Easter Testimonial Video for Lifesong - Stockton, CA

Incredibly proud to have been able to shoot video on this testimonial for Lifesong in Stockton.  Incredible story.  Found out today that she is cancer free too and the doctors can't explain it...but we can.  Thank you Jesus.  Please share this with anyone you think it may impact.

Reno, NV Sign Time Lapse Photography - The Biggest Little City in the World

Last week I spent a few days in Reno on a shoot and had some time to make a couple of time lapse's.  Here's one showing shadows creep across the sign while climbers go up and down the tallest rock wall in the world.  The latter just being a bonus.  Thanks for looking.

Stockton, CA's Bankruptcy Explanation Videos

I can't take credit for all the video work, some of it is stock footage and some of it was just shot by someone else.  But I can take credit for all the interview footage and a good amount of the monopoly shots.  Its my first real video work and I think its a decent jump into the game.  All the editing was done by my good friends at 3AM Communications.  I've had the great pleasure of working with them on several projects, they produce beautiful work.  So without further ado, my first video work:

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



It may seem lengthy but I think the total video time on all 4 is about 20 minutes.  Not only that, its informative and honestly the footage is historic.  Stockton, CA is the largest city in history to file for bankruptcy and it was an honor to be asked to work on it.  Enjoy.

Be Present - Jeremy Cowart

Here's a beautiful video by Jeremy Cowart the he made for the Catalyst Conference.  He does an amazing job of incorporating his photography into his artwork.  Its cool to see this piece come together.


"Be Present" - Created for the Catalyst Conference 2011 from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.

Eadweard Muybridge

Happy 182nd birthday Eadweard Muybridge, thanks for your contribution!

The Reason We Celebrate Easter

Say what you will about this film, but it had several things that make it incredible.  1st it is shot beautifully, 2nd the acting is incredible and 3rd its an excellent portrayal of what really happened.  As brutal as it may appear, its real.  Its the reason for our celebration today, the sacrifice Jesus made.  Lets not forget.

The Passion of the Christ:

Images Made With A Truck

This is beautifully shot and beautifully told.

   

Church Creative Team

I was asked to join the creative team at church this week and I had my first meeting tonight.  Looks like I'm going to be shooting a whole lot of video now...super excited about that actually.  Its something I've been wanting to do for a while.  The really cool thing is, in a sense, its no pressure.  I'm not going to epically fail a client if something goes wrong, there's no money involved, just free creativity.  That gets me really excited.  And being part of a team all of the creative ideas don't fully rest on me so that's nice too.

I'm  going to be sharing those videos as they are made from now on, but tonight I wanted to share a video that really inspired me.  It was done for a sermon that my brother in law, Brandon Miraflor, was preaching at a youth conference.  Brandon and a creative by the name of Josh Rivas developed, wrote, shot and edited this piece and I think its amazing.

iPhone Photography

I've been on a pretty serious online video hunt. Not necessarily looking for inspiration but just seeing what other people out there are doing and this is a pretty cool one. Richard Koci Hernandez uses instagram from the street, while shooting with his iPhone, layers app upon app to get different results out of the images and then seamlessly integrates those instagram photos with Blurb books to print his work. I particularly like what he calls himself, a "multimedia journalist", using whatever tools are at his disposal to tell the story.  I would consider myself the same. He does very good work and as always its interesting to see the artist at work.  Enjoy.
 
Street photography and Instagram photobooks by @koci from Blurb Books on Vimeo.

Mary Ellen Mark

This video really hit home with me.  So often I compare myself to other photographers and how beautiful and clean their imagery is.  But that's not necessarily who I am.  I'm not a glossy photographer.  I like things gritty and real.  She says something towards the end of the video that made me feel good about what I do. Mary Ellen Mark says that magazines may be looking for someone really commercial, even if that's not who you are, if you feel like you must photograph...then you must.  No matter what kind of photographer you are.  If its in you, you must do it.  That's at the core of why I do this, because its in me.

The Shot - VH1

Several years ago there was a show that aired on VH1 here in the U.S. called The Shot.  It's from the same producers as America's Next Top Model.  The gist of the show was the same as most reality shows.  Stick a group of people in a house and let them compete against each other till one is left standing.  Unfortunately the show only made it one season.  I found the changing competition and forcing people to shoot different things every couple of days was very cool.  And I'm sure they all grew from the experience.  Anyways, I was able to find one episode online and I thought I would share it.


Watch The Shot S01 E01 in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Hope you enjoy.  Maybe if we petition VH1 they would bring the show back! (Not likely)

Ira Glass - Phases of Disappointment

Here's Ira Glass speaking on the phase of disappointment.  Its good to hear that someone who became successful as Ira did, went through a lot of the same struggles that I go through.  The thing that stuck out to me, and it's in line with The War of Art, was that he says, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Even when your work falls short of where you want it to be, you have to continue working and do a large volume of work."  It's the process of working and working in bunches that gets your work to that professional level. I hope you can gain something from this conversation as I did.


Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Have you ever heard the song Sunday Morning Coming Down, written by Kris Kristofferson and performed by Johnny Cash.



One of my favorite songs of all time and a perfect title to the new section of the blog.  I want to get back to the real reason I started shooting, the glorification of God.  That's the reason I went to college, to gain the technical knowledge I needed to see my visions through.  God blesses us all with a talent, or two, or even three, but if you don't nurture them...you squander them.  I don't want to squander them.  So, to make sure I don't do that I have to shoot continually and shoot what God really wants me to shoot, His work.  That may seem crazy to some who aren't believers, and thats OK, we all answer to someone or something.  And I'm not mad at you if you think I'm crazy, I'll keep moving forward and we'll still be friends.

So here's my first leap back into photographing church.  I used to feel really comfortable getting right in peoples faces, right in the mix and snapping off a frame or two.  Not that comfortable anymore.  That's exactly what I needed to feel right now.  That's the push I need to pursue and get better at shooting.

I really focused on the strong silhouettes and shadows from the lighting.  I was hoping for more hands raised and more encroachment on the light.  But you work with what you're given.

Really liked the light shining, seemingly on this one individual.

I was drawn to this shadow (of the guy in the above photograph).  This sparked me to start looking for the things that could represent worship without being so obvious.  That's something I'm going to work on; looking for the things that aren't so obvious.

Being prophecied over.

I like the graphic element of this image.  It almost forms a W.

This young man came to the front for prayer.

You'll notice there aren't a lot of photographs of faces.  That's my current deficiency.  There was a time when I would have been about a foot from peoples faces.  You really gain a greater feeling for the moment that way.  I have the permission of my pastor to photograph freely at church and I'll take advantage of that.  Robert Capa once said, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough."  I'll get back there, I'll gain that comfort level again.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Sunday Morning Coming Down.  BTW, this is post 100!

American Master's - Avedon

Thought I would share this tonight.  PBS does these great 1 and a half hour documentaries on American Masters.  They've done them on Charles and Ray Eames (mid century architects and designers), Annie Leibovitz, Jasper Johns and countless other great artists.  If you have the time to watch this do it, its incredibly insightful into the way a true master works.  Hope you enjoy.

Flash Outdoors

A video answering the question, "Why to use flash outdoors and how?"

Scottsdale Day 3 - Sunset Time Lapse

A little AZ desert time lapse.  Enjoy!

Tangible Photographs

Did you know that 65% of digital images will never see printer paper.  My thoughts on printing photographs and the consequences of us not doing so.

Full On Play Day

I had nothing booked and nothing scheduled for today.  And sometimes thats the best thing that can happen to me.  It allows me to shutdown, check out, re-focus, re-connect, enjoy my family, etc...  It's easy to miss the fact that my kids are growing up and I work so much that at times I miss a lot.

Today was an exception, I got to play with my son for a while.  Just me and him.  I loved it.

So please forgive the fact that this isn't necessarily a photographic post and enjoy the slide.

Photographic Style - Developing It

A short thought on where photographic style comes from.

12/12/2011 - Telling A Story With Photographs

Brandon sent in a question about story telling, here's a little video post to answer his question.



Thanks for looking and send me your questions.  I want to answer them!