Old Fashioned
Oh my.. Now I am just blushing… 2023 is starting off with a big win.. Our image of an iconic Old Fashioned was just awarded a Graphis Gold! Graphis is an institution among publications and it is a HUGE honor to be included in this years Annual.
I created this image with stylist Alice Arato (along with a few other cocktail images) and am bowled over by the numerous accolades it has garnered.
You can soak in all of the other winning imagery over at the Graphis Website!
Feeling super honored to have snagged a couple of International Color Awards again this year! It is always so humbling to be included in such great company as all of these fantastic image makers. Here are the two images that were selected this year (in addition to two others that were also nominated ☺️). Make sure to check out the rest of the winning images at photoshow.colorawards.com!
Very excited to share a brand new campaign we did for Marie’s Dressings. This was a still and motion combo and we’re really proud of the results. This was a jam packed day with four scenes and covering them all with both video and stills. We always are super thrilled to work with the team at High Wide & Handsome, because the collaborate always results in some great visuals and days full of fun.
Was surprised to have picked up FIVE Honorable Mentions in this year’s IPA’s (International Photography Awards)!! Three of them were for campaigns and two individuals. Feeling very humbled to be selected and included!! Check out all of the Amazing Imagery at www.photoawards.com
They’re Finally Running!
These are images I have been SO WANTING TO SHARE! And I FINALLY can. These three images are for a campaign we did for the Newport Beach Film Festival. The were connected by the Creative Team at The Garage. We shot all three images in one day on location in Newport Beach. We were of course granted perfect weather.. because… California. And the creative team was a blast to work with. A true collaboration! So why have I been so antsy to show these?… Because….
We shot them in February… 2020!!! These were SUPPOSED to be for the 2020 Film Fest and then we all know what happened next…. So we had to sit on these as the 2020 Festival basically got postponed a year. But it’s now 2021 and the Festival is back on! So here they finally are! Hope you have a chance to check out the Festival!
What?!
I have never picked up an APA Award and out of the blue took First Place in this years Lifestyle category. What a shocker and totally thrilling! Granted it was for this super fun campaign we did for fatherhood.gov. (#DanceLikeADad) Amazing Talent, Amazing Producer. Amazing Crew. Amazing Creative. It’s always a team effort! Thanks APA & Judges!
Today we were notified that we had been selected as one of Archive Magazine’s 200 Best Ad. Photographers Worldwide! This is some amazing company to be in and in my opinion, right up there with being in CA (Communication Arts). This is the second time in a row we’ve been selected and I am thrilled with the honor.. Gotta keep step-in’ it up!
This was a campaign we shot for Educational Insights and was Art Directed by Liesl Kadile. Along with some other images the campaign was all vibrant colors with kids taking an almost retro adult twist.
Okay.. where to begin?
THIS was a shoot! Once again we were on set shooting in tandem with a commercial production. They were shooting MULTIPLE spots and we were doing the print campaign. All in one day.. All on a tight sound stage.. All good! Right?! 😳
Snoop was in his space doin’ his thing…
Martha had some VERY kind words for us when she saw what we had shot on the monitor.
Camera time was minimal.. to be expected. But hey.. Agency and Client were thrilled with what we got considering the very ambitious shot list. All in a days work. Always amazing to work with a commercial production that plays nice, knows how to share, and realizes we are all after the same goal.
Were Bic Lighters used at the end of this production? 🤔
Always an honor to be recognized for recent work. This year we received two ICA awards!
You can see all of the other great imagery that won this year at www.colorawards.com
Check out the Behind the Scenes video on one of our recent Covid Safe Productions!
Late last year we did another multi day COVID-Safe production and are now able to share some of the imagery!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE how each production brings something new and unique. I have worked with athletes and performers before and I have done high speed sync projects before, but this project brought them together in an interesting way.
The ask was to create a variety of sequences, showing stages of actions of an individual through a particular move or motion. The sequences would later be used to indicate a patient’s particular point in time in the treatment of their condition. A cool and different approach to telling this kind of story.
While these are not the exact image sequences the client ultimately used, they give a good sense of some of the motions we were executing. The client sequences utilized 2x – 3x the number of steps / frames for each final sequence.
Once again.. Talent was fantastic and really hit it out of the park! So cool that we were able to remote cast this as well.
Literally 8 days before the first mandated COVID-19 lockdown we shot a campaign for Fiora Paper Products. It was a fun campy group of images that were paired with simple tag lines the likes of “Smart feels good!”
We shot these in a central Los Angeles studio in tandem with a commercial shoot for the products (something we do quite a bit). While the commercial production had a ton to do in a limited amount of time, we opted (in support of them) to shoot plates of the two sets and do all of our talent shots in an adjoining space to as to maximize their time with the sets & talent.
We got a TON of great images with talent and with the subsequent lockdown we had plenty of time to finesse things in post production. After elects we made and set plates were cleaned up we were ready to dig in and start compositing. We wound up with about a dozen hero’s (give or take) and were not only anxious to deliver them but also to share them out in the world!
“Put the brakes on that!!”
Remember what was happening at the beginning of the COVID lockdown? There were massive runs on all paper products… Toilet Paper, Tissue, Paper Towels.. everything! Why on EARTH would anyone want or need to spend any money on advertising these products when they can’t even keep any on the shelves?!
Flash forward 6+ months, to the end of 2020, and FINALLY the new campaign launched! We were finally able to post and share the imagery and the new Fiora website splashed on the scene. The imagery is still in use and we hope to be able to produce more quirky imagery for them in the near future!
As the pandemic geared up, folks were ending up at home with a lot of time on their hands. Those languishing home improvement projects all of a sudden became a sensible way to fill that time. So as folks started to “dig in” on their maintenance and upgrade tasks, San Diego Gas & Electric had a sudden uptick of emergency calls from people hitting gas and power lines as they starting digging before researching.
In late April of 2020 the creative team at The Shipyard reached out to us to collaborate on a Public Safety Campaign to draw attention to this issue and encourage homeowners to “Call BEFORE you dig!” SDGE‘s 811 line would assist in identifying if it was safe to dig in areas slated for activity.
The original as was for two print ads and a modest amount of motion for web and social media use.
Being the start of COVID, productions were still navigating the safest ways to execute shoots while still delivering much needed visuals, especially in the arena of PSA’s! As we laid the groundwork for remote castings, remote wardrobe fittings, remote make-up tests, and ultimately remote shoot days, the project morphed into a heavier emphasis on motion with the print portion playing a supporting role.
The creative team at The Shipyard was excited about telling the story through stop motion animation… with people!
To keep variables at a minimum we opted to use my home as the location and incorporate ALL of the other “remote” options, so on the day of the production the only bodies on set were, talent, one stylist, 2 assistants, my producer, and a sanitation officer wiping every surface that might be touched. ALL other stakeholders were streamed in via Zoom. May 2020 was early days in COVID production, but we pulled it off.. our first COVID-Safe production.
The shoot itself was a day and a half of meticulous frame by frame capture of the various scenes, and then a whirlwind half day of executing the two print ads.
When all was said and don’t eh motion portion, which was supposed to be for web use only, exceeded the clients expectations and they option to expand the license to include full broadcast rights so as to air on local TV in the San Diego market. The print ads were also licensed for additional use beyond the original scope of work.
We’re thrilled to have been at the forefront and produce this great campaign for SDGE collaborating with the fantastic Creatives at The Shipyard.
Please tell me we have seen the last of the silver fox couple in white linen walking down the beach hand and hand. The cliché idea of health and aging gracefully.
I want to take photographs of people that are at their most vital. Images that connect with the baby-boomers who come from an incredible generation of music lovers, dancers, movers and shakers.
My dear 75-year-old friend Susan hosts a zoom happy hour every week.
She is planning her first trip after COVID to Morocco.
She always takes the stairs.
She laughs with her whole body.
She had the IPhone-12 the week it was released.
She is not “old”.
Susan is a wonder woman.
When Susan sees pictures of people, supposedly her age, whether in an AARP magazine or her insurance email, it doesn’t resonate. She feels it is meant for someone else. Not her.
My hope is to work alongside creative teams to create content that honors this ever-important generation with imagery that reflects and connects.