I have just been assigned a photo essay project for a spread in the upcoming Winter 2011 issue of 1859 Magazine: it is called “My Neighborhood”. Here is a snap I took a few weeks ago of some people on Hawthorne Blvd.
I really love my job.
Gerry Frank is da BOMB! Here he is with one of his famous cakes. (Image was shot originally for 1859 Magazine so I needed to include white space for text.)
His Konditorei in Salem is a lively place, full of wonderful things to eat. It also seems to be a warm gathering place for many wonderful characters.
This image was also blown up life size at The Bite this year. I wish I had been in town to see it!
You can probably imagine my tail wagging Snoopy dance I did when Kevin Max, editor of 1859 Magazine, called and asked me if I would like to take on an assignment where I would photograph people riding horses through Oregon wine country. I love this lush area of Oregon, am in awe of the amazing wines that our state produces, and really dig assignments where I am photographing people having fun.
The assignment was flipping fantastic – much more than I ever expected! What surprised me the most was the camaraderie that exists between the vintners. Since we were visiting many vineyards over two days, and this was essentially a press tour which could result in highly desired PR in Oregon’s National Geo-like magazine, I imagined the vintners jockeying (ha!) for inclusion in the magazine. Instead, I saw exchanges of support, purchases between vintners, and exclamations of admiration for the neighboring vineyards.
What surprised me secondly was that I would be riding. And that horses can get spooked. And they can run. Whoa Nelly!
Special shout-out to Mary Hansen from ArborBrook Vineyards for coordinating the tour. We will be back, and your wines are de-lish!
When I got an assignment recently from 1859 Magazine to shoot a layout on the topic of hippies, I immediately thought about my past work at the Oregon Country Fair. The editor asked me to get a few images scanned, and it was great fun to see these images again! And I think a few will be included with the article.
I love when an image sits in the incubator a while, and then suddenly has its day in the sunshine.
I had a great time photographing a wilderness adventure last week for 1859 Magazine. The organizing company is Lifesong Adventures, and they custom fit wilderness adventures for any group, any where. I can’t say enough great things about this organization. They are field experts in a variety of wilderness training, from shelter building to animal tracking to what you can and can’t eat while lost in the forest.
Owners Mark and Celeste are consultants on the Man Vs Wild TV series, but their most enjoyment comes from teaching all of us how to live with only a knife and some flint in the wilderness. Girls take note: they love it when you sign up! And this felt more like Man WITH Wild.
Here are a few images from the shoot. Full story will be run in the April issue of 1859 Magazine. The last image is of the bear that tried to get into my cabin one night. (Photo courtesy of Celeste Cole)
I am very excited about some great news today! While creating the headshots of all ballet dancers who dance at Oregon Ballet Theatre, I kept thinking about a potential ad for them that would enable the general public to get to know the dancers a bit more intimately. I contacted my ad agency friend and told him what I was thinking. He created some quick concepts, we met with the marketing team at OBT, and they liked the ad.
I than contacted the editor at 1859 Magazine, asked about potentially running the ad, and today they told me that they will be the first to run the ad. A full page ad will run in their Winter 2010 issue.
Here is the ad. I would like this campaign to run as a series using all of the dancers’ photos and words. We are also looking at changing the font type to be each dancer’s handwriting instead of text.
One of my favorite assignments is to get a call from a magazine, hear a great story about a person, and then get the go-ahead to meet them and photograph them. I never know what I will find when I arrive at the scene….but most likely it is a fascinating person with an incredible background. I usually only have a few minutes to assess lighting and backgrounds, and I love that challenge of finding the sweet spot of light and learning as much as I can about this person in a short period of time.
Here is a link to a recent multi-portrait assignment from the newly launched 1859 Magazine.
Check out the video on this site as well, for a behind the scenes peek at one of the larger shoots from this assignment. (Thank you for that, Sandymontana Creative!)