Results tagged “Magazine” from Andrew Kornylak Photography Blog
I first met David McLain a few years ago at an agency meeting in the Maine woods. He showed us a video called Santiago, and some of the multimedia projects he was working on for outdoor clothing maker Horny Toad. I was impressed by the mix of his editorial eye and commercial polish, and his innovative use of stop-motion and still photography. We had a conversation afterwards about the impending convergence of still and video technology and he said something about a "still/motion camera" that led me to use the term "stillmotion" for my work.
To prep for my workshop a couple weeks ago on stillmotion and breaking into new media at the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, and following on the interview with photojournalist and multimedia pioneer Ed Kashi, I spoke with McLain on his career with National Geographic and his multimedia production company, Merge. It's a look at how an established photographer is wasting no time taking risks and breaking new ground to keep things fresh. Listen up!
AK: How did you get started working for National Geographic?
It had been a dream of mine since high school. I took the slow approach. I'm a big believer that you gotta walk before you fly. Basically I shot non-stop at newspapers and smaller magazines for about a decade. Jose Azel helped me get a tray of slides (yes, i'm that old) together to bring down to DC and Susan Smith was nice enough to take a chance on me and give me a really small assignment which led to Zip Code assignments which led to feature assignments. Without Jose or Susan Smith it is very safe to say I never would have got the chance to shoot for National Geographic. You can check out the most recent story I shot for them in the January 2010 issue of the magazine.
AK: In 2003 you produced a short piece called Santiago. It's a short fluid motion piece filled with still images and sound that seems to bridge the gap between stills and motion picture. What was special about this piece?
To me what was special about the piece was that early on, Jerome Thelia (my business partner in Merge) and I started thinking about how we could bring his knowledge of post production together with my knowledge of photography in a way that pushed both of us forward to places we could not get on our own. While our techniques, tools, technology, and approach have changed since then, this is still the driving force behin Merge.
AK: How did you take that concept and create a production company around it? Was it hard getting clients on board, as a small boutique competing for campaigns against traditional big commercial production houses?
Well, we were both so busy doing our own thing, me with photography and Jerome with Post production for feature films and spots, that Merge was always a collaboration that happened when things happened to come our way. This was usually the result of clients that knew my still photography hiring Merge to create motion content. We're going to bump it up a notch next year though. 2010 will be the first time we are going to fully commit to Merge and be more strategic about growing it.
4. Though Merge seems to be mostly focused on commercial production, Your style is really authentic, with a sort of core outdoor lifestyle look, and your client list reflects that. Who have been some of your favorite commercial clients over the years? Do you ever turn a project down because it doesn't fit with your style?
Horny Toad, the California based clothing company, is the best client ever. Their CEO Gordon Seabury is really smart and their Art Director, Cari Carmean is one of my favorite people to work for. Gordon gives us the freedom to do our thing because he trusts us and Cari, Jerome, and I work in a very collaborative way. Its all about mutual respect and elevating each other.... you know, the 1+1=3 thing.... That's why we definitely turn down work that does not fit with our style.
AK: You shoot a lot on Red. What brought you to this particular setup?
It was a completely logical progression for us just as Scarlet and/or Epic will be. With Red and Jerome's back end system which includes Scratch, we own the means of production to shoot, edit, and post a feature length film. Think about that.... its incredibly powerful. Check out Jerome's post on our site about it for a more in-depth explanation.
AK: In maybe 5 years the technical landscape has changed radically with the convergence of still and video cameras. In 5 more years it will no doubt be radically different still. What is this convergence doing for storytelling? For commercial advertising production specifically?
We could talk for many beers about this but what is clear to me is that technology has opened up new production models for creating content and new channels to distribute it. At Merge, we spend a lot of time thinking about both of these things. Stories will always need to get told but moving forward the way in which many of them are produced, distributed, and consumed will change quite a bit. In light of this, it might be a mistake to stay totally tied to the old ways.
7. You strike me as adventurous in terms of embracing technological change and experimenting, while staying true to your style. On the other hand there is a lot of pressure to find simply chase new revenue streams, or to use new technology as a means of creating buzz. In the commercial advertising world, maybe that is still a valid approach. How do you strike a balance here?
Well, i've never been about chasing gimmicks and have always gravitated toward timeless visuals so its never really been hard to keep a balance. Sometimes, if you are being paid really well, money is a perfectly fine reason to take a job but most of what we shoot is exactly what we want to. While Merge provides new revenue streams for me, that is not why I co-founded the company. If you want to make money, go to Wall St. don't become a photographer. Merge is about a way to expand my craft and get the same stoke I got watching my first print develop in a tray of Dektol 25 years ago. I believe in evolving and life long learning which is why I am so into Merge.
AK: Feel free to let anything else fly if you have something burning to say. Thanks again for doing this.
Here is our new explanation of how we partner. We spend a lot of time thinking about it and I think it addresses many of the questions you bring up. Also, we should have some new work up on our site by the end of the month so be sure to check it out....
Merge conceives and creates visual content for the web, broadcast, print and beyond. We spend a lot of time thinking about shifts in our industry and evolving our craft: a combination of timeless imagery and fearless embrace of technology.
Merge unites the eye of a National Geographic photographer with a technical fluency built from two decades of post-production and production expertise. We cut our chops the old fashioned way but are not beholden to habits or structures that no longer make sense. The old paradigms for content creation, post and distribution have changed. At our core is an ability to to take traditional needs and seamlessly express them in old ways, new ways, and ways that have not been thought of yet. Whether it is our nimble production model, a blend of art direction and improvisation, the integration of stills and motion, site specific POS video installations, or the use of dynamic technology like 4K RED and Scratch. What people who have worked with us understand is that we are naturally adaptable and thrive at the intersection of tradition and change.
Our new model for creating visual content combines the right mindset, experience, and toolbox to offer high production values and efficiencies to our clients. We think of ourselves as partners rather than vendors and seek collaborations with clients that allow us both to get to places we would never arrive at on our own. To Merge is to break new ground and grow together.
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Merge Lane: Interview with National Geographic Photographer and Producer David McLain
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I'm thinking about weaning you, me and the rest of the world from the e-Promo and here's how:
My monthly email card is going out soon to my list of 7500 photo buyers. Between design, list management and email services, this gets expensive and time consuming.
The key to e-promos, as every photo rep will tell you, is consistency: Hammer the buyers with your name and a image relentlessly for a couple years and you will build brand recognition, or at least bug the hell out of them. Either way, you'll get noticed. And it does work. I don't hate it, but let's be honest here - it's just so much spam.
Life is short, and creative people would rather not spend it wading through hundreds of e-promos. True, the best get noticed, but the delivery medium is so constraining for both sides, don't you think?
Today there are so many better ways to connect on a more natural, and potentially personal level. So, I'm trying something new with this month's e-Promo. If the recipient follows me on Twitter, I take them off the e-Promo list.
Go.
Tom:
Holy blackmail Batman. This could very, very well blow up in your face. "Follow me or I'll spam you to death" Rut ro.
(12.09.09 @ 07:46 AM)
akornylak:
Fair enough, Tom, but these are folks on my regular consented mailing list. They can unsubscribe at any time but have chosen to accept my periodic promos (along with many others from Agency Access). So, not spam, not blackmail. Just offering a friendly alternative.
I should also mention that only a couple have decided to follow me instead of receiving ePromos. Too much trouble to sign onto Twitter? Maybe the ePromos are not as hated as I thought...
(12.09.09 @ 08:31 AM)
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Do you hate the e-promo?
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End of a busy week and month. Here is some recent news:
In early winter I shot some stills and animation sequences in Mobile, Alabama for The Discovery Channel. The images were used for a Koppel on Discovery show called The Last Lynching. The one-hour special about three Americans profoundly affected by incidents of racism premiered on October 13. Here is a trailer. Note the big tree at the end. That's my jam! The effect was created by the wizards at Imaginary Forces, by cutting out stills and applying parallax effects over video and so on. Pretty cool stuff, and I've seen more if it around lately. Anyway, nice to have a hand in some cool effects and a great documentary series.
In the last several months I'd shot a lot of editorial portraits, and they have made to press recently, for (clockwise from upper left) Atlanta Magazine, AARP Bulletin, The Wall Street Journal, The Magazine Group, BusinessWeek, and Modern Painters. Check out this link to the WSJ article and slideshow, which came out just this week. It's an interesting story.
I made a cover and innards for a feature on Southern bouldering legend James Litz for Urban Climber Magazine. I shot with James, one of the strongest boulderers in the world, a couple times in between working on Heart of Stone this winter. Super cool, humble, and stupid strong. Glad he
is moving back to the South. Obed ranger Rob Turan (a climbing legend in his own right) ended up spinning a tale for UC on James, so the shots were timely.
I just finished a third advertising campaign for WileyX Eyewear, which we shot over a week in Southern Arizona. It was fun as hell. I'll blog on it soon, after the ads are out.
The Cliffs sent out their beautiful quarterly magazine, published by Redwood Communications. It's around here somewhere and I'll scan some pages in when I get the chance. I've been shooting for the Cliffs for about a year now, mostly on their properties in South and North Carolina. If you know golf, you know the Cliffs. Tiger is building his first signature course there.
They had seen my work in (the now sadly endangered) magazine Garden & Gun last year, and have since hired me to shoot several advertorial stories, on Homes, golf, landscapes, lifestyle, etc.. They have some great properties in BC and Chile as well. better hit the driving range...
In early winter I shot some stills and animation sequences in Mobile, Alabama for The Discovery Channel. The images were used for a Koppel on Discovery show called The Last Lynching. The one-hour special about three Americans profoundly affected by incidents of racism premiered on October 13. Here is a trailer. Note the big tree at the end. That's my jam! The effect was created by the wizards at Imaginary Forces, by cutting out stills and applying parallax effects over video and so on. Pretty cool stuff, and I've seen more if it around lately. Anyway, nice to have a hand in some cool effects and a great documentary series.
In the last several months I'd shot a lot of editorial portraits, and they have made to press recently, for (clockwise from upper left) Atlanta Magazine, AARP Bulletin, The Wall Street Journal, The Magazine Group, BusinessWeek, and Modern Painters. Check out this link to the WSJ article and slideshow, which came out just this week. It's an interesting story.
I made a cover and innards for a feature on Southern bouldering legend James Litz for Urban Climber Magazine. I shot with James, one of the strongest boulderers in the world, a couple times in between working on Heart of Stone this winter. Super cool, humble, and stupid strong. Glad he
is moving back to the South. Obed ranger Rob Turan (a climbing legend in his own right) ended up spinning a tale for UC on James, so the shots were timely.I just finished a third advertising campaign for WileyX Eyewear, which we shot over a week in Southern Arizona. It was fun as hell. I'll blog on it soon, after the ads are out.
The Cliffs sent out their beautiful quarterly magazine, published by Redwood Communications. It's around here somewhere and I'll scan some pages in when I get the chance. I've been shooting for the Cliffs for about a year now, mostly on their properties in South and North Carolina. If you know golf, you know the Cliffs. Tiger is building his first signature course there.
They had seen my work in (the now sadly endangered) magazine Garden & Gun last year, and have since hired me to shoot several advertorial stories, on Homes, golf, landscapes, lifestyle, etc.. They have some great properties in BC and Chile as well. better hit the driving range...
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry:
Spray Time
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Check out the Winter 09 Nikon World Magazine which carries a feature on me, written by editor Barry Tanenbaum. Published quarterly, the magazine features articles by and about professionals using Nikon equipment.
Oh, and it has a monkey on the cover.
You'll have to go get the mag to read it and see the beautiful printing job they did. It is available by subscription here. You can also find it at your local camera shop.
The magazine will also be available online at nikonworld.com soon. It will have audio interviews from me about the images featured in the magazine. Hope I don't sound too rough!
Oh, and it has a monkey on the cover.
You'll have to go get the mag to read it and see the beautiful printing job they did. It is available by subscription here. You can also find it at your local camera shop.
The magazine will also be available online at nikonworld.com soon. It will have audio interviews from me about the images featured in the magazine. Hope I don't sound too rough!
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry:
Nikon World
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http://theblindmonkey.com/darkroom/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5
inspiring. That's the only thing I have to say about that. Thanks Andrew and David!
(12.18.09 @ 06:26 PM)Very inspiring. Thanks.
(03.01.10 @ 05:15 PM)