Travis Duncan Keeps it Simple

TravisDuncan is what you might call a “no-s*** guy.”

There’s no pretense in the man’s photography: his sports work goes the extra yard to give his subjects and images a certain dynamic quality, but other portfolios – like his “State Fair Series” and especially his intense portraits – strive to be as simple as possible, to show subjects in their most natural states and let their individual qualities do the talking.

His “Chef Series” is content to simply show chefs in their environment without falling into kitchen clichés. His “Straight Aces/Tattoo Shop” portfolio allows him a little more inventiveness, but such is the nature of that particular beast. The images still never cross the line into exaggeration. To really understand the art of Travis’s simplicity, though, check out this smoky portrait of his grandfather, which Travis proudly notes “portrays him as he really is.”

“Papa,” the photographer says, is “a quiet man who enjoys the simple things in life, like smoking his tobacco pipe.” There are plenty of other examples among his portraits showing people as they truly are – no discernible background, no special lighting, no props; just the subjects and Travis’ lens – but this simpler-is-better technique is most noticeable in his Papa portrait (except, of course, for that pipe, which is not so much a prop as a sort of spiritual extension of his grandfather).

While he’s proud of the commercial success of his grandfather’s portrait, it remains a very personal heirloom for Travis– and a strong testament to his simplicity-rules style.

“The biggest obstacle I faced in creating this image was lighting the smoke, or backlighting the smoke, without having significant spill onto the subject,” he says. “Otherwise, it wasn’t too complicated to create.” Not too complicated. Just the way Travis likes it.

Click here to see more of Travis’ amazingly simple, amazingly effective creations.

Matt Hawthorne Brings His A-Game to the NFL

As a sports fan Matt Hawthorne’s been lucky enough to become a photographer, a job at the intersection of his interests and his talents.

His work is replete with athletes of all stripes running, swimming and pedaling through various physical pursuits. Matt’s found his share of commercial success with his signature fashion and portraiture work, but recent spreads in Men’s Fitness and ESPN magazines as well as his trips to Florida to shoot a Gatorade campaign, and recently Chicago for a LifeTime Fitness shoot, many of his website’s “On Set Videos” all impressively showcase the photographer’s eye for athletics.

So you can imagine the Dallas-based artist’s excitement when a recent Forbes magazine assignment led—albeit a bit circuitously—to Cowboys Stadium and a sideline pass for a game against the team’s archrival New York Giants.

“I shot [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones for Forbes,” Matt recalls. “He really loved all the shots, so he hired me to shoot his daughter, Charlotte Anderson, for press and publicity stuff.”

Between the “Jerry shoot” and the Anderson assignment (she’s also involved with Cowboys franchise management), Matt started making connections among the team’s management and was soon able to arrange a sideline pass for the big game. The idea was to pad his personal portfolio, and Matt had some clear thoughts on how he wanted to do it: by capturing “details from moments that weren’t the focus.”

“I told them I wanted to shoot the game from a little different viewpoint, obviously getting action but also emotions from the players,” he says. “I definitely didn’t want to leave with only action shots.”

Matt closely watched the interaction of players and fans, noticed how intimidating the armored athletes could be up close, and tried hard to “capture the frustration and celebration between the players.” The veteran of the cheap seats completely enjoyed the “cool experience and huge challenge” of an NFL sideline … and he “only almost got tackled by an out-of-bounds pass once!”

Click here to see more of Matt’s football fantasy (and the rest of his awesome work).

Eric Rosner Draws on Nostalgia

Like many people nowadays, Eric Rosner is nostalgic about yesteryear—not those halcyon days of the ‘90s, but even further back, when the streets of Manhattan were still paved with cobblestone and echoing with the voices of newsboys hawking their last papers.

“In 1880, Herald Square was what Silicon Valley is today. Houdini lived there, Tesla lived there. It was the place to be,” the artist explains. Despite being born in a different century, Eric is able to channel this nostalgia into his inimitable ink marker illustrations.

Once a pre-med student in college (“that didn’t work out”), Eric found himself doing more drawing than studying.  “I used markers because that was what I could afford.  I never thought of it as a career—just a diversion.”  Then he moved to New York City, where he found himself drawn to the people on the streets.  At that point the buildings were just background filler setting the scene, but people and place in tandem began to plant a seed. 

Flash forward a few years and Eric is working for MTV as a 3D animator.  Inspired by the wireframes he draws for his day job, Eric decides to apply that style to his marker illustrations.  The result?  His completely one-of-a-kind illustration style. 

Another major change Eric began to incorporate into his work was shifting the focus from the human subjects to architecture.  “Everyone loves old buildings,” the artist explains, “and when people looked at my work, they were more drawn to the background architecture than the people.”  That was all he needed to make a change: Eric got such a good reaction from this shift in focus that he decided to turn his passion into a full-time career.

Now, Eric’s art is on display all over the world, from the walls of CB2 (a division of Crate & Barrel) to MoMA Design Stores in New York City and Tokyo.  Buoyed by his uniqueness and talent, Eric’s work is gaining serious traction.

What’s next for the talented illustrator? Eric plans to move further into the vogue-driven world of ads and see if his style can spark a change. “It’s been a trend in advertising for illustrations to be minimal and white.  I’m trying to shake things up.”

Click here to view more of Eric’s fantastic ink marker illustrations.

Harry Giglio, LaMarr Woodley Let it Out

When photographer Harry Giglio met Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Lamarr Woodley for a recent photo shoot, he knew he was in for a challenge.  The session took place just two days after a game and Woodley – still sore, slow and limping – winced whenever the photographer asked him to change positions.  Shot after shot was taken with the images just not telling the story Giglio wanted them to.  Finally, Harry decided to go with the flow and put the athlete’s sour mood to good use.

“I knew he was hurting and had a million things to do,” Harry says. “So I figured it was a good time to ask, ‘Hey, LaMarr, just scream and let it out.’"

Woodley complied, loosing a beast-like roar that echoes even in the silence of Harry’s now-signature shot. "That is one of my all-time favorite shots I’ve taken" the photographer notes.

Click here to see more of Harry’s striking (if slightly less scary) portraits.

James Pevitt Shows Hometown Love

James Pevitt loves his hometown of Port Fairy, Victoria. “Port Fairy is a very beautiful, historic town with a proud history,” the Australian photographer says, and the facts bear it out: the National Trust of Australia protects fifty landmarks in the coastal town. Every year, tens of thousands of tourists travel to the small Australian fishing village to play on its world-class golf course, or attend the annual Port Fairy Folk Music Festival.

Tourists and local artists aren’t the only ones who love the place, though. Port Fairy won recognition as The World’s Most Liveable Town for a population under 20,000 in the 2012 Livcom Awards, “the world’s only awards focused on International Best Practice in management of the local environment.”

Seeking a way to combine his passion for his lauded hometown with his skill with a camera, James hit on something really special. He recently got involved with a global project entitled “My Town, Your Town” that enabled him to share the place he loves with amiable strangers thousands of miles away.

The brainchild of Port Fairy woman Dianne Clanchy who has many long term connections in China, the international photo project proved to be a one-of-a-kind experience. “The project involved two photographers: myself in Port Fairy, and Fang Jun in Yangzhou, China. We submitted ten images that were taken in both of our hometowns. They were then exhibited simultaneously both here in Port Fairy and in China.”

Approaching the project, James knew that his portrayal of Port Fairy had to be different. As a resident, he knew he had inside knowledge of people and places that outsiders documenting the town might never have. “Having a good knowledge of the town and its people directed me towards documenting the human aspect of what I saw,” James explains. “My photography allows me to meet and get to know people with genuine interest.”

Surpassing even James’s expectations, the project was a massive success in both cities—the response from the international community was tremendous. “My Town, Your Town” went a long way toward bringing together Chinese and Australian art lovers despite hailing from two normally disparate cultures. James is pretty pleased with the outcome as well: “It shows that with good and informative photography, people welcome the opportunity to learn about each other.”

Click here to view more of James Pevitt’s work on FoundFolios

Nadine Takvorian’s Myths and Magic

Bay Area illustrator Nadine Takvorian is no stranger to magic.  In fact she once worked as an assistant in the Art Department at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic Company.  This shines through in her work, which has a clear bias for the mythical — Nadine has illustrated things ranging from Jason and the Argonauts to Sea Nymphs 

Most recently, Nadine worked with National Geographic Learning on an educational children’s book regarding the origin myths behind two of Mexico’s most famous volcanoes - Popcatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl.  The story goes that when the Aztec princess Iztaccíhuatl learned about the supposed death of her warrior lover Popcatépetl in battle, she died from intense grief.  Popcatépetl had not been killed, however, and when he returned from war and learned of the fate of his beloved he, too, died from grief.  The star-crossed lovers were both reborn as snow-covered volcanoes, one dormant (Iztaccíhuatl) and one active and fiery (Popcatépetl).

In fact, the timing of Nadine’s publication couldn’t have been more serendipitous.  Right around the time her book came out, Popcatépetl began erupting, spewing steam, ash, and fiery volcanic rock into the air.  Perhaps there’s something to this magic after all.

Click here to view these illustrations, as well as more of Nadine’s excellent work.

The Layers of Kyle Pierce

Even in college Kyle Pierce lived a double life. As a dual major in art and biology, Kyle wasn’t sure which path the reckless hand of fate would take him down—so he prepared for both. Eventually, the San Francisco based photo-illustrator chose art as his career. “I’ve been shooting on film for about thirty years and doodling since I was born. I really enjoyed doing both, separately, then realized that if I smashed them together I could create something uniquely my own.” Thus, Kyle’s distinctive hybrid of photography and illustration was born.

The above images were created by Kyle for a feature in the August issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. He had worked for them previously (most recently creating the cover of the November 2012 issue), so they knew his style was what they were looking for. Kyle was told the story would to be titled “A Cabin in the Woods,” and set about brainstorming imagery for the assignment. Of this brainstorming session, Kyle remembers: “We wanted something friendly and fun that referenced a cabin and ended up with an exterior and interior. I wanted to immerse people in nature and be playful with it.”

“I have an archive of thousands of medium format negatives and love to be outdoors. It wasn’t hard to find twenty or thirty options that included a cabin and/or woods.” Once the direction was chosen and photographs identified, his hand-drawn illustrations were layered digitally over the selected photographs so he could manipulate scale and location. The whole process (for the images above) took two weeks. Kiplinger’s loved what he produced and ran the two illustrations as a full & half-page.

To Kyle, the work he does is more than just a way to pay the bills. His photo illustrations reflect the layers of his duality. “I love the idea of combining photo-based ‘reality’ with the imaginary (as rendered in illustration)—this juxtaposition of real and surreal.” 

Most recently, Kyle was commissioned to create illustrations for two books published this summer by Chronicle Books. And this fall, a large 17’ x 42’ mural of his hand-drawn illustrations and photographs will open at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

For more of Kyle Pierce’s photo illustration work, check out his FoundFolios portfolio.

Tony Garcia and AT&T Blaze a Trail 

The recent rulings handed down by The Supreme Court reinforced the idea that same sex unions have never been more accepted in U.S. society.  Of course we’re a far cry from equality, but the decision to reinstate federal benefits for same sex couples was seen as a watershed moment in the gay and lesbian community.  With this, there has been a noted increase in marketing trends aimed towards this oft-ignored target market.  AT&T chose to become one of the first mega-companies to focus specifically on depicting LGBT people in their advertising, calling upon commercial photography veteran Tony Garcia to help them out.

The son of an art director, Tony has been shooting for nearly thirty years.  From a young age he was exposed to photography, and took his interest further by attending art school and eventually realizing his dream of becoming a professional shutterbug.  Tony spent years building a name for himself shooting ads for companies like Best Buy and Snapple.  Recently the creative director for Radar Works (the ad agency hired by AT&T) reached out to Tony through his LinkedIn profile and pitched him an assignment: Shoot an ad campaign depicting the gay and lesbian community using AT&T services and devices. 

After eagerly accepting the assignment, Tony got to work casting his shoot and scouting locations.  Rather than focus on stereotypically LGBT imagery, Tony chose to have his subjects in traditional family settings during his shoot – hanging out with their kids and friends, laughing in the park, cooking, etc.  “My goal was to depict this community as I would any other.  It was important to show that we all have the same blood running through us.  Just because a group of people has a label, doesn’t mean they should be depicted as any different than your typical, loving family.”

AT&T loved Tony’s direction and picked seventy five of his shots to run in various print and web campaigns.  Beyond just a paycheck, Tony viewed this as a culturally significant advertising campaign.  This is indicative of change, a positive trend of acceptance in our traditionally conservative society. And as Tony reflects: “If I can be a part of furthering that, well that’s just fine with me.”

Check out more of Tony’s great work on his FoundFolios portfolio.

Sue Barr is Trapped in Suburbia

A fleet of luxury minivans driven by soccer moms navigate down a picket fence lined street.  A familiar postman (Was his name John? Jim maybe? Not that familiar I guess) waves as he navigates a meticulously cared for lawn strewn with kids’ toys. Everyone knows everyone, and there are no secrets.  For single mom (by choice) and professional photographer Sue Barr this is her day to day life. Still, it’s clear talking to her that Sue is not cut from the same cloth as these suburban soccer moms – she’s a city gal, living there by default for her work and for her child.  “Trying to balance living in the suburbs with trying to be creative can freakin’ kill you,” Sue comments.  

Still, it has its benefits. Great access to untouched talent, amazing locations that no location scout knows about and a daily inspiration for her imagery. In fact, without the suburbs Sue may never have won a PDN Lifestyle Photo Contest for the above image.  The image actually was conceived by happenstance while Sue was meeting with a client.  Upon exiting the house, the scene in front of her just seemed so idyllic and photogenic that she took out her phone to snap an Instagram shot. Then, her professional instincts kicked in and she grabbed her Nikon 800 SLR and began creating some real shots.  

Although one of the shots which she took ended up winning the PDN contest, Sue wanted to share more of the imagery with the public.  She posted a story “ suburban happy Hour” about her life in the burbs on Suburban Bliss, just one of the two blogs she somehow finds time to manage.  

One of the clear standout images from this shoot is one of a little girl with her face painted on a tricycle, playing by herself apart from the group of kids in the background.  Sue really connected with this image. “That’s how I feel, you know.  I’m out there in the world creating art and no one is paying attention!  Everyone is so busy with their cookie cutter lives and schlepping their kids around that they forget about the world around them.”

Sue’s undeniably unique style has led to the success she has seen to date as a photog shooting campaigns for Proctor and Gamble, Colgate Palmolive and numerous other commercial and editorial clients. She has a real knack for controlling her subjects and making her shots seem spontaneous yet posed at the same time.  With a little humor and a lot of idealism, Sue shoots the worlds as she perceives it.  She believes everyone should look natural but also look good. The style she developed shooting personal and private work absolutely bleeds into her commissioned work –  and advertisers are beginning to take note.  “Moms look at my photos and go ‘I want to be that Mom.’  Advertisers want moms to feel that way,” Sue notes.  

For more of Sue’s work check out her FoundFolios portfolio.

Rob Grimm Drinks It In

Rob Grimm knows how to make a person hungry — his meticulously planned food and beverage shots have been used in ad campaigns for mega companies from Heinz to Kraft to Bacardi.  In order to make his shots “look spontaneous while making it meticulously planned,” Rob frequently collaborates with food stylist Nir Adar.  The above mouth-watering shot of an over-easy egg resting on top of a burger is a fabulous example of this “planned spontaneity.”  Notice how the pepper is perfectly arranged on top of the white of the egg, while the yellow yolk glistens with carefully applied droplets.    

Hungry yet?  That isn’t a coincidence.  Rob painstakingly ensures that every food product he shoots is seen in its most appetizing light.  He uses carefully arranged lighting setups and a 120 mm macro lens to get razor sharp resolution on exactly the right area he is shooting.  “I find that food becomes much more appetizing when a lot of it falls off into soft focus.  It gives it a little bit of mystery, and makes you want to eat it even more.”

Although Rob’s primary photographic passion is shooting food and beverage, he dabbled in architecture photography in college, and even sometimes ventures into the land of location shooting.   Even though he doesn’t really market himself as a location photographer, he finds that it helps him hone his craft in general.  “I enjoy shooting locations because it allows me to think about my shots in a different way.” 

The son of a photography teacher, the St. Louis-based photographer grew up with a darkroom in his house.  Raised in that environment, it is little surprise that Rob gravitated towards photography as a career.  This paired with an early gig at a studio that specialized in in-studio product shots led Rob to develop a natural eye for how liquid refracts light.   He quickly realized that shooting food and drink was the only way to slake his thirst for creativity.

For more of Rob’s tantalizing imagery, visit his FoundFolios portfolio.

Scott Lowden’s Lord of the Flies

Scott Lowden is a self-described “compulsive photographer.”  Wherever he goes a camera his in tow, ready to capture beautiful imagery, fleeting moments, or just some inspiration for later.  Scott is always on the lookout for interesting visuals, or unique settings for a shoot.  Driving down Route 309 in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, Scott found both these things.

Every holiday driving through the Northeast, Scott would pass by an abandoned machine shop in Hazelton.  Rather than see something worthy of fright (as most people who have seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre would), Scott saw a photo opportunity.  His gears started turning, imagining the cool little widgets that may have been made inside once upon a time.  “Somehow I was able to convince the parents of a few nieces and nephews to let me bring their kids into this tetanus-ridden environment to create some fun imagery.”

Borrowing some clothes from LA’s Blu Pony Vintage, Scott gathered his family together to recreate “a super light version of Lord of the Flies.”  The abandoned shop truly did look like a place that time forgot, complete with broken windows, abandoned work papers, and ubiquitous greenery.  The kids posed as if they were characters in the William Golding novel and they were in charge of this place.  A few key props from a nearby Salvation Army and dollar store completed the look.  Scott shot the kids making toasts, playing on abandoned desks, and generally being children in this out-of-place adult world.   

For more of Scott’s whimsical lifestyle work, check out his FoundFolios portfolio.

Church Gig Brings Andrew Buchanan Full Circle

As an architectural, interior and land-design photographer, Andrew Buchanan often works with designers and marketing pros to show off finished projects, share great new concepts, and demonstrate specific lifestyles. His clients will be the first to tell you that his work is technically brilliant, but Andrew believes that sometimes it’s the raw emotion behind each image that gives every shot its own special feel.

In fact, he traces his successful sixteen-year career to an emotional moment in the late 1990s. The would-be artist was visiting his brother in the U.S. armed services, then stationed in England. During the trip to the U.K., Andrew decided to indulge his love of history by photographing stone churches, many of which were up to 800 years old—and it was then the young man started realizing he could make a living doing this.

Recently that epiphany from bygone days came full circle when Andrew completed his “photographer’s dream job”: shooting a suburban Episcopal church, inside and out, for a forthcoming coffee table book.

“I spent several days simply making beautiful images that highlighted the very best features of the church,” Andrew shares, and while he greatly enjoys his regular routine of shooting residential and commercial spaces, hotel projects and other “destination properties,” it was this church gig that brought his love of history and photography together once again.

Click here to see more of Andrew’s lovingly crafted visions of the spaces where we live, work and play.

Pam McLean Cruises To The Top

A passport heavy with stamps, Pam McClean has traveled to the world’s most beautiful destinations for business (a maybe just a bit of pleasure).  Her career as a commercial photographer has afforded her the opportunity to visit idyllic locales from Alaska to Tahiti to Italy and beyond. 

Recently Pam was commissioned by Uniworld Cruise Lines to do a shoot for a new brochure advertising their recently launched riverboat cruises in Portugal and Italy.  She had chased the client for about six months before she was finally able to convince them to take a chance and hire an American photographer to do the shoot as opposed to a cheaper, more local European photographer. 

So, Pam packed her bags and flew across the pond.  The Portugal shoot was a breeze, as she was primarily shooting the ship’s architecture and there were no hiccups.  It wasn’t until she hopped a tiny, rickety plane with her two crew members and flew to Venice that the shoot got a bit tricky. 

The plan was to sail from Venice to Verona, passing through iconic cities like Bologna, Vicenza, and Padua.  Pam’s mission was to get amazing lifestyle shots on the water and in the cities.  “Italy was fabulous, and it was so easy to get permits to shoot there.  Venice and Verona both have awesome film commissions that allowed my small crew to pull permits with no problem.”  Although the human element of the shoot presented no issues, mother nature had other plans. 

Due to the innumerable bridges on the Po River, it was critical for the ship to leave dock before the waters rose too high for the ship to pass safely underneath a particularly low bridge outside Verona.  If not, they would have been stuck on the wrong side!  The ship cleared the overpass by mere inches, but once on the other side, it had no place to dock.  The boat had no choice but to anchor in the river until the waters receded and they were able to transfer to an available dock the next morning.  This monkey wrench delayed Pam and her crew almost half a day, and they didn’t make it to their shoot location (Juliet’s balcony in Verona) by their reserved shooting time.  Knowing she still had to get the shots, Pam bought tickets like any other tourist and did the entire photo shoot amid throngs of sightseers and schoolchildren all craning for a glimpse of the famous balcony.  A few hours of guerilla-style shooting later, the small crew was able to get the shots they needed.

Thanks to the efforts of Pam and her team, Uniworld Cruises absolutely loved the final product.  In fact, within hours of the brochure hitting shelves, Pam got a call to shoot next year’s brochure.  Talk about instant karma!

For more of Pam’s luxurious lifestyle work, visit her FoundFolios portfolio.

Kenneth Ruggiano’s Got it Covered

Oklahoma based photographer Kenneth Ruggiano has a flair for shooting editorial with a style.  His work clearly reflects his fine arts background, and his unique editorial work has been featured in Forbes and ESPN Magazine.  A few weeks ago Kenneth landed one of four coveted cover shots for the most recent issue of The Hollywood Reporter.  The job was to shoot NBA superstar Kevin Durant, but not in his typical OKC Thunder basketball jersey.

Kenneth got the gig by standing out through his impressive portfolio. “Oklahoma is such a small market that most major publications don’t really know anyone there.”  Thankfully THR reached out to Kenneth’s agency Redux Pictures, and they recommended him as the man for the job.  It was so last minute that Kenneth only received the email about the job a mere 24 hours before he was supposed to shoot it!  “The nature of shooting celebrities is that schedules are up in the air until the last moment.  I didn’t know if the shoot was definitely on, but I rented some extra gear and lights just in case.”  Thankfully Kevin Durant was able to clear a half hour of his busy schedule for Ken.  However, the hurdles didn’t end there.

The original plan was to shoot at Durant’s lavish downtown Oklahoma City apartment, but on the day of the shoot, Kenneth’s team was informed that they’d need to find a new location.  After scrambling to find a new spot (the magazine didn’t want to shoot in a hotel room, and shooting outdoors was a no go due to security concerns), Kenneth finally had a stroke of genius.  He reached out to a friend at the Oklahoma City chamber of commerce who put him in touch with the manager of Devon Tower, a newly constructed high rise with a gorgeous rotunda area which would be perfect for the assignment.  Kenneth quickly agreed and scrambled with his crew and his gear to get there and set up the shoot. 

After setting up, Kevin Durant arrived in a t-shirt and camouflage pants ready to pose for Kenneth’s camera.  “I was actually excited because I think this is one of the only times where KD has been photographed in street clothes and not a basketball jersey,” Kenneth recalls.  After thirty minutes of shooting, Durant had to be whisked away to his next appointment.  What Kenneth’s crew didn’t realize was that one of the photos they took was going to be selected for the cover of The Hollywood Reporter’s first annual sports issue. 

In fact, the magazine never formally told Kenneth that they were going to run it on the cover, although they were ecstatic with what he produced.  “I actually didn’t find out it was going to be on the cover until a friend linked me to a picture Durant had posted on his Instagram feed,” Kenneth said. 

To see more of Kenneth’s artistic editorial work, check out his FoundFolios portfolio.

Marcy Maloy Says Cheese(burgers)

When Bay Area photographer Marcy Maloy got the call to do a billboard shoot for The Child Mind Institute, she jumped at the opportunity to be able to help such a good cause.  As a lifestyle and child photographer, this project was close to Marcy’s heart.  The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to educating the world about oft-ignored mental health issues which plague children.  The basis for the shoot was to convey the fact that every year we spend 300 times more money on fast food than on children’s mental health research.  Marcy hoped that doing the shoot would contribute, even just a little, to reducing this shameful statistic. 

The art director behind the project was an architect in her previous career, so she was able to build this mountain of real hamburgers with only toothpicks holding the structure together.  They left a tiny space for Marcy’s five year old subject to fit underneath.  Due to ever present fog, Marcy had to use strobe lights to simulate a sunny day (a rare occurrence in the Bay Area).  

Once the scene was set, Marcy told her subject that they were playing a game and that she had to hide under the mountain of burgers and stay as still as possible.  After only about three minutes of shooting, Marcy had the images she needed.  The Child Mind Institute loved the work and ran one of the photos as a huge billboard piece.  As for the burgers?  Let’s just say that Marcy’s crew went home with full and happy bellies.

For more of Marcy’s superb snaps, check out her FoundFolios portfolio.

Len Villano: That’s The Spirit!

There’s no doubting Len Villano’s spirit. And thanks to his amazing lens work, there’s no doubting the spirit in his subjects, even the inanimate ones.

The Wisconsin-based photographer (and artist, musician, songwriter, producer and architect) specializes in natural landscapes and wildlife. As he did in the above shot (part of an autumnal solo gallery show dubbed “Seasons of Light”), he focuses on what he calls “the spirit within” his subjects – on capturing the essence of what makes something unique, even if that something appears to be just another hill or tree.

“I try to capture the spirit, so it’s no longer an image of a generic tree but of a specific tree, with all its character,” Len says.

The photo editor of the Peninsula Pulse newspaper and Door County Living magazine (and a founding member of the North American Nature Photography Association) spends most of his time exploring Wisconsin’s beautiful wilds, hunting the right image, the right color, the right light.

“I look for subjects that have outstanding color and wait for the perfect light to bring out all the color,” Len notes, adding he often shoots after dusk and before dawn.

He brings that same artistic intensity to all his fine art and commercial work (including an ongoing project for the United Dairy Farmers of Michigan), but arguably Len’s best work happens when he’s knee-deep in nature, shooting projects like “Seasons of Light.” His ability to bring out those inner spirits is uncanny … to see nature’s beauty, even if nature doesn’t always see his.

“I was photographing a porcupine who was not concerned with my presence at all,” Len recalls. “I was able to approach very close and was surprised at how friendly she was. Then I heard some hissing sounds and looked down, and at my feet there were three of her babies who weren’t happy with my presence and didn’t want me near their mother. I obliged and left.”

Click here to see more of Len’s spirited work.

Kim DeMarco’s Favorite New Yorker Cover

Artist and designer Kim Demarco has enjoyed what many illustrators would consider a dream career.

Her work appears often on the cover of The New Yorker magazine and in The New York Times; her A-list advertising clients include Kate Spade, Harrod’s and the New York Public Library; she’s graced the faculties at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Parsons School of Design and Philadelphia University.

But ask Kim, currently a Senior Lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, to pick a favorite professional memory, and she’s likely to recall this New Yorker cover, which led off the magazine’s 2007 holiday issue.

Of all her New Yorker covers, all the commercial assignments she’s completed for Mikasa and Barney’s New York, this snowy cityscape holds a special significance for the artist for two reasons.

The first, she says, is simple: “I love New York City. I lived in the city for many years and it’s the place where I really developed as an artist.”

The second reason this memory stands out is that New Yorker covers are almost always conceived by the artists who create them, and she was “honored” when New Yorker Art Editor Francoise Mouly selected this wintry homage to the Big Apple for the magazine’s prestigious end-of-year cover.

"It’s one of the few areas in illustration where one can propose his or her own idea or perception," Kim notes. "A kind of visual editorial."

Click here to see some of Kim’s other New Yorker covers and more of her top-shelf work.

Andy Wakeman Designs For Good

Shad Wilson: Welcome to the Machine

Photographer Shad Wilson comes from a construction-business family, and as such he’s always been around heavy machinery.

So it makes perfect sense that when he took up photography – first as a hobby, later as a profession – he gravitated toward big, metal subjects with lots of moving parts, even if “large, curved pieces of shiny metal aren’t the easiest things to shoot.”

In the machinery world, they don’t get much larger or curvier than jumbo jets, so when Oneworld Alliance needed some plane shots for an ad campaign scheduled to run throughout Australia and the UK, the airline consortium – which counts British Airways and Qantas among its members – naturally turned to the Texas-based photographer who considers “the largest aircraft, particularly the 747,” his favorite subjects.

“It is always impressive to be next to something so large that flies,” Shad says.

The artist didn’t necessarily intend to become one of the planet’s preeminent machinery photographers. At first, he shot mostly portraits – until a company that had previously hired him for a national-magazine portrait of its CEO tapped him to shoot their mining equipment.

Shad knew he’d come full circle, uniting his love of photography with his affinity for machines. That first gig led to other mining shots, then a job shooting planes for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, then separate assignments for major league airlines including American and Lufthansa, and now his big Oneworld shoot.

“I still love making portraits, not that I get to do that much anymore,” Shad says. “But I really enjoy the technical challenge to shooting machines.”

Click here to see more of Shad’s machine-like precision.

John Butler Brews Up Something New

An avid beer lover, John Butler had been looking for a way to combine his love of suds with his love of photography.  “It’s easy to fill your portfolio with shots of beer against a white background, but I wanted to do something different.”   After much brainstorming, the Toronto photographer landed on a quite original way to merge the two.  John decided to showcase his favorite beers alongside identifiable features of their country of origin. 

John had previously done work for high profile beer companies like Labatt and Flying Monkey, so he treated the process as if he were working with an art director for one of those companies.  He was familiar with the style that beer companies like to see, and tried to mimic this style with his own work.  “For Guinness I chose the green hills and valleys of Ireland.  Japan has this really stark contrast between the peace of the rural areas and the fast-paced city scene, so I tried to show that in the Sapporo ads I mocked up.”  And of course he paid homage to his native Canada with a snow and ice themed Molson ad.

John hopes to continue his journey in beer photography and expand his body of work.  He loves the challenges that photographing liquids presents, and relishes any opportunities to work with such a delicious subject.  “The challenge is balancing something that’s both see-through and reflective at the same time.  And of course there are branding issues with the size of the head, color of the liquid, type of glass, etc.”   For now, John plans to turn his mock adverts into a tabletop book to showcase his original concepts.  And the amateur microbrewer may eventually be photographing his own homemade beer somewhere down the line as well.

For more of John Butler’s sudsy snaps, check out his FoundFolios portfolio.