Andrew Kornylak Photography Blog

North Georgia Mountain Wedding

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:06:58 -0500

Wedding season is full-on, and June kicked off with a fine mountaintop wedding in the North Georgia Mountains, near Helen, Georgia.

Helen is a quirky little Germanic alpine town about 1.5 hours north of Atlanta. Mountain bikers know it for awesome trails like the NORBA race courses at Unicoi, and climbers might pass through Helen en route to Yonah Mountain or Tallulah Gorge.

The more adventurous do what the locals do for fun: monster truck rides, a dip in the river, beer and putt-putt... A huge downpour signaled good luck and cleared the skies for the beautiful ceremony, which was held at Lucille's Mountaintop Inn

Congrats to Vanthan & Adrian, June 5, 2010:

Crew:

My indefatigable assistant Sharif Hassan and my intern Brett May. I try not to leave home without them.

Here's one reason why: shooting at the reception, my Nikon SB800 flash started doing unholy things to the exposure, so I grabbed Brett's brand new SB900 and shot away. It worked, the SB800 did not.

I'm pretty sure the critical difference here was that the SB800 shoots TTL at a maximum ISO of 1000, where the SB900 will work up to 6400. The controls on the 900 are way more intuitive. These together mean better performance in the trenches. I bought one immediately.

Your crew should all shoot the same gear and have it ready to go. It also helps if they can assemble a grease a new racing bike with a multi-tool and a can of mustache wax.

In the Lowepro bags:

- Nikon D3s

- Nikkor Lenses: 16mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 AFS, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII

- Westcott strip banks, octabank, eggcrates

- Profoto 7b strobe

- All kinds of unmentionable grip and assorted contraband

Nero - Behind the Scenes

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:55:14 -0500

Brock Scott is an artist and musician who I met through a mutual friend at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He's fronted several bands over the years, including the Brock Scott Quartet, Dreamer Boy Dan, and now his latest, Little Tybee.

Progressive rock played on real instruments - violins, piano, acoustic guitar - by real musicians. Intelligent lyrics filled with stories and historical allusions. You'll be humming it at work.

I've used a few of Brock's tracks before, most recently a Little Tybee track called "Spellcheck His Eulogy" for a my stillmotion piece Inline.

For Little Tybee's upcoming album "Humorous to Bees", Brock and I got together to create a music video for "Nero", a ditty on the tyrannical Roman Emperor who famously "fiddled while Rome burned"

(Suetonius actually says he played the lyre)

We came up with the idea of having another SCAD graduate, Mark Montgomery throwing yo-yo as the centerpiece of the video, focused on his craft while all around him the spectacle explodes.

Terrence Green (left) with Mark Montgomery

We did this as a single, in-camera take, which required two things: a skilled Steadicam operator and great talent. Chris Campbell, a veteran of feature films and music videos, was psyched on the project, and manned the Steadicam. You can get in touch with Chris at chriscrooked@gmail.com

Clockwise from upper left: Brock Scott, me, assistant Sharif Hassan, Chris Campbell and Mark Montgomery

Between myself, Chris and Brock, we pulled in a great group of talent including bboy and hiphop dancers, Falcons cheerleaders, singers, musicians, pinup girls, and photographers. Each "scene" was pulled from a past shoot or funny shoot experience, and it was all shot on a single evening in my studio here at Encyclomedia.

Rehearsing, Mark Campbell on right

We used a Panasonic HPX170 P2 video camera, which allows you to shoot progressive material at variable frame rates. So we could overcrank to 36 fps, with the music playing at 150%, then slow the final footage down to 24fps and sync it with the original track. The 170 also portable enough to easily work with on a Steadicam, or in tight spaces, running around the woods, or lashed to the side of a cliff, so its been my main camera for most of the video work I've been doing lately.

Chris Campbell, left and I go over the game plan with the crew

It turned out everyone had either worked together before or knew each other. One dancer was Mark's neighbor, and there was something about a noise complaint. Hatchet buried. That's the great thing about the performance community in Atlanta. Tons of talent, very little drama or attitude.

Some of Atlantas finest talent going over the steps

Markmont throwing hot

Nearing the end of a take

It was more like a live performance than a video shoot. We pulled it off after only 18 takes (and with only one open bloody wound). Chalk it up to the awesome talent we had in the room

Here is the official Nero video. The album will be out in early Fall 2010, complete with Brock's hand-drawn album artwork.

Nero - Music Video from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

If you have more questions about the video, steadicam or monitoring gear or just want to see the latest awesome camera toys, stop by Showcase Camera. Whenever I have video or audio equipment problem to solve I talk to Frank or Kenny in the video department.

Where We Ended Up: Aimee and Shu Get Engaged

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:18:42 -0500

"I love these!!

...Is it normal to take so many shots?"

I had to think about how to answer that one. I delivered about 60 shots of 5 different locations with 3 different outfits for an engagement portrait session.

This happened last week with Aimee and Shu, two lovebirds whose Maui wedding I will have the pleasure of shooting this fall. Both are world travelers - Aimee just got back from New Zealand - and we wanted to shoot an engagement session loosely themed around travel.

When we started, we all had some ideas in our head, but by the end we followed some different threads. We hit a half dozen great spots in Atlanta, many of which were new to me.

I love it when a simple shoot turns into a little adventure for everyone, where things don't go exactly as planned. It's risky, but, as I answered Aimee, "I'm not a normal photographer."

Behind the Scenes:

I'm pretty sure that when they built the MARTA line, Atlanta gathered the best lighting engineers in the city, brought them down to the underground rail tunnels, and buried them alive. Only that can explain the hideous lighting in the stations. The extreme mix of color temperatures will drive you nuts, but the scale and spaceship-like architecture of Peachtree Station is too cool to pass up.

Below: Assistant Sharif Hassan (in red) and intern Brett May lighting it up.

I pack the Westcott Octabank on almost every location shoot but this time we used the Strip Banks a lot more, sometimes with egg crate grids, for even more control over light.

Recently I've been shooting the Zeiss T* manual focus primes a lot, for stills and video. The edge-to-edge sharpness and lack of vignetting is unmatched, and especially superior for use as a video lens, on a 35mm video adapter like the RedRock M2 for example - more on that later.

In the Lowepro Bags:

Nikon D3s

Zeiss 35mm f/2 ZF Distagon T*

Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8,

Nikkor 24-80mm f/2.8,

Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II

Nikon SB900 flash

Profoto 7b battery-powered strobe

Pocketwizard Transcievers

Westcott Strip banks and Octabank modifiers

Pimp My Wall: The Video

Sun, 09 May 2010 11:23:20 -0500

Last fall I wrote about a project called Pimp My Wall, where a group of friends, in the spirit of an HGTV Extreme Makeover type show, built a surprise climbing wall for Greg Kottkamp, a climber and med student sweating it out in Augusta, Georgia.

Here is the video from that project, which I showed at the Dirty South Climbing Film Festival in Atlanta last week. Enjoy!

Pimp My Wall from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

Stillmotion Explained, Other Stuff Not Explained.

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:41:55 -0500

Since I started doing "Stillmotion" pieces a couple years ago - creating video using short, high-speed bursts of still photographs - a lot of people ask me for a step-by-step roadmap to the technique so they can do it themselves.

Here are a couple of the more popular examples:

In Line from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

The Beta - Six Feet Under from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.

You can see most of the ones I've done at my Stillmotion album on my Vimeo Page

It's something I've talked about in detail in a Guest Blog for Scott Kelby, on Robert Benson's blog, on the NikonRumors website, and as a speaker at the 2009 Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, but I've never really put it all down step-by-step.

Recently Digital Photo Pro Magazine interviewed me about it, and they did just that, spelling out in gory detail exactly how to do it. So stop bugging me about it.

Seriously though, It looks like a ton of steps but really, its hella simple. You just need to make sure you have the right tools. I happen to use Nikon DLSRs for capture and sequence everything in Final Cut Pro.

One thing DPP did not ask was, "Why the hell would you do it?" It does look pretty cool, and it's novel. That's probably enough for me. But maybe the benefits versus video (extreme resolution, access to unique lighting and shutter effects) do not outweigh the pain-in-the-asses (difficult frame rates, extreme workflow challenges, no sound). It's a question I ask myself, especially given that there are so many amazing video capture tools out there today - most of which I use daily for other productions.

So here's something: I believe that in the future, there will be full motion-capture technology that is very similar physically to what I am doing with a high-speed still camera. I want to be first in line for that, and I'll know exactly what I'm doing.

Chew on that, try it out yourself, tell me if I am full of shit, and enjoy the article:

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/technique/camera-technique/still-motion.html

Two Birds, One Stone

Sat, 01 May 2010 20:07:15 -0500

Emily and Shimby are two-out-of-four members of the Chicago-based indie pop band Bird Talk. They will be pairing off for good in June, with yours-truly shooting the nuptials in Atlanta.

I met up with them the other day in Atlanta for some photo shenanigans, based loosely around a sightseeing tour of Stone Mountain (You know, that mother-of-all-exposed-granite-monadnocks with a relief carving of the Southern Generals on its north face.)

Turns out I was on my way to some kind of 24-hour stomach bug, and the Stone Mountain Park nachos didn't exactly help. But we had a blast, buoyed by my mustachioed assistants Jon Kelso and Sharif Hassan and by some Windy City spirit from Emily and Shimby. Super cool cats. Can't wait till the wedding y'all!

Here are some memories:

First stop, Tupac Memorial. Yup, we didn't know either.

We forgot to pick up our photos, but what matters is that we took 'em.

Lunchtime.

True story: We passed a group of young girls, and I heard one whisper to the others, "Oh! She is sooooo pretty!" So Sweet!

Cool purse too.

Obligatory!

Ask me sometime how my assistant John Kelso gets kids to scram when we need to take over the telescopes. Solid gold.

Cutlass.

Celin Serbo Shoots Eddie Bauer for First Ascent Line

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:35:47 -0500

Interview with Photographer Celin Serbo

for A Steady Drip Magazine

My friend and fellow outdoor photographer Celin Serbo recently photographed a campaign for Eddie Bauer's First Ascent line in Norway. Celin spent 2 weeks this February with FA athletes Chad Peele and Carolyn George sieging multipitch ice in the western fjords region and came back with awesome authentic images and video.

When its just you, a camera and a couple riggers keeping up with top climbers in the wild, it takes more than just camera skills. Celin earned his chops from a lifetime spent in the mountains, and more recently as a professional guide. This kind of shooting - especially done for top commercial clients - is rare these days, and I wanted to talk to Celin about this shoot because it speaks to what great adventure photography is all about.

I've known Celin for years as part of that "brotherhood" of climbing photographers that you run into/hear about/recognize over the years, and like most of those guys we are both part of the Aurora Photos agency's Outdoor Collection. Celin is based in Boulder, Colorado.

All images (c) Celin Serbo

TBM :Bio?

Serbo : I got introduced to photography when my stepfather gave me a fully manual medium format film camera in the early 90's. Long story short, I had a lot to learn and started by reading books, spending a fair bit of time in the dark room, and lots of trial and error. During that time I was pretty passionate about climbing, skiing, and biking so a camera was a natural additional piece of gear to bring along.

From 1997 thru 2004 I worked as mountain guide for the Colorado Mountain School, in areas such as RMNP, Eldorado Canyon, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. I also guided for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides in for a couple seasons.This gave me incredible opportunities to meet high caliber athletes, travel, and shoot. I was encouraged by friends to submit some photos to Patagonia, and to my surprise, got published. I continued on the path of guiding and part time shooting until 2004 when I made the decision to pursue photography professionally.

I'd love to say, "that's when it all took off for me" but that's not the case. It's been a slow but steady process that is still evolving. I've had to work hard to expand my skills set and marketing strategies to reach a more varied clientele.

TBM : How did the Eddie Bauer shoot come about?

Serbo : I did a 3 day ice climbing shoot for them in Ouray, CO in March of 2009. That shoot was a success and it seemed we were on the same page with regards to their image needs. Their First Ascent line is a relatively new brand so the need for image content is pretty substantial. One of their athletes put in the trip proposal for Norway based on the incredible amount of unclimbed ice within the western fjord areas. Everything seemed to line up with schedules and budgets and I was asked to join the trip.

Due to budgets, I could not bring an assistant with me so I had to be as self sufficient as possible. It was mainly about documenting the climbs and keeping pace with the athletes. We did have two riggers, which was a huge help.

TBM : Your riggers were locals, I assume, who knew the area well?

Serbo : One of our riggers (Seth Hobby) is an American guide working and living in Norway. the other rigger (Adam George) was the husband of the one of the athletes and is a tremendous climber/guide in his own right. Seth knew the area fairly and steered in the right directions. Even with seth's help, that terrain is so big that there was alot of scouting involved.

TBM: How did it compare with some other shoots you've done, keeping pace with the

athletes on the EB shoot?

Serbo : A lot of the work i have done has been with high level outdoor athletes so this shoot wasn't too much of a departure for me. however, it does present additional challenges. Fitness and a certain level of competence with regards to the activity/sport you are shooting is a must. Even though the athletes are well aware that they are involved in a photo shoot, they move fast. Keeping up and still creating compelling images can be challenging. I find that the athletes respect and appreciate it when you can display a reasonable level of competency in their environment and are much more willing to work with and for you.

TBM : What did you use to shoot the behind the scenes video? Was video a component in your contract for EB?

Serbo : I shot all the video and stills with the Nikon D300s. I was really impressed with cameras performance. It gives you an amazing amount of creative freedom to switch back and forth from stills to video. We had some pretty nasty weather as well and the D300s handled it with no issues. Video was a component in the Eddie Bauer contract. The primary focus was on stills with a secondary priority of video. They are very active in multimedia content for both their website and in-store flat screen displays. I am finding more and more of my clients embracing this trend.

TBM : Do you see doing more video in the future?

Serbo : I am planning on shooting more video. I think in the very near future, [video] will be an expected component to any commercial or editorial assignment. While the DSLR HD video is incredible it does have many limitations compared to dedicated high- end video. I think the crux will be understanding these limitations and finding the appropriate projects and platforms for this technology.

You can see Celin's work on his website at www.serbophoto.com.

Check out some reports from the trip on the Eddie Bauer First Ascent blog here.

This interview is for A Steady Drip Magazine, an experiment in distributed publishing. Click here to see the Table of Contents.

Mercedes Magazine

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:41:54 -0500

Recent work for Mercedes Magazine, shooting German Masters champion Bernhard Langer and soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer. Also making an appearance was the new 2011 SLS AMG Gullwing. Das ist der Hammer!

Go grab it at the dealer. The magazine, or the car.

Michael Hanson in Chile

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:23:20 -0500

Photos by Michael Hanson: Chile, above, and Patagonia, below.

My friend, travel photographer Michael Hanson reports from Chile and other points south with stunning photographs on his blog. He also provides some ways you can help the Chilean people. Look for an interview with Michael and his brother, writer David Hanson, soon.

http://www.michaelhansonphotography.com/blog/

Heard on the Radio

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:39:28 -0500

I often find myself in the carport jotting down notes on my iphone after hearing something particularly compelling on NPR, BBC, or some other public radio show. Here's an excerpt, and I am including links to the original shows. Don't ask me how they are out of order.

Now could someone make an app for that? Hit record, it hears the show, and saves a link to hear it later. Do it!

In praise of doubt - book [Diane Rehm Show Aug 12 2009]
Creative commons music - Cody and notes - Gnawlage [PRI's The World Aug 21, 2009]
The plan fund microfinance [Tell Me More, Aug 19, 2009]
17 superrich - Nader, only the superrich can save us [Weekend Edition Sep 26, 2009]
The myth of digital democracy [I think this was just my thought bubble, but this Evgeny Morozov FP Story is relevant]
Leanne hanson story on up Michigan [Weekend Edition Sunday, Sep 27, 2009]

Justice (book) Michael Sendel [Diane Rehm Show Oct 7, 2009]

Committed To Grassroots

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:54:30 -0500

In January I was hired by Grassroots Outdoor Alliance to produce a video piece for their retail members. Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is a group of over 70 independent outdoor retailers around the US. Membership in Grassroots gives retailers a strong national voice to "protect and promote the experience of outdoor enthusiasts across the United States." Grassroots also provides resources to its member retailers to support their local activities such as recreational access and environmental initiatives.

The shoot was coordinated by Widgets & Stone, a Chattanooga, TN design studio that handles brand communications for Grassroots. We worked with Chattanooga-local GOA member Rock/Creek Outfitters as an example retailer and backdrop for the video. Grassroots wanted the video for the Outdoor Retailer Show, which was only a few days away once we finalized the project. The stakes were made higher by the fact that this video would be shown to all the top independent retailers in the country - Rock/Creek's main peer group.

It's a situation that happens all the time in this business. Things come together at the last minute and once you get the green light you might have half the time you initially planned for. You don't want to cut corners but maybe it just can't get done in time. What do you do? It's a lot like climbing. You plan carefully for a long climb, wait for good conditions, but maybe by then the window is too short. Do you go for it and pass that line of commitment? Or do you back off, hoping the opportunity will still be there later?

Luckily, having worked closely with Rock/Creek a lot in the past, we had a good game plan going in, and they trusted I could do great work under time pressure. We shot all the footage in an afternoon and the edit came together within 48 hours, just in time for the show. As Rock/Creek owner Dawson Wheeler said later, "Putting a video like this out in front of all the best independent shop owners in the industry made me nervous initially, but Andrew came through with a fantastic video that served the group's needs and went over very well with my peers."

We also produced a separate video that explains what the relationship between Grassroots and a retailer like Rock/Creek is fundamentally about: local ownership and activism, unique customer relationships, and a national platform to promote these ideals.

Grassroots Outdoor Alliance from Rock/Creek on Vimeo.

Some behind-the-scenes shots:

Below: Shooting Rock/Creek Marketing Director Mark McKnight with the Panasonic HMC40 on a Redrock Micro 35mm adapter. We combined daylight and a single Westcott Spiderlite fluorescent bank rear and left of Mark. (Rachel Tucker)

Below: We shot the landscape footage at Lula Lake Land Trust, a 4000-acre preserve established around the Rock Creek watershed in the mountains above Chattanooga. This was my first time at Lula, and it is absolutely spectacular. A great reminder of why I live in this part of the country! (Rachel Tucker)

Below: Hero Shot (Mark McKnight)

You can see more BTS stuff at Rock/Creek's Flickr page

I love working with organizations like Grassroots and Rock/Creek because I can get behind their brand message 100%. That is rare, especially in the commercial world. I believe creatives should be actively pursuing those kinds of clients for themselves, rather than just waiting for clients to come to them to help sell a message. In this case, everyone shared the same passions and ideals, and I think it and added to the quality of the final product. What's more, it made shooting it a lot of fun!

photographers, videographers, writers : I'd love to hear your examples of working for clients whose basic principles you also share!

Red River Gorge, on your iPhone

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:15:25 -0500

Just back from the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, where I ran into my old friend Dave Pegg. Dave is a long time climber and a former editor a Climbing Magazine. I met Dave way back in the days of the Phoenix Bouldering Contest when I lived in Arizona. These days Dave heads a book publishing company called Wolverine Publishing, most notably the publishers of some very successful climbing guidebooks. I've worked with Dave several times over the years on photography for these books but it had been awhile.

After some how-do-you-do's, he excitedly pulled me aside to show me something, and whipped out his iPhone. I figured it was pics of some new crag somewhere I would never make it to, but instead he showed me this.

It's the complete and functioning 3rd edition to his guidebook to the Red River Gorge - already one of the best climbing guides out there - on a mobile phone / ipod touch. All the standard climbing route information is in here, plus a ton of interactivity tools for sorting, rating, and finding your favorite climbs. And no, it does not require an internet connection once installed. Release is set for May 2010.

OK not so shocker, as all books are headed toward an electronic second life, but the great thing about this app was how well-designed and useful it appeared. Game changer? I'll be able to share more details with you plus a not-so-exclusive interview with Dave closer to May.

A Boys Life

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:24:25 -0500

Last month I shot my seventh editorial assignment for Boys Life Magazine. 50.25% of you might remember this magazine from your good old days. You might also be surprised to learn its still around. Boys Life is the flagship publication of the Boy Scouts of America, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

On this most recent assignment I spent several days backpacking in the snow, in the mountains, with plenty of heavy weather and difficult terrain. If you aren't involved in Scouts (I was not) you might be surprised to learn that this is a pretty typical Scouts outing.

Boys Life assignments I've been on in the past include kayaking to an island and camping off the Georgia coast, building and sleeping in snow shelters on frozen lakes in Minnesota, and a week-long backpacking trip through Isle Royale National Park.

Below: A group of scouts from coastal Georgia spend a weekend kayaking to Creighton Island and camping under the stars. We were accompanied by a film crew shooting and episode of Boys Life TV called "Scouting for Adventure" for the Outdoor Channel. This story is in the most recent, July 2010 issue of Boys Life.

Below: Scouts build snow shelters known as quinzees on a frozen lake in Minnesota. Using snow shovels, the scouts spent all day making mounds of snow which they would then bore into to create warm shelters which they spent a subzero night in. An unrelated but popular tool was a manual auger for drilling holes in the ice. This story appeared in the February 2009 Boys Life.

These kids have some great adventures, more than most of us in fact, and I'm always excited to get the call from Boys Life, because I know I'm in for another great trip. In addition, these kids and their adult leaders are some of the friendliest, most psyched people I've been with "out there".

You only have to witness a group of determined 9-12 year old kids fording a 50-foot-wide wild river, followed carefully (but not-too-closely) by their dads, to see that these trips can be life-changing for both father and son. That's something I can appreciate as a dad myself.

Below: A group of cub scouts from Georgia spent a night in conestoga wagons at the Rock Ranch, a 1250-acre working cattle ranch in middle Georgia owned by Chick-fil-A founder, S. Truett. Along the way they learned a variety of basic camping and navigation skills. This story was published in Boys Life, June 2009.

Boys Life has a great, engaging website, and you can see right away who their audience is. But if there is a reason for maintaining a print magazine, it's for a kid-oriented magazine like Boys Life. Their demographic probably doesn't spend much time sipping coffee in front of a screen on a work break.

If you are like me, when your kid comes home from school, you want them to get into something tangible: paint something, go sledding, climb a rock, or share a book or magazine with the family.

Happy 100th fellas!

Below: Older scouts from Diamondhead, Mississippi donate their time to mentor the cub scouts of area packs that have been left leaderless from Hurricane Katrina. Many of the families of the scouts pictured here have lost most if not all of their worldly possessions in the aftermath of that disaster. It's a testament to the strength of this scouting community that these scouts and their parents still find the energy and time to get together regularly for scouting activities. An inspiring shoot to say the least. From April 2010 Boys Life.

Merge Lane: Interview with National Geographic Photographer and Producer David McLain

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:28:03 -0500

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.

Santiago from Merge on Vimeo.

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.

Medica from Merge on Vimeo.

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.

Saturday from Merge on Vimeo.

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.

A Song a Week from Charles Allison

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:54:15 -0500

In the course of producing videos I scan through a ton of music to find just the right track to use. Of course, if you are on a budget, limiting yourself to royalty-free and creative commons music outlets, it's slim pickins. That's where the independent musician comes in. Once upon a time I aspired to be a professional violinist but quickly learned it took way more talent than I would ever have, so I have great respect for anyone who has figured out a way to make it their life's work.

Charles Allison is one such musician, out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. I met Charles through my friend Mark McKnight at Rock Creek Outfitters, who suggested Charles as a source of music for some spots I was producing for their trail race series. He owns a recording studio called Spanner Sound.

Charles has a really cool "Song a Week" project going on his blog, charlesallison.org. One thing I like about the music he is producing for it is that every week he experiments with something new. It reminds me of the approach I've been taking with my climbing video series this year, The Beta. And everything sounds great.

I recently spoke to Charles about his Song a Week project, and about what it takes to make it as an independent musician today. I think there is something in here for any creative struggling to make it happen. Click on the players below to hear some of his music from the project:

Week 3-Truth has a way of hitting its target by Charles Allison

AK: You strike me as not only a musician but a student of all things musical. Did you come to music by the standard route of music lessons as a kid or was there a different path?

I never had any lessons or pressure to play something like a lot of people did growing up. I got a used electric guitar for my birthday when I was about 13. I played around on it from time to time, but skateboarding was my true love at that point. In high school some guys asked me to be in a band with them. I don't think I really even played anything in that band though; I was the singer. I started home-taping in about 1997 with a four track and knew pretty quickly it was something I wanted to get really into. Over the course of recording all the time for the last 10 years, I studied a lot of physics and electronics that all apply to music and why things sound the way they do. I love making things that sound cool, but I'm technically pretty ignorant about music theory and all that.

AK: Your MySpace page lists a lot of wide-ranging musical influences. A lot of times our musical interests are intertwined with important moments in our lives. Put some of your musical tastes in context for me: When and how did you resonate with some of the more dominant ones.

My first pivotal experience with music was listening to my brother's records when he was out on weekends when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It was mostly british new wave and 80's synth pop kind of stuff. When I started buying my own music, it was either punk or alternative. I lived to watch 120 Minutes in high school. I worked in a record shop at some point and definitely honed in on some of my touchstones during that time. I never really stopped listening to anything I ever liked though, just kept adding to the collection. The harder to classify, the more I like it generally.

AK: With no physical boundaries to collaboration these days, seems like young people have more opportunities to express themselves musically. On the other hand they might be robbed of the kind of focused insulation that can foster an authentic style...

I've kind of approached my studio setup with a lot of consideration towards being able to do whatever I want to on my own. I love working with other people but I like to work all the time and I can't expect people to be around when I want to do something or I have an idea to try something. I definitely like having a lot of people coming through the studio to help with the workflow and just vibing off each other. I think being a good musician is very much about listening to and working with other people.

Week 8- A few more DB's by Charles Allison

AK: The gap between corporate megapop on the one hand and indie/folk/local music on the other hand is widening. For me that means a wider range of great music to listen to on all channels. For musicians it might mean something different?

I do love the fact that you can instantly release something to the world; it's pretty powerful. But realizing success in the digital age is definitely more complicated than just putting something on the web and expecting people to flock to it. It's an ongoing process just building your work and creating a listenership for it. All the tools are there, but I think generating continued interest in your work is the most crucial element. I'm still learning a lot about that.

AK: What's the scene like for a professional musician in the South? Is Chattanooga a good spot for you right now?

It's alright, I guess. It really depends on what you're trying to do with your music. I'm tethered here for now. I would love to be somewhere that had a more cohesive music scene, with a lot of energy being exchanged between different artists. I got an arts grant this year for my work, so I can't complain about that aspect of living in Chattanooga.

AK: When did you get the idea for the Song-A-Week project?

I don't remember exactly. I started it about a week after I first thought of it though. It's not a new concept, and others have done similar projects. It seemed very much like some of the outdoor expeditions I've planned and done. I rode my bike from California to Florida in 1997 and this is just sort of an expedition of another kind. You set goals and you just do them. My reasons to do it were definitely born out of wanting to do something new with the way that I put music out. I've put out 8 records on my own and am pretty tired of that. It's more about pressure to be finishing something every week and not being too precious about the small details or obstacles, and just being comfortable in the process of making music.

AK: In Song-a-week you experiment with instruments you haven't played much before (banjo), play with binaural recording (recording using headphones instead of mics), and explore interesting sounds and effects (theremin). Yet everything seems to work really well.

One of my main goals is to work through my skill set to a point where I feel really dialed in to what elevates a piece of work. Whatever type of music it is, just being tuned in to how music works and flows. Part of that is reaching a little bit in terms of what instruments I might automatically turn to. I'm not really great at playing any instruments, so I kinda look at it like "what the hell? Give it a whirl". Recording is really fun for me and I love to try new things. I hope for things to get really far out at some point too. I would love for people to be in disbelief that I made some of these songs.

Week 10- My spirit guide by Charles Allison

AK: You say the "depressed and awkward" are your people. What do you mean by that? Do you identify with that state of mind or is it just your sound that evokes that?

You know, I'm not really sure who my people are. I struggle with depression for sure, but my method of dealing with all that is just working as much as I can. I get really anxious when I can't make something. I do love sad songs, but I don't think that's my music exactly. I don't revel in being depressed, I just find the sound of it infinitely more interesting than the sound of being happy. That's been done enough already. I think I can make my own style of dark music.

Week 11- Take your things and run away by Charles Allison

AK: So as you are falling asleep your mind wanders into a new composition. What then? Specifically, what tools are you using to get the music out?

I don't have a roadmap at all from week to week. I take a break on the weekends but I try to start with some basic concept on Monday or so. Whether that's writing from a particular instrument or evoking a certain spirit, or working from a melody I wrote in the shower I never know. From the concept, I start to build something that becomes, ideally, whatever it should be. Part of doing this project and its length is to be exhaustive with my work process. I guess I feel like I haven't really found my voice yet and hopefully this is a good way to do that.

-akorn