Panamanian Independence Day Parade in Downtown LA

7 11 2009

I just looked out my window about an hour ago because I thought I heard a marching band. Sure enough, there’s a parade going on. They must not have promoted it very well in the neighborhood, because I haven’t seen any posters or ads. But that didn’t seem to stop the thousands of people who were on scene to celebrate the Panama Parade down Broadway.

Today’s event celebrates Panama’s independence, so there were a gaggle of fun-loving central Americans prancing down a closed Broadway, with music and dancing.

I grabbed my canon and my trusty 70-200 f/4 and ran down. Here are some of my favorite images from the parade :-)





Downtown Art Walk

21 10 2009

As usual, we attended this month’s downtown art walk hosted by the myriad businesses in our neighborhood. Overall the art was not impressive, but there were a few things here and there that I enjoyed. One of them was this beautiful cardboard sculpture of a twin lens reflex camera over at dublab IMG_2036

As a photographer I’m always excited to see how other artists interpret the medium, and it was neat to see sculpture of one of my favorite cameras. Imagine my surprise when I came across video of the artist actually making this giant!

Kiel Johnson’s Cardboard Twin Lens Reflex Camera Time Lapse from Theo Jemison on Vimeo.

There were a few other things that were fun. I snapped a few pics with my iPhone. The quality isn’t so hot. Next time I will have to bring a real camera. In the meantime, enjoy!
IMG_2037By joseph martinezpants partyNo Future





Los Angeles Water

23 09 2009

Everything in our loft is brand new as of the day that we moved in. Specifically the appliances and such, including the refrigerator. As many of you know, when you get a new fridge with a water purifier, you’ve got to run quite a bit of water through it before it’s really kickin’. Ours was no exception. We did the thing and poured out who knows how many gallons of water until it started tasting good. That’s about as scientific as we got. But I wanted to share this image I just made of the mineral (and who-knows-what-else) deposits that ended up in the tray beneath the spout. Pretty tasty looking stuff!

Water Tray
So that’s what unfiltered LA tapwater looks like. Scary!





The Biggest Food Fight in America

30 08 2009

I’m on the plane flying back home to LA after an absolutely awesome weekend away. It was jam packed with things going right, tons of fun, a great show and making some beautiful memorable images.

My client, Twelve Horses North America handles all of the online marketing and branding for the Cal Neva Hotel and Casino, and I am responsible for photographic coverage of one big event every month. This gives me the opportunity to fly back and forth from Los Angeles to Reno and make a little money on top of that. It’s also nice because my fee from the event coverage allows me to cover the cost of my ticket so that I can photograph projects for other clients. This trip was no exception, and I worked with St. Pierre Creative to make some new marketing images for their design firm. It was so mch fun. I love those guys, and they were an absolute pleasure to work with.

La Tomatina en Reno was an event cooked up by the marketing pros at Twelve Horses and some of the great people from the marketing department at the Cal Neva. It was inspired by the original Tomatina festival in Valencia, Spain. In the past Cal Neva has had some Bikini Jello Wrestling events that have been wildly successful, and generated some great traffic on their blog, website and flickr account. In fact, my images (along with some great keywording from 12 Horses) drew 7,000 views in the first day they were posted! And it was a SUNDAY! To date the photographs from this event have driven (insert big number) impressions for Cal Neva. Talk about some exposure!

Cal Neva didn’t really have a brand strategy before, and they have been using traditional marketing tactics up till about 2 months ago. As a result of their collaboration with Justin Sullivan Photography and Twelve Horses they are crafting a new visual brand identity as well as seeing the realization of who they are as a brand: Celebrators of the “uncelebrated”, the locals spot where the staff knows your name and what you like, and the place where everyone can feel comfortable, whether they are the beautiful people or not.

The tomato fight was ridiculous. Hands down the craziest, most bizarre and hilarious spectacle that I have seen in years (yes that includes burning man). 50,000 pounds of tomatoes were donated by Scolaris and dumped in the plaza where the Mapes Hotel used to stand. Participants paid a $10 entrance fee, 100% of which went straight to fighting cancer. An astonishing number of people came out to support this charity and throw tomatoes at each other. Once they got the go ahead, it was pure mayhem, and it didn’t stop for over an hour. It didn’t even slow down!

Cal Neva will be hosting this event again next year, and the plan is to bring in 100,000 or 200,000 pounds of tomatoes! The New York Times and the LA Times both had articles promoting La Tomatina in Reno, and USA today has a related article as well. The event was a resounding success, and hopefully further coverage will help put Reno on the map.





Baby steps

25 08 2009

I have been hustling trying to get some assisting work here in Los Angeles. I kind of made the move without having anything substantial lined up. So I’ve got to get something sorted out quick!

On a more successful note, I got an internship with the great Charles Imstepf that I’ll be working at between 2 and 5 days a week. Fortunately I’ll be getting to work on set a bit, which should turn into assisting work before too long. The studio is beautiful and enormous. Everyone seems really nice so far, and there is always gourmet food to eat on shoot days. I may not be able to afford to buy my own food right now, but at least I can eat when I go work for free hahaha.

We are still getting settled into our loft and have a lot of unpacking to do. We are going to be getting rid of a lot of stuff very shortly, because storage is quite limited. But it’s absolutely lovely, and I keep tripping out that I live here. We have a great view of the skyline and I can see the corners of 7th and broadway and 7th and main from my windows. Being up high is really nice.

I’ve got to find 775 dollars by the first of the month.





So long Reno. What’s up LA?

20 08 2009

cowboy
No more living in the desert for this photographer. I’m a proud new resident of downtown LA. The new place is in the Arts District in the historic core, exactly where I wanted. This is really the place to be in Los Angeles right now. Super up and coming, tons of new things to do every day.
LAfool-123
I’m sitting on the patio of LA Cafe less than a block from my loft. Bagel in one hand, sugar free Red Bull in the other. So happy to be here.

It’s gonna be a hustle.

If you know anyone who needs photography, I’m your man.

Also, I will be flying to Reno once a month to photograph for all of my clients in the Northern Nevada area. So don’t despair, I can still shoot for you if you’ve got a project.





13 07 2009

Shot some new portfolio images for model Kari Knight the other day.
Kari Knight





Natural Light

11 07 2009

I’ve been shooting a lot of natural light portraits lately. Check them out over at my flickr
Lauren
I’d love to hear what you think.





Hallmark Institute of Photography

15 06 2009

colr checker

I’m a Hallmark institute of Photography Graduate. I finished top of my class. I got rave reviews when my portfolio was judged. This post is something I’ve been thinking very carefully about, at great length. So here is my tell-all about my alma mater. I will add to it as I see fit, and update as things come to my memory. Portions of this post are also available on the Hallmark Yelp Page

Only the most basic level of photographic instruction is provided at Hallmark, despite claims to being a top notch school. In reality, it’s like photography high school. Everyone from 18-65 is treated as if they are a secondary student instead of an artist spending a ton of money to be there.

Hallmark’s marketing materials are designed to make you think you’ll be ready to work in the industry after you graduate. The reality is, the portrait program is comparable to working at JC Penny for 10 months, and the commercial program is an absolute joke. Everyone learns the exact same outdated, incredibly basic lighting patterns. There is no creativity program, and everyone just rips each other off. The prop room has the same garbage in it that’s been there for years, and the school is too cheap to buy new ones. Which is funny because tuition is over $45k.

The only benefit to attending hallmark is that once you’ve realized you’re getting screwed it’s almost over.

Hallmark’s scare tactics for any naysayers are becoming widely known. A fellow alum received hate mail from staff and instructors after she posted a self portrait of herself on flickr stating that she went to Hallmark and couldn’t find a job. Many people from my graduating class were unable to find work in the photography field and have had to resort to other careers. Hallmark has NO placement program, does not even attempt to help you find work, and cuts you loose upon graduation. Oh and by the way, they spend at least 40-50k on the graduation ceremony, and thousands on open houses (they make students sell the school to potential victims) to make it seem like things are really great.

My numerous meetings with the director of education and the president of the school to address my concerns were fruitless. Their responses were either dismissive or told me to “wait for the next phase” because things would “get better”. They never did.

Hallmark teaches to the LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR. This means if you have any background in photography at all, you will be wallowing in ineptitude for almost half of the program. The least experienced person in the school sets the pace of what is covered. So if you’d like to do some advanced lighting, post-production or anything else photo-related, you’re held back and it never comes. Again, this is the most rudimentary photographic education you can buy.

I took out $70,000 in student loans to pay for school and living expenses. I can’t imagine what it’s costing this fall’s incoming crop of students to hang out in the hell holes of greenfield and turners falls. Both towns are full of white trash or the wealthy. Not much in the way of dining or entertainment. But not to worry, you’re so busy trying to find models (nearly impossible) to photograph that you might not mind. The school doesn’t provide any models or resources to find them.

One of the most revered advertising photographers in the world, David Langley, was an instructor during my stay at Hallmark. They were so cheap that when he asked for a raise the second year, they chose to let him go. Hallmark has everyone else so scared to step out of line, they keep their mouths shut.

I really wish I had a better experience here. But I’m really afraid more people are going to keep padding their pockets without a fair warning. I’ll probably get blowback for even opening my mouth about what goes on here, but there’s plenty more. I can’t in good conscience go another day without saying something.

Bottom line: If you want to spend a lot of money to get a “Certificate” that says you’re a photographer, but don’t really care about being a great one, this might be the school for you. Just be prepared for a mediocre education, lots of unnecessary stress, and to be left high and dry as soon as you’re finished. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.





26 05 2009

My new book, Silence. came out recently. If you’d like to purchase a copy, click below!

Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.