It’s been a very busy year so far, and I’ve been negligent in posting here. Adding a layer of quality behind-the-scenes production to a shoot is sometimes a hurdle and in many instances clients don’t want things shared outside of their channels (which I think is a mistake, social media and blog coverage is an asset to most any media project IMHO, but of course I respect their decisions).

I can’t post details yet about this project, but can share some BTS glimpses of an interesting shoot I did last week in Athens, Greece doing second unit for a film.

We spent some time in the air shooting Athens from a helicopter with a gyrostabilizer, then conducted a more narrative shoot in a busy flea market with a lead actor and fourteen extras. Crowd control was complex and handled superbly by the stellar local production company (APS). With a steadicam chasing our lead actor all over the market, it was a hihg-speed, dynamic shoot.

Some BTS video clips and photos of the helicopter and steadicam below…

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While in NY for my presentation at Shoot NYC, I also did a portrait series of the Occupy Wall St. protesters.

It turned into a more elaborate project than initially anticipated — my team and I ended up bringing a portable studio powered by Broncolor A2L packs with Lithium batteries and the MobilLED heads (a pretty sweet setup and super portable). Every image I had seen of the Wall St. protests had a snapshot or photo-journalistic feel. I wanted to bring a more distinctive look and sensibility, while still capturing the grit of camping for months in a concrete park and the intensity behind their efforts.

This series also takes advantage of the Hasselblad medium format super hi-res captures, showing a great deal of detail and crispness. There were a ton of other photographers shooting that day (and every day), virtually all with Canon or Nikon. I wanted to create something different.

Since the movement is non-hierarchical and is not represented by leaders or clearly defined personalities, any glimpse requires a broad sample. 99 people selected as arbitrarily as possible seemed like an appropriate, as well as symbolic, number to get a sense of what’s happening here.

This portrait series focuses on faces — no environment, no signs; each person with an honest look into the lens without any trappings other than what they were wearing at the time. We wanted it to be personal, these portraits are a look into the eyes.

You can see the collection at the link below. The series was shot with this type of grid-like presentation in mind, with the ability to click deeper onto any of the images.

Full Presentation:
www.99facesOfOccupyWallSt.org

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I recently did a WWII aviator concept shoot for a film in development.

The images feature actress Ina Kopp who is a prominent name in film and tv in parts of Europe, and is now making a move to the American scene. Wardrobe by Louis Verdad.

It was fun shooting at the air field with the classic planes and all the wind and smoke. We shot in an airplane hanger and out on the runway, but space was tight as both were crowded with other planes and equipment.

These are actual planes from the WWII era. The distressed one was underwater for 40 years — set designers couldn’t build that very easily.

Had to keep our footprint small, and be in and out quickly so used one power pack (Verso) with two or three heads off of it. Played with colored gels to create subtle mixed colors in the light. Wind machine, smoke machine, and two great assistants. All shot on Hasselblad 39 megapixel.

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We shot the Anthony Franco short fashion film over three days in late January and we’re deep in post production now.  Needed three days because it called for numerous location changes and a good number of wardrobe changes. We had a cast of five, a lot of logistics, and some effects to coordinate.  Looking forward to sharing more of that here when we get closer to a release date. We shot a ton of behind the scenes video as well, so will be releasing that around the same time. But in the meantime, I can share these two fashion images from the shoot (we did some quick shots of the outfits that don’t reflect the story elements).

As always, time management has been the biggest challenge, especially for personal creative projects since client gigs get scheduling priority. Everything moves at a too slow of a pace, and the film projects have even more stages and complexity to keep on track.  But I’m excited that the wide range of initiatives we have underway, including the most ambitious ones, are all making steady forward progress.

On the near term calendar I’ll be speaking at the Palm Springs Photo Festival at the end of the month on a “Convergence Consortium” panel about moving into motion work from still photography. The panel will also include Vincent Laforet and some prominent people from various areas of the industry.

Also have a couple ABC Family commercials to shoot this month, and just completed a fashion campaign shoot which I’ll be sharing here soon along with some behind the scenes material.

With many forms of print distribution steadily migrating to digital platforms, many previously still-only uses now have motion possibilities. And these motion-capable outlets have  different needs than content made for tv or theaters.

When digital out-of-home signage first appeared, there was a rush to use existing tv content on it. The backlash was immediate due to the rapid, distracting, disconcerting flash of motion that was not comprehensible in the brief moments given to such a communication platform. It was just visual noise. Nobody is going to stop and watch an unfolding narrative when on their way to through public transport centers.

And we consume magazine editorial content differently too.  In magazines, we like a curated collection of content around the title’s theme. Magazine’s are not where we go to watch a full program. And usually the visuals are complementing a written story — even on digital devices. It’s the mix that is rewarding in magazines, and they tend to be quicker reads than longer-form storytelling.

I love shooting portraits, and they are an essential staple of magazines. Portraits for me are the intimate, low key balance to the more elaborate conceptual and fashion productions I do. I feel that conceptual and fashion shoots are like sculpture, where you meticulously craft an image or scene. And portraits are more like jazz, where the photographer/director and subject spontaneously improvise and and riff off of each other.

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We’re ramping-up for the shoot with designer Anthony Franco that I posted about previously.

It’s going smoothly thanks to the team in place which includes not only Anthony, but also Francis overseeing casting, Geordy our brilliant master of all things audio, Lonny the master of digital infrastructure & workflow, JP helping with location scouting and visual effects planning (yes, a some fun effects planned), and Raymond who will be leading the editing with the two of us working closely on shaping the final form of the short film — I plan to be in the edit booth too, I love the film editing process (tinkerers like me can’t help it).

I cranked out the script with more speed than I expected, the concept came to me in three pieces over the course of a week at which point it just felt right. The team is pumped up about it, you can tell when the people around you are into a project — that makes such a difference.

This script is consistent with my style and tone in some respects, but in other ways a departure. I’m looking forward to it as a step into what I see as a new creative phase. Periodically there are clear changes in the vibe of my work, and I feel I’m at one of those points right now. I always feel when one of these transitions is coming on — it’s a mix of eagerness to move forward and break the old mold and some ambiguity in that I’m taking new risks by abandoning many of the methods and techniques that have served me well in the past. But this kind of performing without pre-established muscle memory is how we advance our work (and, in fact, ourselves).

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I met today with Anthony Franco, a top-tier celebrity stylist who up until a few years ago had his own designer label with collections at Fashion Week every season.

His collections were fantastic, but the demand for him as a celebrity and entertainment industry stylist exploded and he went in that direction — working for a roster of A-list stars that reads like a who’s who of Hollywood, and styling for studio films like “Catch Me If You Can”, “Star Trek”, “X-Men” and many more. He has also worked in the music industry as the stylist to artists ranging from Christina Aguilera to Outkast to the Pussycat Dolls to Leona Lewis and “Panic! at the Disco” — quite a range.

This year Anthony Franco is back with a new collection, and it’s extraordinary. I was at the runway show and it just floored the crowd. He called a few days later and said let’s shoot; I said absolutely. We’re planning on doing a short style-film and a small collection of dramatic images. Hoping to shoot in December, starting on pre-production today with the first priorities being concept development and location scouting.

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The Show at MOCA with August Bradley’s Photography alongside the new Louver Collection by Louis Verdad and the “fashion cinema” video installation by Robertino Fonseca was a fun evening with a lot of people and a lot of energy.  High profile guests included Marisa Tomei, Rose McGowan, Nicky Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Lisa Rinna. We also enjoyed meeting a wide variety of media and industry people.

There are discussions of this exhibit traveling to other cities after a few museums, galleries, and fashion industry producers saw the presentation DLAFW put on at MOCA.

Press Reviews & Stories:
NBC
Style.com
Maven’s of Fashion
Racked Los Angeles
SiTV

A short documentary about photographer August Bradley and his work on the Hasselblad Masters Book. Film by the acclaimed “fashion cinema” director Robertino Fonseca.

iPhone viewable version here
Subscribe to the August Bradley Channel on YouTube here

HASSELBLAD MASTERS BOOK (2008)
August Bradley’s chapter features a special collection of his work, and an article about the artist. (Published by fine art book publisher teNeues)
$95 – Purchase at Publisher’s Website or Amazon

GRAPHIS PHOTO ANNUAL (2008)
Graphis annual collection of the year’s best photography shot by the world’s most respected artists with work by August Bradley, Norman Jean Roy, Dan Winters and others.
$60 – Purchase Here

IPA LUCIE AWARDS BOOK
Features August Bradley’s top place selections in the Beauty Advertising category. Plus 12 Honorable Mentions cross the Fashion, Portrait, and Beauty categories. The book also includes Patrick Demarchelier, Erwin Olaf, Nadav Kander, Klinko & Indrani, Jim Fiscus, Lauren Greenfield, and others.
$80 – Purchase Here

CAMERAWORKS EXHIBITION BOOK
Book accompanying the Cameraworks Exhibition by the Advertising Photographers of America. Features work by August Bradley, Melvin Sokolsky, Glen Wexler, Michael Grecco, and others.
Limited Edition Run Sold Out

August Bradley has joined the board of “Cool Green Fashion for Forests“, an organization leveraging it’s relationships with the fashion and entertainment industries to help reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through direct action, community education, and social motivation. August will be producing the Cool Green Portrait Series to promote the organization and it’s mission. For more info: www.CoolGreenFashionForForests.com