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!