Harvest Time

I'm headed to the Island of Kauai for a ten day architectural assignment, leg two of the massive Wydham Resorts gig. I'll update as time permits...


In the meantime, a few pics of just one of the things I've been doing this week. Another trip to the vineyards to capture images of this season's bounty.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Don Ho Street, Waikiki Beachwalk

4am. Restful sleep eludes me. At 3am the cat wants out. At 3:00:05am, the dog wants the cat and so on & so on... Assistant B & I have just returned from 3 days in the blighty H'lulu in the employ of Florida-based Wyndham Resorts where we captured architectural images of a newly acquired & refurbished property. Spent yesterday hunkered down in front of this fine blue screen in post/editing mode. First batch of exteriors now uploaded to anxious clients via .FTP. Interior images to follow sometime later today. This will conclude leg one of a project that will stretch out over the next month or two. Leg two begins ten days from now with an extended 9 day trip to the Island of Kauai, followed by 4 days on the Big Island.


H'lulu was jamming... or Waikiki, to be specific, was jamming. Insane traffic, heavy road & sidewalk construction everywhere in preparation for next month's Asia-Pacific Conference... traffic lanes coming to a sudden end with no warning, lost tourists in rental cars trying to negotiate the maze of one-way streets & construction, sidewalks crowded with a swarming mass of humanity, street performers, crates of sandstone and construction barriers. One-two hour waits at every restaurant was the norm, forcing us the take refuge & refreshment in a much quieter Chinatown on our final evening. This brought about the highlight of the working trip... discovery of the relatively new restaurant EPIC & it's contemporary take on upscale comfort food (at very reasonable prices, I might add). Find them on Nu'uanu Street next to INDIGO.


Speaking of food... last friday evening, Maui Arts & Cultural Center held it's annual fundraising gala Maui Calls. Participating chefs from the island's top eateries joined wine makers to offer up some very tasty fare. Personal favorite: Pulled Smoked Brisket BBQ Sliders w/ Asian Cole Slaw from Tom Selman's Main Street Bistro. Tasted like Memphis! 

Maui Calls Offerings

Besides the food, there were lots of nice folks to chat with, a silent & live auction and a surprise solo-performance by Robert Cazimero at the piano to keep the evening lively. 

Caz

Huge sculpted petroglyphs announced the Polynesian theme for this year's event and the new pavilion was decked out in a wash of colorful light courtesy of house LD, Mark Astrella. 

Watched with much amusement as the ladies lined up to pay homage at a shrine built from a mountain of blue Tiffany & Co. boxes. Edit from this one completed and delivered yesterday.

Ms. Jenks Knows What She Loves!

And now the sun rises... already I'm making a mental schedule for the day. An email has just arrived from the Florida client requesting a phone call in just a short while, there's banking and bill paying that must get done, GE taxes to file & pay, flight/car reservations for Kauai to be made and final editing, post and uploading of the final H'lulu images to be performed. When all that is said & done, I'll be ready for the weekend!


Found this great little blog entry at Artist Representative Heather Elder's blog a few days ago. Here, Heather provides an overview of a recent  San Francisco APA event on "how to integrate social media into an overall marketing plan & 20 important things to know about social media & the photography industry." Heather was joined by a panel consisting of media-guru Miki Johnson, APA Board Member Josh Bobb & Photographer Timothy Archibald (see previous blog entry). A follow-up on the topics covered by the panel followed at the APASF Blog, offering the perspective of social media marketing from the perspective of Art Buyer Alison McCreery. Worth a read, you can find the interview here.


Now it's into the shower... a long walk in the park with pup Chester & his friends, the most social group of caninies I've ever encountered. Then the drive down the mountain to hole myself up in the studio to complete the laundry list of aforementioned tasks for the remainder of the day.

Morning Puppy Social Group

Back At It

Seriously absent from this space for the past few weeks. Summer has, so far, lived up to it's promise of returning work assignments, leaving little time for vanity endeavors such as maintaining this blog.


I've been (in no particular order):


Shooting print campaigns for The Maui Visitors Bureau... requiring far too much time securing film permits, scanning weather forecasts and coordinating with Oahu Producers to get the job done. One cancellation due to less than ideal weather conditions... the job finally came together two weeks ago. Hats off to Tai @ LCA-Anthology for coordinating talent & getting Creative Directors & asssundry crew to the prescribed locations. Good results. Campaign should start making it's first appearances sometime in September.


Chasing bikini clad models from Las Vegas around a wind-lashed beach to promote new clothing designs from Maui Thing Clothing Company.


Photographing interiors design & menu items for the new HONU Seafood & Pizza Restaurant, the latest in a string of very successful dining venues operated by wunderkind Chef Mark Ellman of Avalon, Mala & Maui Tacos fame. This new Lahaina oceanfront venue promises to be another smash success. Congrats Mark!


Illustrating a story on Maui's upscale chocolatiers for the next issue of Morris Media's Wailea Magazine. There's still a couple of shots to go for this one... plan on wrapping it all up tomorrow. I've got a studio full of fine chocolates and can't even taste any of it... torture!


Signing a major assignment deal with Wyndham Resorts chain to photograph ten of their properties statewide over the course of the next few weeks. Pre-production has begun and flights are booked for the first leg of the job... three days on Oahu beginning this sunday, followed by a ten day trip to Kauai at the end of the month and then another four to five days on The Big Island. With any luck, this one should be all wrapped up by mid-October.


Preparing for a health industry related assignment set to happen sometime next month.


Dropping by to catch the show at MACC last weekend when The Throwdowns unveiled their brand-spankin' new CD with a huge concert/party for the faithful. You can purchase a copy of the well-produced disc & keep a handle on upcoming shows at their website thethrowdowns.com. (The pic above is from the shoot we did a few months back for promotion & packaging images.)


After a nearly two year assignment drought, things appear to be back on track for the immediate future... I'm hearing much the same from local colleagues in the photo-industry. Let's hope this trend continues!


More good new came last week in the form of a phone call from my east coast legal team, informing me that our four year battle has come to a conclusion. We have prevailed! 


To close out today's entry, I'd like to give a shout out to Bay Area photographer Timothy Archibald. Though we've never met, I've been stalking following TA's work since I first encountered it a couple of years ago. Author of the books Sex Machines photographs and interviews and his most recent Echolilia: Sometimes I Wonder, it was Echolilia that really grabbed my attention. The book, a collaboration with his young son Eli - diagnosed at an early age with a form of autism, offers a rare & poingnant glimpse into what reviewer Shanna Phlipson describes as:

"that half-world of alternate reality --the space between the echos-- appreciating and documenting.I've always felt autism's gift was the redefinition of language, and I've never seen if so beautifully expressed than here."

I would have to agree... the photographs contained within this volume are arresting, intriguing... successfully treading that fragile line documentation & exploitation.


A few days ago, I stumbled upon the following online interview with TA at This Is The What blog. The entry Ten Minutes With Timothy Archibald completely surprised me when I read of his desire that his work be more "commercial" in nature. The best part of the interview came at the end when TA offers a few words of wisdom for emerging photographers. In his own words:

Learn the history of photography.

Tell someone whose work you love why you love it.

Surround yourself with a community of peers whose work you admire.

Don’t pay a consultant for advice, listen closely to your friends.

Call a photographer on the phone and ask them how they made a photograph you like.

Always be honest and generous with your advice to others.

Learn how to be happy for your fellow photographers when they kick ass.

Good stuff, Timothy. Add me to your fan club!