Misc. Archives

Stack

I woke up this morning home again and happy, even if zombie-esque, until I saw my large stack of mail and to-dos forming a crumb trail between the front door and bedroom. Luckily the 2-week stack includes a handful of checks along with the bucket full of bills, and a couple of new summer clips to share, beginning with my profile of remarkable explorer and submariner Capt. Alfred McLaren, retired U.S. Navy seen in the new month's Men's Journal. I'm really pleased with the clip and give big props to picture editor Jennifer Santana for choosing this select, which I think fits in well with a nice July issue overall for the MJ crew. Thanks Jenn for the gig, and many thanks to you, Capt. Fred, for a great morning shoot.

Next up is new client CRM Magazine, who commissioned me to do a cover of Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer back in March during a conference in Orlando. CRM is not a magazine that uses much, or really any, photography (other than some stock), so I was interested to see how they would manage the shoot, which was made complicated by Balmer, who I found to basically be an über-hyper child. He's a rich and powerful dude, and obviously can do whatever he wants, but out of the 15 minutes we were promised I got about 45 seconds, during which he would not give me a single straight face, even though he knew that the tone of the piece was about his serious and bold leadership role. Instead of being the picture of a CEO that the client wanted he opted to act like a giant ass. Note to Microsoft PR: if your CEO doesn't want to do photo shoots, then just don't have him agree to do them; I couldn't care less either way. From the looks of last month's Business Week cover, Balmer is an ass no matter which magazine shows up.

CRM really stepped up though and handled the tanked formal portrait aspect of the shoot by leaning on the documentary photography I shot during Balmer's keynote address. Fist-pound (Michelle Obama style, baby!) goes to designer Laura Hegyi for the opening spread use (which was my favorite image from the shoot based on Balmer's apparent disconnect from, uh, sanity?). Nice work, Laura!

I'm going to wrap up my morning of catch up and head north to see The Fiancée who is at Baby H.Q. with her sister. I come bearing Japanese gifts, and am excited for a bit of post-vacation vacation before the show starts back up again on Monday. Have a good weekend and enjoy these other favorites.

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Final approach

The trip home from Japan has landed me in San Francisco for a 23-hour layover that I have used to basically just sleep my ass off in Marriott's comfy beds. I'm excited to get home home, though English-speaking "home" is nice too, and I celebrated being back in the States with a first meal of a turkey bacon club and a half bottle of Cabernet. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes my body to re-adjust. I was so tired this morning when I landed at SFO that I took the wrong hotel shuttle twice. There are just too many separate Marriott properties.

At dinner I watched the tribute to Tim Russert and thought about how we respond to and are influenced by the passing of icons. For some reason I began thinking about Bresson's recent death and the total non-affect that it had on my life or work, considering his stature in my specific profession. But Russert's passing has had me reeling and thinking in double-time; just as it created a loud gasp of shock and sadness in our Kyoto hotel room from my sister.

I watched Meet the Press but I wasn't devoted nearly as much as other friends of mine. What I now miss and always respected, though, is how Russert conducted himself and represented within media and the sad, diseased, dark corner of our industry perversely titled broadcast journalism. Through his passion, preparation, and intelligence he elevated the form to some of its former Murrow-era glory and partially suspended the "left" vs. "right" talking points insane 24-hour, time-filling exercise of TV news (which reminds me of the Seinfeld joke about how the only reason that people exercise is to be in good enough shape to exercise more).

The take-away from Russert's life of joy and early death should be for all of us to try to bring just a percentage of his integrity to our work. Let his passing challenge journalists around the world to work harder and better to inform citizens without insulting them with make-believe drama, fear mongering, and laziness.

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Notes on a redesign

Celebrating the conclusion of my 5th year of successful freelancing I decided that JohnLoomis.com should have a new and dynamic home created this year that would be the website that I've always wanted for my photography. Originally I hoped to use the project as a launching pad to become an advanced web designer myself (I've designed every version of JL.com since the beginning), but that idea was eventually scrapped (see "Expert") because web design on that level is a distraction from my core goals. So I decided to hire a true expert and begin the process to help create the new site. A lot of us are (or will be soon) doing the same, so I thought I'd take some notes.

Before I even thought of making of list of designers, friends, and firms I'd like to approach with my project I began with a list of ideas and goals that the website should fulfill. Just like a photo editor needs to understand what they want with the direction of a story before they begin to call a photographer to shoot it, I wanted to have a clear image of the new site in my head before I both entrusted it someone else and allowed it to take the twist and turns I knew it would in becoming real. It began with a list of concepts/adjectives:

Permanent; dynamic; BIG; elegant; smart; expensive; image-based; updateable; cohesive.

Those few words had a few thousands words behind them which represented the history of JL.com and of my brand concept for my work and business. Because I've been so hands-on with my websites and branding I knew that I was basically a nightmare client -- knowing enough to be a total pain in the ass, but also knowing too little to truly handle it myself. Here is a condensed list breakdown.

Permanent, dynamic, & BIG: As the lead designer, I have routinely gotten bored with my site on at least an annual basis and (with a weekend of free-time from assignments) completely revamped the whole thing (because I could, and because my skills have never been significant enough to allow me to create something truly lasting). So one of the first big things I wanted with a redesign was to create something I could be happy with for a "long" while (3 years). The new site would be coming after many years of HTML DIY projects which worked well enough, but if I was going to hire someone to do something, it should be something truly dynamic and exploding the simplicity of my former sites. Ditto for the size and scale of the new project... it should be a statement; it should feel BIG. Capital Letters, shouting, "I Am Here, PE's, AB's, AD's, & CD's of the World!"

Elegant, smart, & expensive: I wanted the first impression of the new site to wow both in terms of the aesthetics of the design, but also in the fluidity of the UX. I wanted something very elegant and thoughtful, but not bulky or needlessly ornate. Though the new project would be a Flash site, it would use Flash to connect things seamlessly, present photography gracefully, and be ready with want you wanted when you wanted it (like a good waiter in a nice restaurant... there and not). The site would be smart; no intro movies, no shutter click sounds; nothing that makes you leap for the close window button. But on top of all of this yin/yang it would ultimately feel high end and expensive, meant to encourage the consideration of my work as a luxury item, not a space-filler. I wanted the new site to be fancy enough to stop some of the bullshit calls we all receive dead in their tracks before I ever had to deal with them. (Hi, I'm an art buyer from McDonald's... we want you to do some publicity photography for us, but I'm afraid our budget is only $450 including expenses). That may sound crass, but I wanted the first time that I talked to a new client to be concerned with photography ideas and possibilities, not budget.

Image-based, cohesive: Lastly the new site was going to be for and focused on photography. I wanted images to speak for themselves and not be dependent on elaborate text and menus upon submenus of information architecture. There should be a joy in exploring the photography, and a freedom of movement throughout the site, allowing users to experience the photography to their own preference (thumbs, BIG images, slideshows). Of course my new site had to have the flexibility and power of a custom backend that would allow me to simply and quickly add and delete new pictures, change text info in a bio, and manage the site without having to send off an e-mail and wait a week. And all of these words ultimately had to paint a picture of a unified set of ideas that made up John Loomis Photography, bringing together the many threads and styles all in a single home which gave them connections. With the new site I would almost certainly be dismantling the JLPFL.com advertising site test, and knew I would be searching for something whole.

To match the wish list was another smaller list of things that the website did not need to be. It did not need to (at this time), fully integrate my archive within my portfolio site; or present (future) multimedia work; or deeply focus on keywording/meta concerns (I knew I wanted a Flash site after all).

With all of those thoughts in mind I created a set of blueprints (Photoshop mockups) of what this dream site actually looked like in a rough sense. I matched those with as articulate and clear of a simple description as I could about what I was hoping to have created: new flash-based portfolio website with a modern, elegant, and dynamic design aesthetic focusing on images rather than words, powered by simple backend CMS solution. I had a short-list of other sites that were inspiring to me in the process (here and here, primarily), and perhaps most importantly I had a potential budget and timetable for the project: $10,000 to $15,000 and 3 to 4 months.

My project request went out to 8 potential designers, both small and large, half of which never got back to me in any real way (that's how it is, I wasn't upset). I got concrete bids from 3 firms and they ranged very widely, both above and below my budget. I got a lot of advice from friends, and considered working with a close friend on the project but decided against that for various reasons. Before choosing my new designer I got in touch with several of their former clients (always important), all of whom professed a deep admiration for their methods, communication (before, during, and after launch), quality, and delivery.

Ultimately the job was awarded to Arseni and iHouse Design largely because I found their sites to not only be done in a clean, modern style, but especially because they felt pretty bullet-proof, unlike a lot of other designers out there (where everything looks nice until you check under the hood and bug after bug appears causing a potential viewer to have to refresh and start over in the site). iHouse had a clear picture of what I wanted, an aggressive time-table that included a penalty for late delivery (my idea), and a pretty incredible budget (bang for the buck, wise). Working with Arseni, I received a full sitemap and the first round of designs (full mockups in browser) within a week of my initial payment! Last week we completed the design of the new site after at least 4 rounds of back and forth, and are moving on to the interface/UX before testing and then launch.

I'll close out this first post with some last notes on working with a designer. As I've already said Arseni has been great to work with, but communicating about design (especially without the right vocab) can be tricky, especially if you are a pain in the ass client (like me). After using straight up words to try to describe detailed corrections to the first 2 rounds of designs, I gave up and decided to literally bring the designs into Photoshop and use the much more plain and powerful language (considering my ignorance) of lines and symbols, using the pen, line, and annotation tools directly on top. The effect was immediate. The next set of designs was 99% perfect.

I would also advise anyone in the same process to think a lot about whether what they actually are looking for is a programmer instead of a designer. To some degree I was looking for both, but understanding the difference makes things much clearer if you want your own ideas executed exactly without creative input. A designer (more expensive, typically) is going to take your ideas and needs and run with them. A programmer (less $) is going to take your sketch and make it a reality. If you are already a good designer, or have a very, very clear idea of what you want, you may be able to save some cash by finding a programmer, but your overall project might suffer (especially in the details).

That's the end of Part 1 of this adventure. Sorry to not illustrate anything with examples of the new site, but it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I did, would it?! Part 2 will follow the new site's launch in early fall.

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My, my, me

Just wrapping up transmitting the final images from my last shoot (a really fun one for Bicycling Magazine) during a busy week down in the already sweltering Magic City, and I need to download some of the heavy thinking I've been doing all morning over the role of the Me in contemporary photography/modern media since reading (nearly got through 2 pages before I fell out of my chair while sputtering "who fucking cares?!") of the cover story in this weekend's NYT Mag. If you are scratching your heads, Rachel has a blurb about it as well.

The first two competing thoughts is that the pairing of a navel-gazing, blogger girl, writing about how revealing incredibly personal attitudes and details about her relationship might (ya think?!) not work out that well in the end, with self-centric extraordinaire art photographer Elinor Carucci is both a stroke of genius and almost, well, plain gruesome. That thought and gross aftertaste is quickly followed mentally by trying to settle myself down that ego in art (are those actually even two distinct words?) and photography is as old or older a pairing than the sun and moon, and that there is nothing inherently bad or wrong about any artist turing their medium on themselves, in fact there are all kinds of things wrong about some artists, especially photojournalists, if I can nudge it under the "A-word" banner, ignoring their own subjective contribution to any attempts at objectivity.

OK, I haven't said anything yet. So here goes... Even though I love many, many classical examples of self-examinations (van Gogh's self portraits, to just blurt out the first of a long, long list), and deeply admire any photographer who puts themselves into their work in theory or fact, I'm so fucking sick of the role of Me in contemporary photography, and by extension in all media. I'm so sick of the mental strain of hearing about someone talk about themselves as if they have lived so importantly or rarely that we need to hear about it again and again.

For the longest time I didn't get Brokaw's The Greatest Generation stuff and how he kept hammering that tune over and over, but now I really get it. The man was going to kill himself he was so crazy of all of the Me noise that is everywhere. He had to find people outside of his life to tell stories about who had something to share, who had lived! for fuck's sake.

What this cover story represents to me is continued and complete disintegration of people looking outside of their own lives, no matter how banal or arrogant, for the ideas and diving boards for their story-telling, true or fictional. We see this annoying slide all over the place, even in places that were once truly special islands of thought and concern, like the radio show This American Life, which recently seems to be nothing more than a never-ending march of mediocre writers telling mediocre tales from their typical adolescent memories in a monotone voice only slightly heightened by the producer's good taste in background music. So at this point if you have ever been slightly to severely depressed, or had parents who were, or maybe not but they got divorced, or maybe you watched too much TV, or maybe you grew up in the suburbs or were not the most popular kid, or are just a marginally good writer... then you too can broadcast your "personal reflections" on all of the not that interesting shit that has brought you to this moment in your life. How about another memoir of a 20-something year old?! Or maybe an independent film about you and your friends doing very little?! But whatever you do, do not forget the dead pan look/tone/mood, though -- that's everything, baby!

I'm sure Emily Gould is a cool person and that the story will mean something to many, even if it only serves to break out debates in coffee shops (I think that's the editor's hand seen right here, folks), and maybe even force parents to pad lock the laptops of America and force the kids outside (while they blog about how kids are spending too much time online).

But I'd like it to stand for the bigger point that even if your life is really interesting... someone else's is still infinitely more interesting. As important as any artist is in the choices of creation, they don't have to be both the medium and the message. You can have personal vision without only photographing your fucking self (in your bosses office, maybe...). Please get out of your own fucking heads, out of your doors, and go out and find something and someone that is worth describing. You are not the story.

In closing, to be fair and in full disclosure... I don't consider myself to be important in anyway to the viewing of my photography. Knowing anything about me is completely irrelevant I hope to learning about the subjects who have honored my work by allowing me access. Whatever grace I have documented or transmitted was not mine. Whatever skills I possess I hope to drain completely into the story and not my recording of it. My life and work are not the same thing. I would much rather be known as a good reporter than as a great artist. And my greatest desire is to lead an interesting life, filled with meeting many unique souls who have really lived, and share that in truth.

Follow-up: In a Q&A posted on 5/27 with some of the many, many comments (1200 at last count) that Ms. Gould's article received via NYTimes.com over the holiday weekend, Emily said she was now sorry for the choice of art that accompanied the story, and furthermore that she understands and expected all of this bashing. Sigh.

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Caught up

While I've been sleeping on the blog a few things have stacked up lately that I've been meaning to share. Most notably, a couple of weeks ago I was honored to learn that my portrait of nurse Fonza Luke will appear in the 2008 CommArts photo annual. I've always liked flipping through each new CA, and am excited to land my first image in the book, especially for an image which meant something to me. Many thanks also go to Geoffrey Hiller, who has very kindly featured me on today's Verve Photo.

The above clip is from my portrait of Miami emerging rapper Ace Hood that appeared in June's XXL. On a related though sour note, due to a new and insanely shitty contract that they are asking photographers to sign, the Ace shoot was probably my last for the magazine and its sister pubs King and Rides (Harris Publishing) until they strike out the rights-grabbing language in paragraph 4 of said contract. I don't imagine they are worried about losing me as a contributor, but I would deeply encourage every photographer to think very carefully before signing their heinous agreement (which is effectively retroactive in its rights-grabbing back to every job you've ever shot for them). Regardlessly, here is another frame I liked from the gig with Ace, who was a great subject.

And here are a few more loose ends: a portrait of art collector and patroness Ella Fontanals-Cisneros shot for the German magazine Park Avenue, a pre-dawn landscape of my little townhouse community that is a part of a little personal thing I'm working on, and finally a couple of images from my coverage of the '07 Design Miami art fair for Elle Decoration UK (a portrait of photographer turned designer Stuart Haygarth in front of his "Drop Chandelier," and a detail of Mike Meiré's The Farm Project kitchen.)

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Welcome to Miami

This is my third year back in Miami (I was born here, my family has lived here for generations, but I've only worked professionally here since 2006) and I thought it would be fun and informative to create a mini welcome guide to doing business in the city as a freelance editorial photographer.

Weather, locale, getting around.

So welcome to Miami and good luck. It's a great place to have fun and a great place to watch shrink away in your rearview mirror or your way home. Shooting here can be easy, breezy, but just as often it's a total hassle. A lot depends on the time of year and on location.

To begin with, Miami isn't that big of a place, even though it stretches for miles and miles. Only certain parts even feel like a big city, and if you are coming here for a shoot you probably only need to know 2 places: the airport and South Beach (Miami Beach south of 23rd St). Getting here is not hard with dozens of daily directs into MIA or FLL, but god help you if you are coming in from out of the country (esp. at MIA). Arriving and hoping not to need to get a rental car? Dream on, you're going to need one. Why?, well for one our taxis are total shit and very expensive. Even if they weren't, our mass transit is non-existent and mostly useless, on top of most of everything you'll need being 10 miles and 25 minutes away from each other. If you are just going to be at one hotel in South Beach and then right out on the beach next to it, you are probably fine. But if you have multiple locations or a tight deadline, you need a rental. Sorry.

And even though I said you need a rental car, let me go ahead and apologize about the traffic/maniacs on the road here. Yes, its true (and verified by a nationwide poll in 2007), traffic and drivers in Miami are fucking horrible. There, I said I was sorry and I warned you.

Life in Miami is broken into two distinct periods of time: season vs. not. During season (roughly December (Art Basel) until May (Mother's Day)) hotels are booked with a million conventions and vacations, rental houses are empty because of the commercial shooters, and everything is more expensive; the upside is that the weather is heaven (mid-70's with a breeze and lots of sun). During off-season the place heats up (mid-90's+ and humid) and empties out. All of the snowbirds head back to fucking New Jersey or wherever and its easier to get deals on hotels and flights. You are going to sweat your ass off, but hey, nothing is perfect; plus down here no one dresses up for anything except the clubs, which you should stay away from anyway, so you'll be comfy in shorts and flip-flops.

Just as an aside, even though Miami and the Keys are very close relative to New York and, say, Chicago, they are not really that close at all practically speaking. Therefore, you can not shoot in the Keys but be based in Miami - you can try but you'll spend the entire time driving between on US-1/Overseas Hwy, which is not a fun thing to do (trust me). Key West is a good, long 2-lane drive away and just like an island in the Caribbean, it operates on its own time and has scarce local resources (no rental, no film, no assistants, no problem mate!).

Sleeping and eating.

Depending on your client and location, staying in SoBe is fun but going to run you between $250-$500+; but you will be within easy walking distance to hundreds of spots to eat, get coffee, jog, and club. Walking distance in Miami is a rare, rare thing. Staying north on the beach will save you money but you'll have very few appetizing options if you care about food. Another option is staying in Miami proper (I would unless its your first trip), but most of the hotels are either in downtown (no man's land after 5 p.m. generally), Aventura (Jewish 70+ paradise of mall shopping and corporate eating), Doral (way, way West of Miami only convenient for golfers), South/Red Road (near University of Miami campus and nothing else), or near the Airport (just close you eyes and pick randomly at that point).

OK, so you have a hotel, but where to eat. Like any major city Miami has a lot of everything and every major chain, but there are some highlights you should know about. If you must have a steak in Miami, it should probably be at one of the many Argentinian or Brazilian carnivor-a-thons dotting the landscape. There is a general consensus that you must try some of the Cuban fare (most famous is Versailles in Calle Ocho (SW 8th)), but just make sure you have plenty of time for a nap afterwards. If you love Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Ethiopian, Chinese, or Mexican food then sorry, you should really just wait until you are back home. Instead pick just about any seafood, Italian, Russian, or Latin spot and you'll probably be fine (hit up OLA on James Ave. in SoBe for great nuevo-Latin cuisine); even better fuck the good food and capitalize on the great views. If you are a veggie/vegan and don't eat fish, then buy some crackers, baby, it's going to be rough.

Time for work.

With a place to sleep and a full stomach, it's probably time to get some work done, so lets talk about what you'll need to know in terms of shooting in Miami and around South Florida. First of all there are some good rental studios and film labs (well, 2 of each). For rentals check out Aperture Professional and Carousel Studios, and for film labs I like using The Color House. Now if one of these studios can't help you then you are in a spot, because you can not depend on any of the photo shops in Miami to have anything in stock you may need (seriously). But if you don't believe me, the largest is Pitman Photo Supply (way the fuck down in South Miami), and your 2nd (and even more gruesome option) is World Wide Foto (near the Design District). You'll find out very quickly that if you need a piece of pro gear which can't be rented in town, then you are going to either have to bring it with you or have it shipped in from the big boys (sigh, last minute overnight shipping to hotels is AWESOME, right?!).

Speaking of gear its common for photo editors to hear the word Miami and begin to have wet dreams about underwater angles for their assignment, no matter if its a business portrait 10 miles from the ocean. On that score I just recently came across someone who rents pro underwater housings (Stephen Frink Photographic), but if he's out then it ain't going to happen. Do what I've been advised to do and buy yourself a Canon G9 with a housing (both are out of stock in Miami, I bet you $20).

OK, moving on. If you are shooting on the beach you technically are going to need a permit. I've shot on the beach dozens of times and never had one but I don't have big sets with lots of gear. So if you are planning on a full-day shoot or big operation you should be smart and give the City of Miami Beach a call just in case. When shooting on the beach you absolutely are going to want to have a few things: a beach cart (photo gear cart with large tires for the sand), a photo hood or screen for seeing laptops or even chimping, either tie downs, many assistants, or MANY sand bags, and sunscreen (duh), dark sunglasses, and/or a hat (getting burnt is no fun). If you like using large soft boxes, scrims/flags, or anything else (common sense alarm) you are either going to hire a small army to keep them secure and in the right orientation or are going to be smart and leave the 5' octodomes or (eek) 12x12's at home and use a beauty dish instead. Beauty dishes are worth their weight in gold in Miami because its always windy.

Miami has a lot of very good commercial assistants (so I hear) because of the advertising and film work that is constantly going on down here. However, it does not have that many decent editorial assistants. You really can't depend on finding local help at the $200 range last minute down here unless you have a friend who owes you a favor. Instead have the client eat another plane ticket and get something who you can depend on. That being said, you don't need to worry about finding good local stylists of any stripe (hair, makeup, wardrobe, etc). There are plenty in Miami who have a ton of experience and most of them are great to work with. And because this is party central, catering is not going to be a problem either.

Unlike New York, most of Miami is not so media savvy that you'll need pay for access to use a location (usually). Most of them are totally fine with you shooting as long as you have proof of liability insurance (which you should anyway, right). Also, just like any major city there are many areas that you don't want to get stuck in at the wrong time of day, just be smart about it. It should be said that Miami is much safer than it was in the Cocaine Cowboy days of the 70-80's. Still, stay away from parts of South Miami, Liberty City, Overtown, Opa-Locka, and Hialeah after dark unless you have local assets watching your back.

Summing it all up.

I've certainly missed dozen of things here but this is a solid beginning. I'll try to add to this guide to keep it relevant and to respond to any questions that might come. Hopefully others of you out there can share of your knowledge of working in and out of other major cities that all of us have to spend time in. Atlanta anyone? Houston? Lets see some love get shared!

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Sell out

Apologies for this lapse into practical use of DwaDM, but I've been wheeling and dealing a bit lately and as a result have some excess gear on my hands that I'd like to find a friendly new home.

Mamiya 7 II Med. format (black) camera with Mamiya 80mm f/4 lens - $1750 SOLD

Mamiya super wide angle 50mm f/4.5 lens for the Mamiya 7 II - $1300
Beautiful, super clean, like new condition lens. Selling with optical viewfinder (lens is equal to a 25mm on a 35mm camera), B+W UV filter, front and back caps, and hood. 9/10 rating.
http://tinyurl.com/57eznd

Canon 100 f/2 EF USM lens - $250 SOLD

Epson Perfection 3200 Photo scanner - $30 / OBO
A little outdated but in great shape. Glass is very clean and comes with all cables, holders, and accessories. PC or Mac. 8/10 rating.
http://tinyurl.com/4wy29w

Apple DVI to ADC display adapter - $70
In brand new condition with plastic wrap still on; I only used it for a single week. One of those annoying Apple accessories that if you need it, you need it. 10/10 rating.
http://tinyurl.com/4oq5nu

Mountainsmith Paragon camera daypack - $60 / OBO
Bought new a couple of years ago but only ever used on 1 trip, this bag (which has been discontinued I think) is in perfect condition. Its a great solution for trekking with gear, with daypack storage for personal items or clothes. 9.5/10 rating.
http://tinyurl.com/6ofzkt

I will accept PayPal (International or U.S.) or check for the items (U.S. only, delivery after check clears) and don't mind shipping them anywhere (except for the scanner and daypack). If you are interested send me an e-mail.

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Rattle

After a week of admiration I finally exchanged virtual credit for a virtual copy of the new R.E.M. album Accelerate after watching the Stipe & Co. collaboration with Vincent Moon and the amazing Take Away Show crew. I already knew the album was a return to all of the things that had resounded in me with the band pre-Berry's exit, and had earlier in my older brother Ryan back when we lived in rural Georgia during the Chronic Town days, but it was seeing the band after all of this time and fame open themselves up/bare to something as potentially difficult as indie/DIY live music filmmaking that loosened my purse strings.

If I ever get to the point where I can quantify that I made it in whatever way is important to me, I hope I have the integrity, humility, and passion to risk/disregard that success again with returning back to the beginning and sinking into something hard - such as the subsequent collaboration between R.E.M. and Moon and creation of video web projects NinetyNights and SupernaturalSuperserious. The whole affair, regardless of the outcome, deeply turns me on from a creative perspective. I suppose its the basic reason why we keep moving with Blueeyes...

I was thinking about all of this yesterday when I bounced over to a day-in-the-life post from Timothy Archibald via Rachel/PhotoShelter recounting his recent composite shoot for Runner's World (*RH, this is by FAR your best post yet - thanks). Interspersed with the how do I do this stuff is the note about authenticity and the search for humanity in editorial portraiture and I was struck in the same way again. I had recently been spending a good deal of time on TA's website when preparing my new stripped down best of '08 JL.com update (I think its cool how few images you have there, Timothy - very elegant approach to what you are about), and that play between authenticity/humanity and the logistical challenge of larger productions that create these fictional empty, but very pretty, concept-driven visions was heavy on my mind.

So I guess the way it distills in my head is in thinking about the way that my own editorial work has been shifting (over the last few years) and the way that I've been using and thinking about light. Honestly I've just finally gotten familiar and comfortable with all of the tools of location lighting that I'm really starting to enjoy how I can use it and make it my own, which is perhaps the way that TA feels about the larger productions... its finally become something he is good at so there is an inherent pleasure in pulling them off for his clients.

Last week I bought a fairly polarizing piece of lighting equipment that I had planned on always keeping at a distance because of its constant overuse over the last several years. But with the hope that I can do something different with it I'm excited to open myself to something different and redefine the way that I try to record authenticity in my portraits. Maybe its a bit backwards, but with all of this more I want to try to strip things back and bring the subject forward in a bigger way. Like TA and a lot of us, I suspect, the ultimate judge will be The Fiancée and her wonderful ability to see through all of the bullshit and figure out if I've actually achieved anything at all.

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Give, take

After a bang up first couple of months at JLPFL this year things have slowed lately, just as my personal life has ramped into high gear with wedding and future planning. I've happily spent the time working on some to do list items (I finished the 2007 taxes this morning and dropped them off at my "guy"), and haven't much felt like blogging, though there is no shortage of things to note lately. Such as...

Jackanory calls her the first professional photo blogger... I call her a bit too fascinated with diversion and all of her "amazing" friends (WTF with that 4x5 chick and her comment about the UN?). I guess we all wish Rachel and PS the best with their blogging, but if I was keeping score I would have already called the game weeks ago what with Rob's ever escalating assault on distancing himself from the old guard of publishing. What in the fuck, dude? Can't you give us a few days in between hitting things out of the park? Between the Media phone book wiki, $Free.99/1000 fans piece (the fallout on Editorial Photo is hilarious and sad as fuck), the craziest interview with Chip Simons ever, and now the promotion slideshow (I hope Flickr is going to give you a lifetime Pro membership for getting so many new kids to sign up) I can hardly catch my breath. Uh, maybe you and PhotoShelter should compare notes.

NYC needed another photo happening? Why can't everyone get together instead of constantly creating their own new festival. LOOK wasn't good enough for Magnum, which wasn't good enough for VII, which is now not good enough for Kathy Ryan? Thankfully they got the memo from PDN & American Photography and are charging hefty fees for their first ever photo contest... Hopefully they can get the judges from NPPA to help out. Ahem. Also, are you allowed to have a photo-related event these days without Brian Storm and John Harrington speaking? Is there a by-law?

An editor of mine called me up today to let me know (just in case I happen to see the new issue) that my photo shoot was turned into an illustration at the last minute before production. Uh, ok, sure.

Kevin has just announced a new book(let) of his work, perhaps similar in nature to Allison's zines, though not as official and award-winning (yet) as Andrew's tome. I need to get my shit together and self-publish. Congrats all! You are probably a few short of 1,000 but its a step in the right direction (we hope).

A guy I know just switched back to Nikon after recently deciding that Canon digital is just not sharp enough. He had only switched to Canon from Nikon a couple of years ago. Another friend also recently got rid of all of his medium format digital to go back to Canon because the MF stuff bricked on him over and over again. This all makes me want to sell everything and just rent/lease; if only I was that smart.

To the 14 new co-op photo agencies that started this month with foreign language names meaning "light" or "truth" or "unemployed"... I wish you all the luck in the world!

I received Martin Parr's Common Sense in the mail today after it resided on my Amazon wish list for a coon's age. Love or hate the man, his energy and pairing skills are pretty incredible. Speaking of great photo books, the 2nd in my Master class series is almost ready.

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Expert

Last fall I was prepping files for a new promo card and noticed a couple of new FAQ links my printer had posted on tips for image quality. While waiting for everything to upload to their servers I clicked on a tutorial on sharpening best practices in Photoshop and was stunned that I didn't already know the information. I actually grinned at my realization that even though I have used Photoshop daily for 15+ years I really don't have a fucking clue about 97% of the features, especially in their evolution since PS 3.0 back when I was in high school.

In the spirit of this little lesson that I decided to begin the new year with a sort of mandate to better immerse myself in the applications and techniques of the ever-changing photography universe. The idea was to simply become a more knowledgeable user of programs that I use every day (Photoshop, Lightroom, Dreamweaver, Expression Media, InDesign, Excel) and also begin building a foundation for newer applications that I want to embrace (Flash, Final Cut, Garage Band/Pro Tools). I would try to learn more about the tools I use through research on new camera and lighting techniques, and hopefully also get my newly acquired Super Speed Graphic 4x5 up and running and on assignment for a client.

In short I wanted to move closer to becoming an expert in various parts of my working life.

Thus far, about 200 hours of tutorials (mostly lynda.com) and exercises later, jammed into a very busy opening 8 weeks of the year, I'm experiencing way more mental strain than joy, even though I have learned a few things. I wasn't expecting anything to happen overnight, but the process had led to some interesting internal debates about the cost of expertise.

A case in point is my education towards learning CSS (cascading style sheets), which are used to separate the style and content of a web site. I've always designed my own sites and over the last couple of years it has become very obvious that I'm behind web standards which have deeply embraced CSS. And so I set about to learn more about CSS design with the goal of revamping the internal structure of johnloomis.com and implementing a modest new feature. After 50 hours of learning and tinkering I was really not much further along than before except for a broader understanding of the theory. But what is worse is that I can easily see that 50 more hours will not get me there either, and that 100 hours together is probably not worth my time.

The effort to learn CSS has brought up the larger question of what is it that I want to spend my time learning and doing. Is it web site design? No, it's not. I love design but I don't want it to interfere and confuse my photography goals, because ultimately my interest in design is really only to better present my love of photography. If it was a matter of 100 hours then maybe it would be worth it to become an CSS design expert. But it's probably closer to 1000, or even 5000 hours.

Since having these realizations and debates I've been able to see more clearly the many ways in which I scatter my mental attention and efforts to things which are outside of my core passion. Partly its a way to distract attention from the parts of photography which really aren't that much fun, and partly its the way that we live and work these days... constantly trying to become an expert in everything in order to get the most of it it. I'd like to know more than 3% of Photoshop, but I certainly don't need to know 100% of it because its not really applicable to my work.

I'm not giving up on my experiment but I have refocused it on the applications and techniques that can improve my photography instead of distract it. As for the web site I've decided that I'm better off hiring a professional designer to work on it with me, just like I already have in years past with taxes. Those decisions can be expensive ones but its worth it to keep our eyes on the larger goal.

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Strike 3

Keen blog readers will have no doubt wondered where the promised "On Assignment" post went this week. Heading up to South Carolina early last Saturday on assignment for The New York Times there was a lot the potential for a good one, and in a perverted way its fulfilled that ripe status, despite my never snapping a single frame in 4 days.

Say what? No pictures? What exactly is it that you do again? Yeah, we (my editor and I) ended up being shut out, shut down, and ultimately sent packing, twice. I flew up to Columbia to begin what was supposed to be a full-fledged photo essay for the Sunday Business section of the newspaper, a new effort that the Times is making to spice up the section and focus on something other than portraits of CEOs. We were interested in taking a look at the financial impact of campaigns on primary states, and I was to find and photograph the small business vendors who benefit from the whirlwind of politics sweeping through the state. Everyone agreed that it was a really interesting idea, but that was not enough. Access is the key.

It's a strange thing to dig and dig and dig, making contacts, call backs, e-mails, getting references, having friends drop a name, and editors make repeated pleas, and still to get no where, especially when you are dealing with organizations who are otherwise screaming for attention and coverage. Sometimes this can happen when working on a difficult story for an unknown or disrespected client. But this was for The New York Times, and love them or not, if you are running for something you probably want their attention.

The way that campaigns are run, with schedules being made and broken before breakfast each morning as the tide turns on a dime or newly important issue, makes it incredibly hard to cover the set-up or aftermath of events. All you can really do is keep with the pack and photograph the daily slate of town halls and meet and greets. Rush in with cameras a-blazin', get your snaps, run to the bathroom if you dare, and get back on the bus!! I was trying to stay away from the bus, away from the press corps, and ultimately away from the candidates. Just the vendors, folks. But alas, no.

If you sense a hint of regret present you are not mistaken... I don't like making money not doing my job. I worked hard to try to make the story happen and so did my photo editor, but it fell a part. I'd have much rather it didn't. If I'm going to sit on my ass, I'd rather do it in my own house instead of in a hotel 600 miles away. I did get a chance to hang out with my buddy Rich in Columbia, and had ample opportunity to get the new issue of Blueeyes Magazine on its way out the door. But the return flight home early on Tuesday morning was disappointing.

The silver lining in this cloudy week was that my editor, feeling regretful herself, has already given me a helluva second chance in the form of a week-long assignment down in Costa Rica coming up in early February. Trading Columbia for Costa Rica is basically like bringing in my tried and true Saturn for a tune-up and having it swapped out for a shiny new Audi instead. And I say that even with the vaccinations and malaria medication that I had to spend this week getting fixed up on.

So a toast to the ones that got away, and to the editors who are gracious enough to allow you a second chance at wrangling them to the ground.

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Baby Ruth

Upon landing late last night at Fort Lauderdale airport after a short day in Birmingham on assignment for Mother Jones (hell yeah I fit in lunch at one of my top 5 favorite rib joints: Dreamland), I reflexively checked my watch and immediately realized I would have to be back at the airport in less than 8 hours for this morning's trip up to South Carolina for The New York Times (the complicated details of which I'm probably going to record in an On Assignment post this week). Already pretty on edge from lack of sleep, I literally did a cartoon-like gulp at the thought of returning to Atlanta (I'm here now) en route to anywhere.

After a frenzy of charging, packing, editing, transmitting, e-mailing, booking, reserving, and just a little bit of chatting with the Fiancée (she's very busy and sleep-deprived too these days), I got about 4 hours of sleep before adding some washing, folding, zipping, and driving back to FLL.

Lost in the details of all of this moving around is the why. I know that Robert would really be asking WHY?!, and here is my most recent answer:

Yesterday I had the honor of meeting and photographing an amazing woman named Fonza Luke. I was there because she had been wrongfully terminated after 30+ years of service to a hospital in Birmingham, and after welcoming my assistant and I into her home we both immediately were charmed to pieces by her warmth and perspective. Just meeting her made all of the airport hassle and balancing act shit completely worthwhile.

Before we left Fonza we sat down for coffee with her at the kitchen table and she honored us by showing off a book of pictures of her beautiful family to us. It was incredible because we had just heard a story from her during the shoot about how her only memory of her mother was when she was a very little girl sitting on the front porch of their house. Her mother gave her a Baby Ruth candy bar and then left the house and her family behind forever. Fonza told us that her grandmother spent every cent she ever earned trying to find her and understand why, but they never did.

On the last flight of the day home I finished editing the images of Fonza for my editor and was really excited about a couple of frames. They really felt like authentic portraits of Fonza; they felt rare and beautiful. Though they didn't capture her warmth and joy (they weren't supposed to), they did show the pride and respect she has for her family and herself. I just sat there with the computer in my lap and stared at the screen thinking that I had perhaps managed to make a connection that counted through my work. That's all the reason why I ever need. Thank you, Fonza.

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Six

We had a great time up in north Florida with my family over Christmas and back down in Miami with my older brother Ryan last night to ring in the new year. There was much celebrating and food and drink and joy and it was the end to a really wonderful year. Thanks to all who helped to make it possible, and cheers to all of you that 2008 is even better!

The new year begins my 6th year in business as a full-time freelance photographer (still a spring pup, eh), and I'm celebrating by taking a hard look at my priorities and goals and starting out with a better sense of who I am and what I want as a photographer. Planning is really in the air in our household: multiple upcoming major trips, marriage when, where, and hows, medical residency applications, potential cities to move the JLPXX show on the road, and in general huge work/life decision making going on left and right. For some all of this is incredibly scary stuff, but to me its an opportunity to create lives and careers that are both happy and rewarding.

As far as the blog goes I'm going to be starting the new year appropriately enough with a new feature focusing (again) on documentary project photography. Basically this is just a reason to dig back into the JLPFL photo book library (and kick start several leads I've been turning over) and find fresh inspiration about creating important larger bodies of work. For those who might be interested, first on the list is a favorite from several years ago that I recently have been pouring back over: Jean Gaumy's superb Pleine mer (Men at Sea).

Looking across the office at my dry erase board on the wall I see a list of big ticket items that I'm going to be tackling to begin my 6th year. Most of them are practical (eg. boring) items. Some of them are a bit more abstract. But one that is missing (though is certainly stamped into my brain) happens also to be that my friend Lisa Krantz just expressed in her first 2008 blog post: make pictures that matter!

When I think about what that resolution means, I can see that it truly frames the last five years and what I've learned about the industry and myself. I think that ultimately what happens is that you get bent into making the images that are useful to the clients you have and want to have, and lose a lot of yourself in the process. Its a natural thing to happen and I'm not ashamed about it, but starting this 6th year I don't want to simply "make pictures that matter" anymore. What I really want is to make the pictures that matter to me.

For of whole a lot of reasons there hasn't been nearly enough of the "me" in my work over these five years. Here and there it peeked through, on assignments where I had the passion or time to really try stuff. But as I expressed in my recent post about becoming a portrait photographer, I want to be in control of the single sentence that sums up my contribution to photography. And to be in control I've had to come a long way personally to get to a point where I truly care less about my clients than I do myself.

I'm not sure if some of you will get that, but its clear now that I've spent so much time deeply caring and worrying about every little need and penchant even the smallest of my clients might have that I've largely help to undermine the growth of my own vision. Clients matter, sure. But no one ever truly found their path by constantly looking outside of themselves.

Now at the beginning of the 6th year I honestly don't care if the phone will ring. If I miss calls and jobs because I'm busy working at finding my pictures, then that's just fucking how it is. If I've "gone fishing," then they are shit out of luck - better luck next time. And though on individual basis I really do respect my editors and colleagues, when I see them under the wider umbrella of "clients" I'm completely tired of their shit. It's time to do things my way and that's what matters. On with 2008!

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Sprocket

Since leaving Redux in late summer I've made a few moves to form new, non-exclusive partnerships with other agencies that I admire. While I continue to have no interest in finding an editorial rep, I certainly do want to help foster as many potential conduits for new clients to find me and my work. And its in that spirit that I'm excited to announce JLPFL's newest friendly face, Wonderful Machine. Our connection was just made public this week (see above), and is truly in its very, very early stages, but its development is something that I'm really looking forward to watching.

WM and its top dog Bill Cramer are doing something different than the traditional agency business model. Ultimately I see it as something of a hybrid between a full agency and a promotional source firm like At Edge or Blackbook - offering a la carte agency services (negotiating & estimating, production, digital post-production) and a fee-based promotional schedule (but at a fraction of the cost of the bloated source books). There is an additional cooperative system built into this, though that has nothing to do with my interest, but the concept in general is very interesting.

Once things get started up next year (when they begin their fees), I think I'll come to think of Wonderful Machine sort of like a more elite and better produced PDN PhotoServe (which I was a member of for about 3 years and quit recently because it's really taken a nose-dive - damn that redesign is terrible).

I really like that these non-exclusive deals are flexible and can easily be nixed if they aren't playing out for either side. Eventually I hope to find an advertising rep to sign up with to help me steer that side of the JLPFL office in a more focused way, but until then its great to open up new avenues and think about where the industry and role of the agency is headed.

And while I'm speaking of being "open," let me also present an invitation (though its probably for not - aren't all of us readers just photographer's peeking into each other's blogs to have a laugh or waste time?)... but if you are a commercial rep out there and like what you see, do please get in touch!

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Math

Somewhere during the beginning of December I usually remember that back in early May I got really tired of entering data into QuickBooks and therefore really have no clue where I'm at financially heading into the last couple of weeks of the year. This evening while The Fiancée was studying for her pediatrics shelf exam tomorrow (I'd wish you good luck here babe, but I already know you're going to nail it!), I finally did some crunching and the results are pretty much what I expected.

Overall, like a bunch of buddies I've talked with of late, my editorial numbers are down on the year in total days billed and total number of jobs. The good news is that they aren't as low as I was expecting when things were dead slow over the summer and into August (I was worried about a sub 60-day mark). As of this moment I'm less than 20 days off of my all-time best year, and less than 10 jobs off as well. Additionally, from a quick glance it appears that, due to above average (for me) space rates and stock sales, I'm actually going to have a 15-25% rise in gross income when all is said and done.

I'm certainly not sharing this to be obnoxious -- god knows there are dozens of shooters who could make my bottom line look like a "Misc." (or even "Altoids") line item on one of their smaller invoices. I'm simply trying to share what things look like on my end of the world so that together we can take a hard look at what is going on.

The first lesson I take from this snapshot of the JLPFL spreadsheet is that editorial assignment photography cannot be relied upon solely, let alone shooting 50 days for The Gray Lady a year. Like I preached (to myself) in an earlier post from April that Andrew was kind enough to link to this week (I had forgotten about that one, mate), the smart bet is on diversifying. And on that note, hopefully in 2008 I can further enlarge my sweet little green pie piece labeled "advertising & corporate."

Lesson number two is that the 30% I was until recently splitting with a third party is a very precious thing. I can't imagine what I'd be looking at right now financially from a cash flow perspective if I had stuck around at Redux (or any agency). Actually, sure I can... it'd be a lot like last year and my infamous $75.00 Christmas check. The bottom line is that over the last 3 months I've booked just as many jobs, am making more money, and am getting paid on average 50% faster, allowing me to manage my business a hell of a lot better.

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Hired muscle

The Fiancée stands in for The Donald in a rare appearance on the JLPFL roster as an assistant for a Golf Magazine portrait shoot down in the Dominican Republic.

Since my buddy the Jackanory has been so busy of late traveling about (thanks for dinner last week!) and working that it falls to me (we should so form a post-Redux blogging club, right?!) to keep the blog-o-fire nice and toasty with new posts. And as it happens I was thinking of Mr. Hetherington and a post he wrote a while back about assisting this morning while stirring my morning coffee, and so I present this nicely dovetailed segue as such:

My recent post about the creation of a freelance army of portrait photographers (no one is safe!) had me turning to another buddy Eric Larson to make sure I wasn't totally off-based, and eventually we started talking about assistants, as two editorial photographers will if you give them more than 20 minutes to chat. We were both sharing our recent difficulties to find an assistant who was really helpful without a ton of coaching, and that ultimately each of us relied largely on other photographer friends. Partly it’s because of the region of the country where we live (not in NYC or LA), but also because neither of us really get someone who doesn't want to be a photographer first and foremost.

I've never assisted a day in my life for money, though of course I've helped out a friend here and there for a few beers. It wasn't that I chose not to assist when I was starting out, it’s that I never even considered it. I really don't think I have that gear in my brain to be a good assistant or to not need to be in total control. It's actually been a struggle since I started using a lot of assistants for me to become better at working with and teaching my assistants how to play a big role helping me on a shoot.

I certainly have all of the respect and love in the world for those who have helped me (for better or worse), and for my many friends who started out as assistants before breaking out on their own, but something always makes me feel strange about the role of the first assistant in this business. As soon as I say that though I also find it very easy to be envious of the thousands of ideas and tricks (not to mention contacts) that I might have been exposed to if I had gone down a different path. Though recreating the wheel for myself over and over again (instead of borrowing one from a mentor or colleague as an assistant) has been a hard way to grow, at the other end of it I feel as though its really my wheel (and vision).

Different strokes for us all and I love that about this industry, but I'm sure that I'll continue to use friends and other photographers as my go to guys and gals. I'm just not ready for some of these gung-ho pro/lifer assistant guys, festooned with gaffers tape and climbing locks, dressed like a kamikaze NYC bike messenger, and wielding light meters and additional rolls of Portra 160NC like ammunition.

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Evolution

As things in Miami have been heating up with the near arrival of Art Basel | Miami Beach craziness, I spent a mostly quiet week in the office editing, invoicing, confirming upcoming jobs, and having several exchanges that brought me back to thinking again about my evolution over these past 5 freelance years.

At this point almost all my freelance photography friends fall into one of two categories: conflict photographers or portrait photographers, with very little middle ground in between. The conflict photographers don't always shoot war of course, but they are almost always hired to shoot the edgy sort of vibe that their experiences shooting conflict helped define in their style. The portrait photographers nearly always shoot exactly that, even if their passion is or once was the same "reportage" that inspired both groups in college.

Maybe these two groups always existed, but it seems to me that the grey area in between is shrinking ever more dramatically by force of the market for editorial photography, which has become overwhelming filled with portraiture. Every magazine is filled to the gills with smiling and stoic faces captured in canned situations. Portraits are the photography market. And even though portraiture is an incredibly broad category including many, many different types of styles (which I do find exciting), when viewed from my background in journalism it all feels ever more homogenous. Ultimately, we are all portrait photographers.

Perhaps what leaves this annoying aftertaste in my mouth is that I didn't really choose to become a portrait photographer. The only choice I made was to not try my hand at conflict photography, and therefore because I still wanted to be a freelance editorial shooter capable of juggling lots of different assignments I was pushed towards the other camp (of course there are dozens of other specialties I'm ignoring here; architecture, aerial, food, etc) by market demand.

The shift in the market is pretty easy to chart as well: declining budgets (and/or increasing shareholder demands on profit gains) equals less interest in documentary assignments that by their very nature are more expensive to produce (waiting for the decisive moment for days is costly) than the vast majority of portrait shoots.

The only thing to be done is to rationally understand who and where you are, what it is you want from your career, and then to make whatever changes may be available. In saying "I am another portrait photographer," I at the very least free myself up to think about if that's the one-line sentence (from Soth's thread) that I want to define my work.

Ultimately I'm not unhappy with being a portrait photographer, I'm just sorry the market is not more diversified. I know that I haven't given myself fully over to portraiture, but I'm not going to run in the other direction and march off to war either. Instead I simply hope to continue to use the genre of portraiture to explore my personal style and passions, and continue to do my own personal work that explains what I care about on a much deeper level.

As much as its important to understand how others may see you, at the end of the day its up to your own inner critic as to whether you are leading the life you desire.

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Launch

Very quietly earlier this month I finalized and soft-released a new website (as previously teased) to serve as a launching pad for my opening push into commercial and advertising work. This week I'm excited to finally pull back the curtain and officially introduce to the world the all new JLPFL.com.

Starting with something very clean and small, I plan to build up from there and add new work and self-directed projects as I progress. Ultimately the design was a really fun challenge for me and I'm digging the results (thanks to Seth Bro for his programming talents). The million dollar question with the site was whether or not it would truly be its own animal or be folded into JohnLoomis.com. It came down to personal preference and market hunch, and I decided that with where I'm at right now editorial and commercial just don't mix very well, even though the work is of course very similar. Though the sites are cross-linked, and I'm happy for anyone to see either, I want to direct these two separate groups (with two separate needs) to different places and images and promotion for the time being.

Upcoming plans for JLPFL include the first e-mail newsletter coming later this week which will then be followed up with a nice print mailer just after the new year. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, just hop on by to JLPFL and subscribe.

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Joe Hound

While shopping for cold remedies yesterday I picked up the December issue of XXL, which contained my portrait of emerging Miami rapper Joe Hound in the Show & Prove section. Wouldn't you know it the very next day I received several more copies from the magazine. But that's just the way my luck is running this week.

Bad luck exhibit A came on Monday morning during my shoot for Men's Journal when 4-ft seas quickly (by means of some strong winds) turned into 8 to 10-foot swells. If only I had a video camera with me (and an extra assistant) it would have made a hilarious video... me on the bow of the boat shooting the subject perched precariously on top of the railing, waves tossing us every which way, my assistant Erica trying to hold on while simultaneously keep my large reflector in the right spot as it got more and more slick from the salt spray. And of course I was shooting on my Mamiya 7, which loads slower than any other body I've ever had, so film changes on the bow were a trip!

By shoot's end, my assistant had managed to stay on board, no gear was lost or water logged, we got plenty of stuff to work with, and none of us had ralphed -- talk about success! Speaking of assistants, because Erica did such a great job this week its only fitting that she be honored by being clearly visible in the above XXL clip, holding up a 1-stop scrim in the reflection of Joe's shades. Way to go Erica! And lastly here's an additional frame that shows why I liked this building along Biscayne Bvld. that I picked for our location.

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Private art

My trip to the postbox was rewarded today with a package of clips straight from Germany and Lufthansa Exclusive. A couple of months ago I spent a fantastic week on their behalf photographing some of Miami's famous private art collectors, including native Craig Robins (of Dacra Development), Rosa da la Cruz, Mera and Don Rubell, and Marguilles Collection curator Katherine Hinds. The shoots were just a ton of fun and I challenged myself to do a bit more lighting than normal. Parts of the portfolio were basically like shooting fish in a barrel because the backgrounds and galleries I had to work with were nothing short of amazing.

The results are above in the November issue of the magazine, which Zita and her crew did a wonderful job of editing and designing. This was my second large feature working with Lufthansa and both have been really great experiences. As always, here are a few others that didn't quite make the cut...

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Title bump

Long overdue after over two and a half very happy years of putting up with grumbly ole me, The Girlfriend got a title bump last weekend while we were away on vacation in Amelia Island (ostensibly to celebrate my 28th birthday). I'm very pleased to announce that Judyta is now officially The Fiancée!

We could not be more thrilled and excited for our future together and we thank our family and friends for their support and love. No news yet on when, where, or how.

And now you know why the blog has been pretty quiet. I did manage to surprise Judy into almost shock, which I was worried about. I already had the ring but it was a pretty spontaneous proposal, taking place at sunrise in a state park on a very long pier jutting out over the stormy Atlantic. After watching dozens of early morning marathon trainers we had our run of the pier and the crashing waves, and I distracted her by taking a series of self-timer pics of us with the camera perched on a bench. Following the forth or fifth exposure I grabbed the ring hidden in my camera bag and ran back over to her. The pic captures her confusion at why I had sort of fell down on one knee instead of stood beside her for our snapshot. I think its pretty hilarious that I sort of screwed the money pic up, but who cares because oh sweet baby jesus, she said yes!

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Rock, hard place

As I've discussed before, I believe that one of the most difficult road blocks young freelance photographers must overcome (especially ones coming from a photo-j background like myself) is their understanding of the awkward relationship between talent and success. I certainly assumed while in college that the best photographers must command the most and best assignments; or at least that talent was the main factor in the business. Yes, indeed, what a dispiriting lesson can the marketing influence be.

Recently I was thinking about another lesson of sorts that speaks to the strange middle ground that many of us editorial shooters occupy these days, which is finding that I'm getting stuck between the two extremes of clients who either have way too specific instructions/expectations for a shoot, and others that have far too little grasp on what they want or need. Every single bad shoot I've ever been a part of (maybe 3 real stinkers in almost 6 years) has been the result of either an incredible amount of provincial NYC pre-imagining gone awry or a total lack of engagement and specificity from a lazy editor. (There have certainly been times when I didn't kick ass either, but never without also delivering something solid and usable).

Somewhere between that rock and hard place, I find myself trying to claw out a little breathing room for my own creativity while also keeping the successful conclusion of the assignment in the forefront of my mind. And regardless of how great you might shoot on a job that has got fucked, and no matter who is to blame (editor, writer, subjects), the freelance photographer is almost certainly going to get the broom. If I was an editor who was being read the riot act by boss, I'd certainly want to lay blame elsewhere too.

Neither side in this pickle is pretty to look at. The too much editors often try to "ask" if you would "like" to see their sketches or mock-ups of what they want to finished shot to look like (uh, no thanks.) The too little editors want to give you a giant list of things that you might consider, and then no matter what you decide to tackle they will inevitably need something else, something more, something better, something different.

Part of this sounds like bitching and whining, and it is. We the photographers are playing the part of Goldilocks who can't quite find the right temperature for the porridge. But the truth is that you have to help your clients get out of their own way and allow you and the assignment to breathe. They must have enough trust in you that you are going to get something solid no matter what, but they also need to want something completely unexpected, and that passion isn't always common. On my most recent assignment I was given a lot of freedom and now at the end of a lot of discussions and shooting I am starting to tense up because I know that the project isn't really going to look like either the client or I wanted.

The true panacea for this roadblock is time. But time is money, and both are in short supply aren't they? With more time my current client could have put me in the proper and visually rich situations to photograph the subjects at work on the story, instead of trying to piece it back together with portraits and compromise. The final product will likely include several stock images (mine and others) in order to make the feature well-rounded, and how rare is it that a feature that has all of this going on really ends up feeling cohesive and dynamic?

Ultimately the other cure-all is simply me just caring a lot less about how it all sorts out, but why would I keep doing this if I didn't fucking care. You have to engage and be proactive, not turn your brain off and try to focus on other parts. And so as a craftsmen and mercenary, I keep at it and try to push my clients, gently or with a bitch-slap, to amp up their energy to help the shoots I'm working on with them have a fighting chance to make a solid clip in their magazine. Here's to the good fight; and if there are any editors reading this, please find some middle ground.

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Return

On Friday I got a big bag of clips and negs returned to me from the morgue at Redux. It was your usual assortment of assignments including a few things I would have been OK never seeing again. One of the mags caught my eye on the way to the trashcan though, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the above clip from Audubon for a story I shot, uh, I think maybe 3 or 4 years ago, that finally found a home in this year's Jan/Feb issue. The story was about beachgoers at Cape Hatteras, NC, who (after deinflating their tires some so they don't get stuck - many do) drive their 4x4, trucks, and SUVs right out onto the beach to do their fishing and partying. Problem is the Cape is home to a ton of endangered birds and during breeding season many of the babies were being literally run right over.

I thought I had seen just about everything being from Florida, but it was crazy to me how everyone just thought it was totally normal to back your giant 4x4 right up to the water and hit the beach. Anyway, a cool clip from a really nicely put together magazine. Hopefully Audubon will give me another call soon for a clip sometime around 2010?

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Best laid plans

So often ideal plans made must to be re-arranged to fit the changing contours of our lives. And so it was last weekend when I dutifully soaked a bag of red beans overnight to make a screamin' hot and spicy RB & rice meal because The Girlfriend was out of town. But then the next day I didn't make it. And then the next. And then Judy came home, and then I still didn't. And then it was too late, as you can see above. Poor little red beans; all they wanted to do was spread their wings.

And so its been recently with a bunch of stuff going on at JLPFL. A lot of plans and ideas, a lot of scheming and sketching, a lot of scratching and sniffing? But ultimately I'm not much further along than I was a couple of months ago. There have been some pluses: a new issue of Blueeyes came out yesterday, a couple of new promo cards this month, some newsletter action this Wednesday, a cool new job for Smithsonian that I'm hopefully finishing up today. But that is all the mostly regular stuff of doing business; not the sustaining stuff that helps to push ourselves forward.

The metaphorical burner is over-filled with all of the pots that I do or don't have simmering away, brimming with all of the personal documentary projects, commercial abstract series, promo campaign ideas, collaborations, story pitches, and other odds and ends that have been dreamed up but not enacted. Now they just need to be given life and removed from this stupid metaphor and blog. So lets go do that now. Have a good weekend, all.

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Boxed

I made a quick trip home earlier this week to see family and help my mom unpack, organize, and trash a dozen years of memories and junk from the family storage unit. I'm somewhat famously unsentimental, but it was still cool to see (and chuck) pieces of the past, which together sort of form the building blocks of our family.

At night in my dad's house I listened to my little brother Michael, one of my all-time favorite photo subjects (mostly because he truly doesn't care and is therefore fearless and open), playing piano in the empty dark living room. I thought about my sister and her amazing dance talents, which are matched my Michael's rocketing musical virtuosity, and how she had recently told me how funny it was that the three of us turned out so deeply connected to different creative paths. Even my older brother does a lot of painting these days (which used to be my thing before photography).

Amy and I have talked about plans to work together and try and create something as a family. I have no idea what shape it'll take but the idea of it fills me with pride and admiration, and also an incredible love for our parents and their support which allowed us all this freedom and life.

For the record, I kept: a small shoebox of correspondence from middle and high school; a collection of minature John Deere tractor models my dad bought for me as a child; a stained, Cam Neely-autographed Boston Bruins jersey; my sport cards collection (would love to get rid of these, but they are worth something everyone keeps telling me); 10 selected issues (total) of the Leon High School High Life newspaper, The Tallahassee Democrat, The Maneater (Mizzou college newspaper), The Arizona Republic, and The Hartford Courant; and a Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 camera (I have no idea where this came from or why it was in our storage unit) which I can't wait to check out and get repaired.

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Horns

Earlier this week one of the world's biggest rock bands, and a personal favorite here at JLPFL, dropped a giant fucking bombshell on fans, pop writers, and especially music labels. Radiohead casually announced that their much anticipated new album, now entitled In Rainbows, would be coming out very, very soon (Oct. 10, where previous reports had the release date somewhere around March '08), and, oh by the way, they are releasing it on their own, sans label. Like, Oh My Gawd, labels... Booyah!

Most of the immediate news reports focused on the pricing scheme (or lack there of) that Radiohead decided to use for the download-only version of In Rainbows (you can pay any price you would like for the music; yep, you read that right), which is interesting and all that, but the much much bigger deal is Radiohead, whose