displayed in the upcoming Oak Cliff Art Crawl. You should try and attend the event:
Art Crawl…
Go Tonight!!!
I’ll be at the ASMP meeting tonight. If you are a Dallas area professional photographer (or a current photography student/assistant planning to become a pro shooter at some point), you NEED to attend ASMP meetings (and hopefully join them). For more info on tonight’s event, look here:
See you there…
I am the law…
I shot more lawyers Tuesday. It’s getting to be quite a regular thing, between all my clients that need portraits of law professionals. Add to the fact that I’m starting to court a few law trade magazines, and I could go from being the big name in Dallas music photography to being the big name in Dallas law photography. That would be cool (no it wouldn’t – unless it paid a lot more, then it would).
A blog about Sarah writing a blog about me… confusing?!?
I stumbled across this today:
It is a blog about me photographing local artist Sarah Jane Semrad. I didn’t even remember her snapping a shot of me that day. It’s odd what you find on the internet…
First look at the cover…
I’ve been sitting on this quietly, anxiously waiting for the first official press releases to come out. They finally have…
It wouldn’t have be right for me to show the album artwork for Rhett Miller’s upcoming solo album before he (and the label) were ready to start sharing images and sneak peeks. Thankfully, I don’t have to keep the cover under wraps any longer. Rhett’s official website just sent out an email to all his fans and put a copy up on his website for the world to see.
I’d love to show you the rest, but I doubt that any other part of the upcoming album will be revealed until its release date in June. It’s not my place to start leaking any tidbits of the album that he (or his label) aren’t prepared to share. I wish I could, because there are several great shots used throughout the packaging… but, I won’t.
I’m absolutely in love with the picture on the back, and think you will be, too. There are also some nice detail shots used inside as background pics. And, the PR/promo pics that are starting to hit blogs, websites, and print publications are pretty cool, too.
Anyway, I have real work to get back to. I just had to take a break to share this info. When I saw they finally released an image of the cover, I got too excited to not tell the world! I hope you like it – and buy it!!!
Saturday night…
OK, I’m about to turn off the computer and head out on some shoots. One assignment will be another video assignment. I’m anxious to build up a good video portfolio, so this will be fun. Another is your basic bread-and-butter event shoot (go take some pics, get some quotes from guests for cutlines and a short story, and then get out of there). The final is at a club downtown – where Shaquille O’Neal is supposed to be tonight (no, I’m not going as a Paparazzi, waiting behind the bushes to pounce on him. It is a regular newspaper assignment).
Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll have a ton of video, photos, and text to work through from this evening, so there probably won’t be another post until Monday or Tuesday…
Promo…
This is one of the current promo/mailers that I’ve started sending out to potential advertising clients. It focuses on my lifestyle photography. You know, the ads where a family is running through a field, and the ad is selling some sort of allergy medication. Or the young couple in bed on a sunny morning, with a laptop and coffee – the ad selling anything from online shopping, to travel options, to pajamas, to whatever. The photos that don’t necessarily have the actual product in the picture, but convey a certain feeling instead. That’s the type of photography I can do well.
I can’t do product and table top photography (the perfect pictures of a product in an ad or flyer or on the box of the item) well enough to compete with the big boys in town (and there’s a TON of money in DFW for that type of work), so I have to focus on what I am good at. Hopefully, my editorial style transfers over well enough to regular and consistent advertising “lifestyle” shooting. That is what I actually CAN do, and have done somewhat in the past.
These are pics from an major ad campaign I worked on for a large financial institution in 2007. The client wanted a wholesome, family-friendly look to all their ads and literature for savings, retirement, and health benefit options. My regular portfolio is a lot edgier, showing off much of my rock and roll portraits and other bold images, so hopefully this mailer will be a good balance to that.
Figuring out what images to send out can be so hard sometimes. Some people say to send images of the stuff you love to shoot or only send your most personal work. That way the client can get a feel for what you have inside… for what you are truly capable of doing. Others say to send out images from recent assignments, so clients can see how well you do in the real world – since, that’s what really matters to them. Some people mix the two together, and others say that a mixture will appear too scatter-shot and unfocused. Ughhhh… too many choices and way too many suggestions…
Well, for now I am showing my edgy portfolio and following up with a more real world mailer. We’ll see if this plan works. I love the occasional big advertising shoots I’ve done and am hoping this helps me get more.
No money from U2? Are you CRAZY?!?
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20090320a1.html
I was shown this link and I’m not sure how to react. Part of me respects the pure artist in this story, but part of me wonders just how smart of a business move this was?
I have billed major labels up to $7500 for an album cover shoot in the past, and that wasn’t even for a disc like this – one that will surely go multi-platinum. So, we are talking about a cover shot worth a minimum of $20k, if not $50k or more… I’ve heard of artists spending up to $100k on artwork before, so who knows what could’ve been negotiated here?!?
Now, if he doesn’t need the money… fine. Or, if this is part of a bigger plan… fine. But, this kind of pure art, not selling out thing is just too hard to do in the modern world. I’m not saying you should completely sell your soul for a paycheck. However, you do need to balance your artistic integrity with your need to feed and clothe yourself.
The Cowboy Preacher
I had a request to see some of my rodeo and cowboy shots, so I thought I’d post this story I did for American Profile Magazine. It’s about a cowboy preacher that travels with a professional bull riding association and provides religious services to the riders and crew.
I thought it was something a little different from the “normal” cowboy story. Something with a bit of heart and soul to it. You can see that he spends his days guiding these men, praying for them, and helping them cope with the dangerous lifestyle they chose to live. It was such an interesting story to shoot…
I’m tired…
I’m tired of reporting bad news in the newspaper industry, but here is more:
I skipped linking a couple recent stories on failing or failed papers across the country, just because I didn’t want this blog to seem like a broken record. However, The Globe would be a huge loss to the newspaper industry. Losing it would be insane.
I understand the whole idea of moving along with changing times and technology, but there is so much information I can find in the paper every day. It would suck having to hunt it down on the internet, or at the very least, trying to nimbly navigate through a muddled newspaper website for good info.
There’s just something about skimming the headlines of each section that seems easier in print. Maybe because I’m old?!? I’m tech-savvy. I know a thing or two about this whole internet thing. I just think the printed version still has some use…