This is the first print ad for a recent shoot I did for Sperry Top-Sider. I was hired by Crunch Brand Communications, a high-energy agency out of Boston, to create a library of rugged, very realistic images for Sperry’s new line of watersport footwear. Shot on the Trinity River in Northern California. Check out the shots below of Sperry’s tradeshow boot at Outdoor Retailer for more images from the shoot.
This is my fourth year shooting this event for my clients Salomon Sports and GORE-TEX. The scenery and sheer endurance of the athletes never ceases to amaze me. A few of my favorites from the first two days of racing:
Just received these two photos from one of my regular assistants, Grant Harder. The photos and his comments say it all, “…getting to and from the locations is just part of the fun on a Kevin Arnold shoot…”
Side note: believe these were shot on Grant’s Yashica T4 on film (not sure what kind).
I’ve just added some new fly fishing images to my portfolio. I love working with great subjects. Mark is incredibly comfortable in front of the camera, has a great sense of humor, and an authenticity that comes from really loving his sport.
Photographers love to talk about gear and lighting, and heady concepts like the “decisive moment”. They very rarely talk about production value. But the truth is, production value – shorthand for all the work that goes on behind the scenes to create a photograph – is far more important in commercial photography. It’s the difference between a stunning photojournalistic image and great commercial image. The first is a found image, a captured moment, while the second is a created image, a produced moment. Understanding the difference, and learning how to produce, is key to success in commercial photography.
But learning how to produce well isn’t easy. It’s a hidden art that has to be learned through experience – either your own or someone else’s. One of the ways to learn about lighting, for example, is to deconstruct well-lit images by studying where the light and shadows fall. The same can’t be done for production.
Take these these two images:
One happened on it’s own, while the other took a lot of energy and money to create. The produced image was a pre-determined moment, a moment that could be created again. This is what gives it commercial value. Read More
Over 40 pounds of elephant tusk. These were removed from a carcass killed by poachers, but left behind as they fled the rangers.
I just posted a new gallery to my site. I spent a week this summer embedded with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers in Tsavo West National Park. As drought and political issues tax Kenya’s people, the wildlife, particularly the black rhino and elephants, are being slaughtered by a resurgence of poaching. Ivory and rhino horn are worth a lot of money on the black market, providing a healthy income for those willing to take the risk. And with few other ways to earn enough money to feed their families, it easy to see the temptation. Complex issue. Nonetheless, the rangers in Tsavo are doing an amazing job of protecting the animals and their habitat. They are out in the park on foot, tracking rhinos, looking for poaching camps, and studying the wildlife populations. Many thanks to Danny Woodley, park warden, for helping facilitate my shoot. The full gallery can be found here. I’ve posted a few photos from the gallery after the jump with added captions detailing some of the story behind the shot.
I shot this International Ad Campaign for Canadian Tourism on location in Whistler.
I spend a lot of time chasing blue skies. All location photographers do. But the truth is, I actually prefer shooting in crappy weather. Sunny weather is great, and sometimes it is absolutely necessary for a shot to work – a lifestyle shoot at the beach just isn’t the same under ominous dark clouds. But there is something about images shot in miserable weather. They have a certain authenticity and ruggedness that you just don’t get on a nice day. Take the above image. It was shot during an flash thunderstorm in Colorado while I was shooting a campaign for Gore-Tex. This is actually one of my clients, but I love the expression on her face and her body language.
Below is another image from the same shoot. To me, the rain in this shot adds so much authenticity. The woman in the foreground has her hood up and you can feel her hunching against the downpour. It feels real because it is real. Anyone who is serious about hiking, skiing, running, mountain biking, or any outdoor sport knows that dealing with bad weather is part of the game. There are way too many blue sky adventure and lifestyle images. That’s just not how it goes down in the real world. Getting wet and dirty is part of the game, and at least half the fun.
More harsh weather shots after the jump…
Early morning light, backside of Whistler Mountain. Skier: Drew Hetherington. A billboard ad for Tourism British Columbia:
Another early morning shot. This one on location near Leadville, Colorado for Gore-Tex:
New Project Gallery: WHO Cameroon
There’s a new gallery on my website, highlighting the work I did last year for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Douala, Cameroon. I want to share a little more background on the project here. I was commissioned to document a WHO pilot project designed to empower local entrepreneurs to create a cleaner wood-burning indoor stove.
The WHO collaborated with local welders to create a number of stoves, then worked with local women to refine the best design; women do most of the cooking in this community. When I arrived, the stove was in production and being distributed through a network of local entrepreneurs.
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