iPhoneography - The Little Camera At Work & The TEDxCLE Intro

For the most part this blog has skewed towards analog photography and my love of old cameras, film and the resurgence of instant photography through The Impossible Project. But to be honest, I have a love and appreciation for all types of photography - including digital and film/video work - which is much more in line with what I do on a daily basis for work here in Cleveland.

While I have posted digital work before, and even some iPhone photographs, one of the things that I haven't shared a lot of here is video work. So, I figured perhaps one of the best ways to transition into that would be to share some recent work that we completed here in the studio I work for (Uppercut Motion and Sound) that is a combination of both video and photography.

The project, completed for TEDxCLE, was shot entirely with iPhone cameras. The final video, honoring this years theme "The Maker Class," was compiled from a series of photographs sourced through the very popular Instagram. Users around the area were asked to generate the content of the video themselves through photos of their city. We then sourced the content by following the user's hash-tag #TEDXCLEMaker. The piece was used as an announcement for the 2012 TEDxCLE speakers, an independently organized TED event here in Cleveland. The photos on this page are some of my contributions to the video as I'm a big proponent of Cleveland myself. 


Here's what it looked like:





Ironically enough, the timing of this video also just so happened to time up with the arrival of my first large format camera - a 4x5 Crown Graphic. Throughout the two weeks this project was going on I was out taking photos with both my iPhone and my Crown. The difference couldn't be any greater - from the size, to the speed of shooting, to the number of frames taken of each subject. The only constant was that the final product was a photograph... my photograph. While I was out, I noticed that I enjoyed something different about each form of photography, but, what I enjoyed the most was the realization of just how embedded photographic expression has become in my life the past couple of years.


Also - If you keep an eye out, you might find more people using Instagram integration in the future. Rufus Wainwright for one is already asking his fans to create a lyrical mosaic of his most recent single Out of the Game. You can read more about that here - but keep in mind Rufus... we beat you to it.

Impossible Project PX600 BlackFrame PP - Rick Ross and Taking Back Sunday

Sometimes my job takes me to interesting places, and other times it lets me meet interesting people. For quite some time now the studio I work for, Uppercut Motion + Sound, has been doing a series of videos with Microsoft Zune and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As different musical artists are passing through town on their tours they stop by the Rock Hall and do a quick interview and walk through which we film and edit.


Just recently I started shooting a quick polaroid of the artist/s right before the interview begins, and then right before we wrap I have them quickly sign it. This past week I snapped two such photos, above of Rick Ross and below of Taking Back Sunday. They definitely aren't the best photos I've ever taken, but I think the memorabilia factor still makes them interesting.

I don't think I'll be taking these photos with everyone that rolls through from now on, but, I do hope to get a couple more before it's all said and done.

Photograph Info:

Location: Cleveland Ohio - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Camera: Polaroid SX70 Sonar

Film: Impossible Project PX600 SS Black Frame PoorPod

It's not all fun and games

It's not all fun and games. Sometimes, you have to head out to a hospital, re-enact a surgical procedure, dramatically over light and then process the hell out of it. Oh, wait. That is fun.

Actually, this was a shoot for Marymount Hospital here in Cleveland. One of our clients. Starring one of our art directors, John Ferguson, as doctor. I'm sure they won't use quite the dramatic post production on their versions. I like it though.

Photograph Info:
Location: Marymount Hospital, Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 75-300mm (@ 75mm/F4.0/1/100 s)
PostProcess: Quick and Dirty