Camaro: Fail

A shoot I'm not particularly (at all) proud of. Up and downs are part of the creative condition. This shoot didn't quite come out how I would have liked, but I'll get it next time for sure.

Yup.

In other news, I am now 22 years old and my birthday was epic. That's another post for another time though.

Sea Level Sucks

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a Flagstaff startup company called Sea Level Sucks. They're launching a clothing line dedicated to living life at 7,000 feet and higher-than-sea-level in general.

The owners, Martina and Dan, are two super awesome people. They've decided to keep all their business local in Flagstaff, and they found me via the Google. Yeah. The Google. Cuz I can.

Sunday was our photoshoot day, and everything went as smooth as you could ask for. My crew showed up on time and worked hard all day. The client showed up on time and ALSO worked hard all day. The images came out, none of them got lost or deleted, and the client is happy as can be. This being my first moderately large commercial shoot - I'm both surprised and supremely pleased that it all came together without any difficulties.

Step 1 was working logistics. Taylor Mahoney was my first assistant and did a fabulous job wrangling gear, client, shirts, and my other two assistants all day. 

Taylor's self portrait

Breakfast and lunch were catered by Steel City Deli and Grill. Can't beat that. The client pre-ironed all the shirts, so all we had to do was toss them on the model, frame it up, wrangle the creases and shoot.

Step 2 was setup. Preston Traucht of Highline Photography helped out Taylor and Jon while I set up the tethering system and schmoozed the client, who showed up just a little early.

Preston helping me get the light right

Jon Matthies of Jon Matthies Photography making sure we color correct correctly.

Step 3: SHOOT!

We did the front and back of each shirt on a model, then the front and back of each shirt in detail for the website. Also: hats.

Crew

Crew and Client

Sea Level Sucks will start taking orders online soon - but if you can't wait, go to their site now and give them your email address so that when they do launch, you get a coupon for discounted product!

Yours truly...

Standing Desk v3.0

For those of you know know me, you understand I have a rough time doing *anything* the conventional way. I like to try new things and play with ideas I find interesting.

About a year ago, after reading an article in LifeHacker, I switched to a standing desk in my home office. I got sick of tripping over my chair and sitting on my butt all the time. A standing desk seemed like a perfect solution.

V1.0 was just my regular desk with a bookshelf placed on top. I swapped the bookshelf out for a metal shelving unit after a while for added stability.

V2.0 was slightly more artsy. I created it out of snap-together metal cube things... This desk was less stable than it's predecessor, but allowed for more awesome configuration of materials

V3.0 is the current version and it took me most of yesterday to put it together. I've scrapped the sketchy-unstable setup in favor of building the silly thing directly into the wall. I purchased a rather large piece of wood, sanded and stained it in two pieces for installation into the wall with shelving bracket materials from Home Depot.  This version is MUCH more stable than the previous setups, and provides me with WAY more desk real estate.

Desk1 : home

Desk2 : Office

I was also able to keep the metal-cube-things for hard drive storage and cooling solutions along with all the extra crap that exists in my office/bedroom.

Overall, I highly recommend standing desk setups, especially since it gives you an excuse to be on your feet AND use your brain to design/build it.

If you're looking for ideas/inspiration/reasons to give it a try, check out the following links.
The inspiration for my desk: http://lifehacker.com/5874352/build-your-own-standing-desk-for-40
The How/Why of it all: http://smarterware.org/7102/how-and-why-i-switched-to-a-standing-desk
Another one, just cuz we can: http://lifehacker.com/5190734/save-your-back-and-some-cash-with-a-diy-standing-desk

One important thing I've noticed in working at a standing desk both at work and at home: Get some kind of pad for your feet. Gotta have it. It keeps you moving around provides a more flexible support than standing on the ground.

Coming soon: my experience with Sea Level Sucks

Off-roading: Xterra

My favorite kind of automotive photography is the kind where you get dirty. Your camera is covered in mud/dust and you're hiking through mud and sand and up and down hills that the trucks can barely climb.

That's how I spent Saturday afternoon. After shooting Preston's FJ on Friday out in the same area, I knew the consistency of the mud would be pretty close to perfect. Vince agreed to bring out his vehicle to get it dirty and get a few pictures done.

This is how the Xterra started off:

It was originally blue...

 

  

Preston, shooting me shooting the underside of the Xterra

   

My favorite frame of the day

3-wheelin' it!

Digging holes in the sand.

Overall a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. I look forward to hitting the trails with Vince and Preston sometime soon... hopefully round two will involve some time crawling in Sedona.