Shooting The Police (with camera)

SDHS junior Adam Lacey

On Monday I had the privilege of working with the San Diego Police Department's Star/Pal Team hosting a youth basketball clinic. As Defined in their own words: "STAR/PAL (Sports Training, Academics, Recreation/Police Athletic League) is a nonprofit organization that provides over 10,000 youth services annually in inner-city neighborhoods throughout the city and county of San Diego. STAR/PAL offers free educational, athletic, and recreational programs which focus on promoting youth safety, positive life choices, and academic success. All STAR/PAL program directors are full-time law enforcement officers who coordinate unique programs and recruit additional law enforcement and community volunteers to work directly with underserved youth. By bringing youth & law enforcement officers together in this manner, STAR/PAL helps build safer communities in the long run."

This is the second sports event I have photographed for Star/Pal and it was equally rewarding. About Seventy kids from the greater San Diego area attended, They warmed up with drills and stretching, experienced six different skill building stations and competed against Volunteers in a series of scrimmage games.

 To learn more about the Star/Pal program got to www.starpal.org

Mind and Body Meets Lights and Camera

On location for Club Intrawest to capture the story of a remarkable yoga retreat designed to bring its guests into a state of balance, peace and well-being. The goals for this assignment are to convey a sense of tranquility, and enjoyment; showcase an amazing property; and allow the viewer to relate to the experience. After a pre-shoot scouting trip, the creative director and I selected three locations for our morning shoot, giving the client a wide selection of imagery that compliments the landscape and architecture as well as the yoga vacation. With careful planning and a clear objective we are able to capture these (my favorite) images and many more in two hours.

hand painted, hand photographed

One question I often ask of myself is "how can I keep the integrity of a subject in a commercial environment?" In other words, how can I maintain a product's individuality while giving it a professional feel? Shooting the hand painted pieces from Metolius Ridge Tile posed this quandary. From my home town Eugene, Oregon (by coincidence) Metolius Ridge Tile hand paints individual pieces and mosaic murals on ceramic tile. You will have to decide for yourself if the pictures do the art any justice. I'm just glad to be a part of the process. These images were taken in mixed light at a home in the Hideaway Club.

See these images and more soon at: http://www.metoliusridgetile.com 

Seeing Intensity, Seeing Red

Last week at the Festival of Life I shot Red who opened for Third Day. Red is one of the most energetic bands I have ever seen with driving rock rhythms you can feel in your chest. I had unfettered access to them during their set and I walked away supercharged.  

Clean Sweep

One thing I often hear from small business clients is, "We want people to know that we are big enough to handle their needs and small enough to offer personal attention to their needs." The challenge for me is to portray that in pictures. One day shooting for Cleanovations, a cunningly successful service business, gave me the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how BIG a small business can be. With very little prompting on my part, I was able to follow them for the day and capture them hard at work for some pretty noteworthy customers.  I have a new-found appreciation for these pristine buildings now that I know how much work goes into keeping them nice and shiny.

Having Fun -as always...
-J

The Daylight-Only Fashion Shoot

O.K. The truth is, I love lighting, I love strobes and softboxes, gridspots, gels, I love wireless technology that triggers all my lights in synchronous perfection. And most of all- I love creating environments and moods with lighting. But sometimes the conditions are just right for what you want- and to add anything would be overkill. The following couple of images were shot under completely ambient light and the last one is what I call a target of opportunity- One of those moments when you see something in a moment and grab it before it's gone.  

That's a lot of fun for me.

-J

The Whole Shooting Match

I Just Completed a week of shooting for a Colorado-based action sports company where we photographed a host of images for their 2010 product line (a bit late I know- but it's a summer sport). The shoot began with studio stills of components and accessories, moved into soft goods on models and culminated with an exciting hunt for lifestyle images on barren desert roads in Southern California. Here are some samples from the assignment.

 

The project was a tremendous success.

Check out all the results at www.streetswell.com

-J