TRANSITION…

Things have been pretty busy recently, which is great. I know when my office is messy, clean laundry sits on my bed for days on end, and I’m generally out of the many different staples in my pantry that life is probably on a bit of an upswing. I had 2 shoots last week that took up a lot of my time. And I’ve been trying to knock out a new portfolio to bring with me when I head out of town for about 2 weeks — leaving on the redeye tomorrow night. In fact, if Samy’s were open right now, I’d probably be absorbed in printing and cutting down new images for my book, but I’ve got another 45 minutes or so to go.

On Wednesday I shot an up-and-coming pop/club/dance/ singer on Interscope records — Lady Gaga. It was for a small, no budget magazine, but I own the rights to the images, so I figured it was worth the gamble for syndication purposes. I had a great team of hair, makeup, and a great assistant and we powered through four setups in about 90 mins including some makeup and wardrobe changes. I’m pretty stoked on the images and will probably use a couple in my portfolio once they are touched up and printed. Saturday was a shoot for a small catalog that I’ve been shooting for just under a year and this seemed to be our best shoot yet, so that was nice too.

As for my upcoming trip, I’m pretty stoked on it. A friend of mine has commissioned me to go to his lifelong childhood home and photograph the house before it is sold. He’s a painter and a bit of a sentimentalist and he asked me to shoot it for him and his family. It’s a great chance to get out of LA for a bit to do some shooting and to have it paid for, which is even better. So, we leave tomorrow and head to Carlinville, Illinois for a couple days. Serendipitously, my mom just moved to another part of Illinois about five months ago, so I’ll spend a week with her, and then head to Chicago for the 4th to see friends and hopefully put together some meetings with ad agencies in Chi-town before I come back to LA.

Before I get out of here to go pick up more ink and paper and immerse myself in photoshop for the rest of the day I wanted to address something mentioned on Shawn Records Blog a little bit ago. In this post he says

“• band photography: is there a way to photograph a group of painfully self-aware 20 somethings in their hipster finest and not have it reek? Please, let’s talk about band photography- show/share. My favorite band photo of all time is the inside jungle hippie photo from an old Three Dog Night album, but I can’t find it online. I just remember it had a pregnant woman and a watermelon in it and, in a sense, is somewhat reminiscent of Justine Kurland’s contemporary work.”

I commented on his blog and figured I’d address it on my own. I’ve spent a good amount of time working with one particular band here in Los Angeles including going out on a couple tours with them for weeks on end. I think in the reportage sense of photography there’s a lot of great work out there. Look at Jim Marshall for a real historical viewpoint. And, more recently, Christopher Wray-McCann has also created some great images. I’ll even post a few of my own shots from being on the road with some “painfully self-aware 20 somethings in their hipster finest,” and contend that it doesn’t reek. Yes, I know, I’m putting my own work out there and saying it doesn’t suck, but hey, if I thought it sucked, I wouldn’t show it off anyways…

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Several weeks ago I asked Heidi Volpe, Art Director of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, if I could interview her for this blog. I sent her the questions and she went over them and then we made plans to get together in person. Last Thursday we got together (yes, Rob Haggart beat me to it) and went over the interview and I also got a chance to share new work with her. That Thursday things were pretty uncertain as to the future of the magazine, but we really didn’t know exactly what was coming. On Tuesday of this week it was made public in the New York Times:

“The Los Angeles Times has made plans to transfer control of its monthly magazine from its newsroom to its business operations and to replace the magazine’s entire editorial staff, according to two executives at the newspaper.”

Most of the interview took place before I knew about any of this, but Heidi took the time to go back over and elaborate on some of the questions after everything came to light.

Thanks Heidi.

Here it is…

Heidi Volpe is the Art Director at the Los Angeles Times Magazine and was the former Traveler Art Director at Outside Magazine. She has managed to turn the Los Angeles Times Magazine into a beautiful photo driven publication and was the first person in Los Angeles to hire me with some sort of frequency. She’s also a kick ass mountain biker and a way cool woman to boot…

When we first met it was actually on the set of another photographer, great guy that he is, who had called me down to the studio to meet you. He told me not to even bring my portfolio, but instead to bring a personal project I’d been working on called Honk and also to bring some promos to leave with you. I think you and I spoke for about 5 minutes, as you were in the middle of shooting a cover. A week or two later I got a call from your office to shoot a story and I was pretty shocked considering you hadn’t actually seen my book. Do you find that personal work or a personal project may indicate something about a photographer that you might not have otherwise seen?

Oh yes, we were on set with Art Streiber shooting our power issue, that was an intense day with no extra time. You see, I totally trust Art’s judgment. He has great respect for his crew he surrounds himself with quality people. I would do anything Art asked, if he asked me to jump off a bridge I’d at least consider it. Yes I think personal projects indicate somethings indeed. It shows initiative, drive. You are essentially showing me your craft your voice and how you visually story tell, not what someone asked you to do. It’s a good window into your eye. PLUS A big part of personal projects is having the ability to make something happen. Ideas are easy, making it happen is a whole new skill set, that and the follow through are huge indicators to me that someone has a vision and is commited.

How do you like to find new photographers? (promos? e-promos? recommendations by colleagues? contests? websites?)
All of the above are great resources. My favorite is when a photographer or a fellow art director or photo editor recommends an assistant as an emerging image maker………..

Any preferences or pet peeves when it comes to websites?

I hate fishing around how to navigate the site. Make it easy and clear. Sometimes I think sites can be over designed, take to long to load. There is nothing worse than the dead space between the site loading and your editor standing there after you had to this great build up and sales pitch to why this photographer is perfect for the job. I never try to talk after the close so that dead space seems endless.

With the emerging photographers group, do you prefer to meet with them before you would give them an assignment, or is that not really necessary?

Meeting them is good. Esp if it’s a portrait I like to see their social skills.

One of the things that is exciting for us here in Los Angeles is that, for the most part, you have drawn on a talent pool of LA / Socal based shooters. Is this done with deliberation or is it also based on budget constraints?

Deliberation. I want to support the community out here and debunk the gripe about all the good photographers being in NYC.

Speaking of budgets, originally the magazine was a weekly and then it switched to a monthly. Has that affected the choices you make when hiring photographers?

Yes, I have a little more time to think through assignments. Weeklies are high speed, always on to the next one. It was a love hate, b/c you had to be decisive, monthlies you can second guess yourself for while which can be slightly maddening as well.

Are you less likely to take a chance on a newer shooter simply because there are 1/4 of the amount opportunities that there were when you originally came to magazine?

Shooter. I hate that word, it’s sounds like you are gamesmen. You should say photographer. I still would take chances maybe not on bigger projects thou. I would start off with FOB then move them to features.

Are there major differences with what photographers can do in the post production arena when they are working for The Los Angeles Times Magazine (part of the Los Angeles Times Newspaper) as opposed to a magazine like Outside? Have you had any issues (problems) with photographers who might want to push those boundaries?

Yes. The line is very bright here. NO POST PRODUCTION. Period. End of story but since it’s the end of the magazine, and it’s going to the business side, I would think they would allow it because we don’t share the same ethics or integrity.

Your former colleague at Outside, Rob Haggart (aphotoeditor.com), writes a lot on his blog about where he thinks the magazine and photo industry might be heading. Any thoughts on the future of the biz?

Do you have all afternoon? That’s a huge question to answer… Well I think what has happened here at the Times is a sign of the future. Profit is paramount and journalistic integrity is being shoved aside. Another surprise has been fuel costs. They are driving paper costs through the roof. It’s not only the distribution, it’s the fuel costs to run the manufacturing equipment. That cost is not being passed along to consumer, it’s absorbed by the company. Cuts ensue, unrealistic demands are made, it’s a vicious cycle.

Any books, movies, music, blogs, websites, environmental suggestions, or anything else you want to recommend to the readers?

When you are on a shoot, mark your water bottle, we are choking on plastic bottles. Use ftps, Usendit instead of messengers + fed ex if you can. Ride your bike more, drive less.

Websites:

RIDING

My incredibly talented riding partner
http://enjoying-the-ride.blogspot.com/

Scott Tedro the force behind Team Sho-Air
http://team-shoair.com/

PHOTO

Mediastorm.org
http://www.commarts.com/
http://www.spd.org/
http://www.metergallery.com
http://bondstreetgallery.com/

DESIGN

http://www.urbanforestproject.org/banners/6
http://www.coolhunting.com/

Ride safely!

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It’s been pretty busy lately. I spent all of last week and some of the week before preparing images for re-working my portfolios for a couple of meetings I had. One of the things I do is to print everything 4×6 or 3×4 to scale (correct crop and all) and then I put those images on magnets and use magnet boards to work on layout. This might sound like a lot of work, and some of you might ask, why not do it on a computer screen, but since the images in a book are tangible prints, I find the most accurate way to see how the book is going to feel is to make smaller prints. I pick them up, move them around, and it feels very natural. Trying to get a feel for a 50 page portfolio on a computer screen doesn’t really simulate the book feel, in my opinion. I finished preparing almost everything and actually swapped out about 15 prints in my portfolio in time for my Thursday meeting. Also had a shoot scheduled for Monday, cancelled, rescheduled Tuesday, cancelled, and now rescheduled again—so we’ll see about that one.

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Been pretty busy (stoked on that) working on estimates, scanning, prepping images for upcoming meetings, and getting a couple of interviews ready for this blog. So, I’ll keep this one short.

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve been scouring through all of my film and shoots over the years (trying to see what images I might have missed–that might actually be worth re-visiting) is that I have a lot of photo albums. Well, it seems like a lot to me–I’m not really sure if it’s a lot or not. Looking through the bookshelf in my closet I counted 17 albums (of 200 or 300 pages each) for the last 12 years. And I try to keep them in chronological order—like an edited down timeline of my life. Most of the snapshots could probably be broken down into a few categories—shots from traveling (either work or personal travel), shooting my girlfriend, hanging with friends or my little sisters, or shots from going out and partying. It’s pretty much been that way since I was in my last year of high school when I first started taking photos with an Olympus Stylus Epic (with the fixed lens)—I’m now on my 4th Olympus—after a few thefts and occasionally leaving the camera behind somewhere. Though at this point, I think most people would probably leave it be even if it was laying out on the street—it’s a pretty basic film camera.

I still don’t have a digital point-and-shoot. I did start looking at them, but I haven’t found one that I like just yet. It’s gotta have RAW, be good at iso 400 (minimum), be fairly compact, and I like an eyepiece too. So I am open to the digital point-and-shoot thing, at least for shooting certain types of things, but I think I’ll always keep my Olympus for the photo albums—I’m pretty sure of that.

Here are a few snapshots from the archives that caught my eye today. (I am aware that some are scratched, etc.)

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In the “Why did I start this blog” post last week I talked about how I had felt stagnant and didn’t know what I wanted to shoot at one point not too too long ago. Today, I’d like to offer some ideas about how to get out of that rut. It’s kinda like the Waiting place, in Dr. Seuss’ book Oh, the Places You’ll Go! You might be there momentarily, but you’ll move past it. And if you need some inspiration…

• Take a trip—- Any trip will probably do, but for me, changing my surroundings to something a bit foreign has always, and continually does, make me want to take photos. They may or may not be for the portfolio, that’s irrelevant. What is important, is to feel a bit of inspiration when behind the lens.

• Carry a camera in your car (if you live in NYC, your bag will do)—- You don’t need a big medium format monster or some slr–a fine point and shoot, holga/diana/lomo, Fuji GX645, or anything else small and lightweight will suffice. Then when you’re going around and you see that really amazing shot and think, “if I only had my camera,” you’ll have a camera and the rest is up to you.
• Start a personal project—- I chose old American cars from the late 60’s to early 80’s to get me started. I still shoot em, cause they just look so cool.
• Go to an Art Museum—- Be it photos or paintings or sculpture, find something that moves you.
• Read books.
• Visit family—- Often leads into some of the most interesting and amazing and intimate photos.

• Get a hobby—- Having a life outside of photography is a great thing.

In my experience of it, I’ve produced my most interesting work when I’ve felt inspired—which brings me back to why I got into photography in the first place. It’s win-win.

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Since the surf is super flat this morning, I figured I’d take the time to write, rather than just post some pics with a little bit of explanation…

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One of the first real jobs I got after my initial New York trip was from Popular Mechanics. The assignment: we want you to go to Salem, Oregon to shoot an RV convention. Though I was shooting the story that particular summer, it wasn’t slated to run until the following summer. The convention meets once a year and in order to have the story for next year, they needed to have it shot the year before. I was told by the photo editor that it was like a “Pimp My Ride” for RV’s; and that is what she was told by her editor.

I was to meet up with the writer when I got there and go around and scout out things on the first day and shoot the next two days and fly back the next morning. I took an afternoon flight and got to location late afternoon and met up with the writer, a young enough guy, but it was clear to me that he definitely had done this kind of thing before. We walked around the convention and talked with everyone we could and explored numerous RV’s. The thing was, there wasn’t really any particular story yet, so I had absolutely no clue what I was going to shoot. Mark, the writer, and I talked about what would make for interesting photos and interesting writing as well. The one thing I can tell you is that this certainly was not “Pimp My Ride” for RV’s. Photographically speaking, the RV’s weren’t all that interesting and Mark felt the same. However, after talking with Mark I came to understand a couple things:

1. There a bunch of cool buses here, that people have converted into “RV’s”.
2. Popular Mechanics readers are very into the D-I-Y thing, and if we found several folks who had converted the buses on their own that would make for a more interesting story.

Now, we had found several folks who had converted or built their own buses. Not only did those buses make for much more interesting photo opportunities, but those people also made for a lot more interesting portraits from my point of view.

That night I emailed the Photo Editor explaining that this convention was not as much “Pimp My Ride” as it was a hot rod show with a lot of DIY folk. And also, that the tricked out details of the RV’s were pretty much limited to flatscreen tv’s, but the buses, they offered some great and idiosyncratic details. Well, she called her Editor, and that Editor called Mark, and at breakfast, Mark told me we were on to shoot the bus drivers. Mark and I went through our notes, narrowed it down to our four favorite folks and I shot for those next 2 days.

A couple things I’d like to note in case any of you ever find yourself in a situation where the story is not locked down and the original idea you thought you were supposed to shoot isn’t happening…

1. You may feel pretty nervous when, at the end of the first day, you are really not sure what the hell the you’re supposed to shoot, but you know you’ve got to shoot something cause all of the money you’ve estimated is pretty much already spent. Well, however you feel, when you communicate with your Photo Editor, keep everything positive and offer what / where you think the story might wind up going. The last thing you want to do is freak out the person who just hired you for the first time and is trusting you to pull through or it’s their ass. Also, if things have changed from the original idea, if you let your photo editor know, they can let their editor know, then everyone is on the same page.
   
2. Be actively involved with the writer. If the story hasn’t been written it is actually up to both of you to work together to come up with something interesting, from both a photographic and a written standpoint.
3. Shoot a lot. I mean a lot. These are open ended stories and the photo editor is trying to create a visual story from your photos. You’ll want to get interesting portraits, all of the details, and have a good opener too. With stories like this the magazine really has no clue how it will wind up laying out best, so the more you can provide the better you’ll look.

Turns out the story didn’t run when I thought it would. Something else I learned—it doesn’t mean they don’t like the story, just cause it didn’t run. These are major magazines, with major advertising interests, and they’ve got competition from other magazines as well. There are so many reasons why a story may not run (advertisers’ interest, current events, someone else just ran a similar story, etc.) and you’re best bet is to just to keep in touch with the photo editor. Often, it’s said that no news is good news, so if your photo editor tells you that he or she likes the story, that’s more than enough to know you did a great job. And, maybe, they’ll run story down the line, after you’ve finally stopped even thinking about if and when it’ll ever run–like they did with this story.

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Making the trip to New York (for all of us non New York based photographers) is kinda one of those rite of passage type situations. I have done a few trips to show my work and have wound up getting jobs every time I have made the trip. That’s not to say that it is easy—far from it, but in my experience, the best way to get a job from one of those big New York magazines, is to go there and to meet with a photo editor.

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