Guess what? Your portrait/headshot session is going to be both fun and quick. But since you probably have a question or two about how to look, read on: What to wear—Men Shirt: Without a tie, a button-down collar looks great. … Continue reading
Intimate Holiday Party
Office parties can be such a drag. Unless there’s a theme. Then they magically transform into cool. One I shot this winter was just such a party: Dress nice, wear a mask.
Thankfully, the little ballroom had a great view of Cherry Creek holiday lights. Shooting through a reflective window? No problem.
If you’re considering something a couple steps up from a photo booth, consider an actual event photographer!
Location Headshots: Colorado Edition
Outdoor location headshots are always an adventure! These two setups required a 6’ overhead (“butterfly”) silk (Westcott Scrim Jim Cine) and a 6’ Photek SunBuster umbrella, plus strobes. Lots to manage, but I always like how the portraits turn out.
I also like clients happily holding lightstands when two Boa Bags isn’t even close to enough. Golden and Boulder.
Livanova: Lifesaving Products
Ever hear of a Heart/Lung Machine? Consider yourself lucky. In the most complicated surgeries, the functions of the heart and lungs are handled by one machine. That’s right: Your heart can be stopped and lungs can be non-functioning. This thing keeps you alive when your options are slim.
Now, product photography isn’t exactly my main thing, but for the right client, I’m all in. Ably Assisted by assistant Andrew Cope, these sales model machines were, of course, grubby, used, and showing signs of having been shipped to trade show after international trade show. Andrew cleaned them up beautifully, helped me light them in a cramped utility room, and kept an eye on the laptop for obvious issues.
We sent the final files out to have the backgrounds removed, and proceeded to retouch the selects to make them trade shop and catalog perfect. Lots of fun. Let’s hope this is the last time you see one for awhile.
High-Tech Startup
How do you handle an employee all-hands when your company was formed in the middle of a pandemic? Videographer Todd Skogur and I were asked to cover just such a momentous occasion, as Utility Golbal got together in-person for the first time in Denver.
Working in real-time and under existing light, Todd and I were tasked with creating the new company’s first Image. These photos were a little time capsure, but were also going to be shared with investors and in publicity. That’s a lot to manage in one day!
Colleagues from all departments met, built teams, and discussed their new technology.
In addition to this global workforce, small but mights, meeting each other for the first time, they were also introduced to some physical technology for the first time.
Location Portraits: Challenging Office!
Location portraits are hard. That’s why I like doing them. All the years of experience add up to a successful day in a super-challenging, changing environment! My client Ingenovis had a cool idea: Make a mix of location business portraits for several of their team with different backgrounds, lighting, and even cropping.
Their office, thankfully, is very hip and modern, with lots of wide-open spaces. This actually makes a huge difference. Trying to do this in a cramped, fluorescent-and-brick box wouldn’t turn out so nice.
Another important consideration: A Makeup artist. We had almost an hour with each face, and the fifteen minutes before were spent wisely in a makeup chair. Highly recommended!
Robotic Surgery at Good Sam
Robotic surgery sounds otherworldly, but it’s actually becoming somewhat commonplace. Certain procedures, like prostate surgery, have seen the benefits of smaller incisions, less blood loss, and reduced healing times. To share their stories of excellent patient outcomes, Intermountain Health brought me in for a day.
To make the procedures look believable, we sterilized various clients’ limbs. Always a good time to have your leg wrapped in orange bacteria-killing plastic for an hour.
Interestingly, in some cases, the surgeon is a few feet away from the patient, operating hand controllers. Still very much “performing” the procedure, the remote controls offer a much greater degree of precision than doing so by hand.
Here’s to more successful days in the robotic suites!
The final layout for Intermountain Health’s 360 Health magazine. Available in waiting rooms everywhere!
Location Portraits 2023
One of my great pleasures in photography is making portraits on location. It combines all the technical with all the personal: Getting a little glimpse and someone’s personality, in physical context.
They take a little longer than regular headshots on seamless, but tell a completely different story. Consider them for your next branding update! See more location portraits here.
Singing the Blues with Ernie Santella
Many of you know Ernie as one of Denver’s great videographers. Well-traveled, talented and wise, and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. But he has a dark side: He’s a bluesman. Unlike me, he did something useful during the pandemic: He wrote and recorded an entire album. He had bandmate Mary Johanson (Wasted on the Young) come and give voice to his cool, witty lyrics.
And he was nice enough to have me come around a do a few photos. Give the album a spin on any streamer or here. Enjoy!
Cookin’ With Clover
Clover make those point-of-purchase terminals we’ve all used at coffee shops, but they also do much more for restaurants and other small businesses. They and their creative partners, Closed Loop, were filming another digital spot in Denver, and were nice enough to ask me to do the stills. Here’s Chef Porter cooking up a storm.
Shot by Joe Baran, the 100+ shot day featured the interior of Greenwich Restaurant on Larimer Street. In fact, they made the artisanal pizza lunches! Goodness. Get one. The lighting was by Chris Gerding and Glen Yoshida, makeup by Beth Ryan, and art direction by Savannah Johnson. For more production stills, click here.
Politics 2022
Politics is supposed to be a miserable business, right?
Well, I must have pissed off all the right people, because my political clients are wonderful. We shoot mail pieces all summer long, for every office from City Councilwoman to U.S. Senator. And guess what? We have a blast doing it. This years’ crop included:
Long days, challenging conditions, but always filled with interesting conversation between wardrobe changes. Best of luck to this lot!
See more people on location here.
Lighting on Adam by gaffer Sarah at Mayonnaise Productions, lighting on Brittany by Chris Gerding.
Altitude Arts 