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Category : TV/Film Photography

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 […]

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 […]

Photo-Centric TV Spots

What a cool concept. Inspired by modern social media photographers’ love of high-speed sync flash techniques, my friends at Network Affiliates made a couple ultra-hip TV spots showcasing the style. We got a big studio, filled it with a killer crew (2 assistants!) and got to work. Our Art Department really had the hard part: Making fake auto glass, tools, cut-out letters, and tools appear to be flying through the air! Some of them actually were. But the best part […]

Lifestyle for Uplight

Production stills are generally a great experience, especially when you know the crew well, and the product is just gorgeous. This month’s shoot for Uplight was no exception. The DP was Brook Aitken, directed by Waypoint films’ Jed Mortenson. Our location was this beautiful modern home in Boulder. Production stills are often more efficient than booking two separate shoots: Stills and motion, but they do take a little time although you can shoot some during filming. Questions about doing stills […]

Do You See What I See?

Why, why, WHY do we sometimes see different things on our monitors? Occasionally I hear about image brightness or color. Surprisingly though, not too often. When I edit an image, do you see it the same way I did? Depends. Computer monitors, like almost anything else in the world of tech (thermostats, tire inflators, your Subaru’s speedometer), need to be calibrated to be consistent. What does that mean? Calibration means setting up a device to a specific set of standards. […]

Is Your Photographer Insured?

You make sure the gardener, cable guy, plumber, and roofer are insured, right? Often trade licensing carries a liability insurance requirement, but photography does not. You should still require it. Liability means that if the photographer, or any other contractor working on your property, breaks something or hurts someone, they will be responsible for it, not you or your company. Altitude Arts carries $2 million in liability, plus other additional coverage. Here’s a standard “Acord” certificate. Once you confirm that […]

Gotcha Covered: How Altitude Arts Backs Up Our Work

Stop worrying. That’s my gig. Nobody thinks more about lost files more than me. And that should give you peace of mind! That and the fact that Altitude Arts’s backup system is battle-tested. Here’s why your files are safe: Every shoot, as it’s put onto my editing computer, immediately starts backing itself up both locally and in the cloud. Just copying the files onto my machine puts them in five—FIVE—places: Two cards in the camera My editing machine My local […]

Sled Dogs for Goodyear

Every so often, you end up on a really wild shoot. This one was for Goodyear Tires, and it entailed making production stills during a digital shoot for online ads and social media. A simple concept: Goodyear snow tires are like having your own team of huskies! Just combine actual sled dogs, a lovely Mercedes, and a ton of fresh powder in beautiful Winter Park, Colorado. Our day started pre-dawn, with grips and riggers affixing heavy video cameras with stabilizers […]

Von’s Vision

The great Bronco Von Miller stopped by 34 Left studios the other day, to tape a PSA about Glaucoma. Sponsored by Allergan, who make powerful Glaucoma medication, the future Hall-of-Famer hit his marks, nailed his lines, and spent the last half hour with me shooting stills. The video is about knowing the risks of Glaucoma, and seeking treatment if you think you or someone in your family may be affected. The New York production company, MultiVu, built a beautiful bright […]

Comedy Special

Last month, I was asked to shoot stills for a stand-up comedy special featuring Chad Daniels. Chad’s been all over Sirius XM Comedy lately, and his people felt the time was right to shoot another hour-long show for TV. All they needed was some stills to promote it, design into the DVD box, and pepper his social media with.  Great show. Hilarious guy. Impossibly talented huge, easygoing TV crew. And what a beautiful venue! A designer had rebuilt the Comedy […]

Case Studies: Matching Another Style

One of the interesting things about our business is that often we’re asked not to create a style from scratch, but to match new photography with an existing style. Here are a couple examples of the challenges of joining a project partway through. On the left, a style rendered impossible by a client’s change of locale. They had previously made portraits adjacent to a window. Locations like this can be problematic, as the lighting varies wildly day-to-day (and isn’t necessarily […]

Stock Shoot!

Neoscape of New York City is a very interesting client. When a developer or builder is financing a new project (like an office building or apartment tower), Neoscape helps develop visualization tools. They’ll composite a rendering of a building into its future neighborhood, and include community members, extant infrastructure, and original photography into the scene. This week, they were in Denver, shooting stock with me, a small crew, and several professional models. Technical question: Where and when to get a […]

Paralympian’s Challenge

What an amazing assignment. Arrow Electronics has teamed up with the National Sports Center for the Disabled to create the Paralympians’ Challenge. Filmed right here in Colorado! Mentor athletes with disabilities are paired with kids to overcome the fear of taking on mountain walls, rushing rivers, and steep trails. Mentor Alana shoots a Class IV rapid in Waterton Canyon. Alana had never kayaked before! The Tyrolean Traverse over Clear Creek in Jefferson County is no match for the skill and attitude of […]

Top Chef 2018 – Colorado

Season 15 of the Emmy-winning cooking competition is wrapped! And being the only still photographer for the entire 2-month production was both challenging and fun. Fancy food, amazing locations, and brutal competitions are just a few of the things you can expect to see this season. Watch our TWO Colorado chefs, Carrie Baird (Bar Dough, Denver) and Brother Luck (IV, Colorado Springs)! Read more about shooting stills (OMG! Blimps!) on a huge show here. Also, listen to Chef Tom on the WTF podcast, […]

Wish You Were Here II

The folks at Crosspoint had created another poignant ad campaign. All they needed was a crew to bring it to life! Usually, they shoot video. This time, however, they needed all stills, in layers, which would then be animated to resemble not only an ersatz dolly move, but to demonstrate the crippling absence of a loved one. Produced by the unflappable Megan Shuler and masterfully composited by Art Director Rick Koch. Chris Gerding did the lighting, and Dylan Kiszlowski art […]

How Do I Save My Pictures?

Good question. Our new system is cool and fast, but those little CDs that used to come in the mail (a week later)? Well, you probably won’t miss them. So here’s a step-by-step guide to saving and backing up your shoot. Enter your final shoot (not proofs) URL and password. Note the download button. Click “Download” then “Select All” That’s it! They’re on their way to wherever your downloads go. You can download individual files as well—Just select them one at […]

New: Instant Digital Delivery

I made it my mission this summer to get my photo files delivered in the fastest, most client-friendly way possible! I wanted the process to be interactive, and for you to get your final files fast, even when hundreds of proofs and final hi-res photos are involved. No more snail-mailing CDs! After a ton of research and beta testing, I chose my new delivery system—Photoshelter, which acts as a one-stop interface for sharing media. What this means for you: You’ll get […]

Turn to Dust

What a campaign! My clients at Network Affiliates wanted to emphasize the pain felt after the death of a loved one. We made an entire 9-vignette TV campaign (3x:30) consisting of before, after, and in-between scenarios brought to life by Crosspoint Digital’s VFX geniuses. Check ’em out:     “Turn to Dust” Personal Injury :30     “Turn to Dust” Worker’s Compensation :30     “Turn to Dust” Social Security :30 Basically, each vignette consisted of a bare-bones set, and layers were added […]

Behind The Scenes: How it works

This month, I was asked by Western Union to photograph not only a couple interview subjects, but a little bit of behind-the-scenes as they continue a video tour of the U.S.. They understood that their associates would be moved not just by the stories told, but even somewhat by the process. Above, videographers Ed Done and Lowel Pearce interview our first subject of the day. Adding making-of stills to the project, said the client, would create a “Living, MTV-style feel […]

Lindsey Vonn for the IOC

The 2015 World Downhill Championships were held in Vail this year, and what an awesome scene it was. You know how in the Olympics when the slalom racers get to the bottom of the hill and hit the brakes, showering the crowd with fresh Colorado pow? Yeah, we did that. In person it’s pretty cool.Anyway, my old buddy videographer Gene Moffett got a call from the International Olympic Committee (in Switzerland!) asking him to form a Denver-based crew for a couple days […]

Inspiration at Indy

I’m sure you can tell from my personal vehicle what a total gear-head I am. I mean, velour seats, CD player, and over 100 horsepower. So it was merely an extension of my personality when Brian Malone of Malone Media asked me to assist his camera dept. on a documentary shoot taking place at this year’s Indy 500. The story: Racing legend (ex-driver and team owner) Sam Schmidt was preparing to take the wheel of a custom Corvette C7 Stingray […]

Inside the Monastery

Well, it’s happened again. I was invited to photograph another remarkable set designed by Dylan Kiszlowski of Art/Direct/Film. No mean feat, either: Build what looks like a remote Tibetan monastery inside a sound stage. This time, the client was Stevenson Automotive, who own car dealers all over the west, and are no strangers to big-budget TV spots. The set design was diabolically simple: No walls, just long fabric teasers in bright eastern colors, lit mostly by practical candles. Oh, and […]

Location Challenges

Location photography is a great challenge. Add in humans, non-professional talent, kids, and (gasp!) animals, and you’ve got yourself one interesting day at work. Here are a couple examples of location shoots form the last few months. The first image is from an Adams County Schools campaign, the next is from a legal print ad, billboard, bus tail, etc. Both feature amateur talent, but the differences are clear: In the world of location photography the variables are so many, that […]

Katy Perry Rocks Lakewood High

Oh, come on. You were kind of excited to hear that the talented kids at Lakewood High School won themselves a Katy Perry concert, weren’t you?They, like, made this great video and, like, Katy Perry totally came through? Check out the video here.   ABC’s Good Morning America asked if I’d be able to cover it. As THE ONLY MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHER. Aside from the 3 am call time (you read that right), it was a blast. Katy came on about 5 am […]

Snow Job

Another dry winter in Colorado has come and gone. In fact, as soon as the client mentions snow, I see the clouds retreat and bluebirds start building nests. That’s how it always goes, right? Almost always. But in this case, Crosspoint was actually helped out by mother nature. Just a couple days before this shoot for Source Gas in Castle Rock, several inches actually fell. Add to that the indefatigable fake snow crew from FX West, and you’ve got a regular winter […]

Shattered

Crosspoint Productions and Art Director Dylan Kiszlowski produce TV and radio commercials and edit them in Hollywood fashion. And I’m lucky enough to be their stills guy. The spot they shot this week was both amazing and scary. Dylan built a crazy car buck on a sled, and surrounded its “driver” with airbags, fake glass (silicon!) and air cannons. And it was all shot at 1000 frames-per-second on a Phantom HD. The resulting TV spot will catch your attention. Be sure […]

Triggers

This week was cool. I was shooting stills for the History Channel’s new show, Triggers. Hosted by ex-Marine Wil Williams, Triggers explores firepower’s place in history. Everything from the Colt revolver to the Abrams tank. And on a big table right next to crafty, dozens of examples. Amazing set design by Dylan Kiszlowski.

Insert Joke Here

This week, I worked with the LA-based crew of an ABC reality show, Wife Swap, on a special: Celebrity Husband Swap. I had worked on WifeSwap, HusbandSwap, SuperNanny and others but, in this state, everybody knows this guy. Our subject was the infamous pastor Ted Haggard. Want some dirt? Nicest guy in the world. Pastor Ted and his wife Gayle patiently answered interview questions frankly, with good humor, and made plenty of jokes about themselves and their situation. The show […]

Miles Smiles

Love that Miles. Every so often, the phone rings with not only a shoot, but one where you say to yourself, “Wow! Cool!” This was one of those. For Blue Onion Advertising in Lakewood, we had the pleasure of shooting stills (and a :30 on the RED Camera) of Miles, the Broncos’ mascot. For lunch, the agency ordered in Sushi and oats.

The Starz Circus

The circus was on everyone’s mind this month as Starz rolled into LSI Studio 1 with their big top. For a new on-air promotion, they cast jugglers, unicyclists, aerialists and even fire-eaters! This is a commercial you will watch. Art directed by Dylan Kiszlowski.

Stills Project Cannes-Bound

The Here Between, a short directed by Ilian Iliev, is on its way to the Cannes 2010 Short Film Corner. Shot in the summer of 2009, the short, based on Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek, was finished the following year and submitted to numerous festivals, including Cannes. I shot the production stills for a few pleasant days in the Colorado mountains, enjoying the indie-short process helmed by Iliev, producer Julie Pearson and cinematographer Ed Done. Denver actress Jada […]

Amazing Cakes

Freelance Art Director Dylan Kiszlowski always arranges great shoots. This week, we were shooting cake product shots to be used on the set of  Last Cake Standing, a Food Network competition that shoots in Denver. They were going to be blown up to several feet high each and featured prominently! Rachael from Intricate Icings hosted us in her Erie, Colorado studio where we set up early on a weekend morning, and waited for her amazing creations to come rolling out […]

A Day in the Candy Store

Another great Food Network shoot this week. Adam Gertler, host of Kid in a Candy Store, was in Denver to shoot an episode at Hammond’s Candies. The LA-based crew, helmed by director Gordon Recht, was in typical reality TV mode: Up early, blocked and lit by 9am, and rolling by 9:30. And they had a lot to cover. I shot both “hero” promotional and behind-the-scenes stills as Adam and the candy makers at Hammond’s made a 5 lb. lollipop, starting […]